Thank you so much for your donations

Hey! I'm Will Zogg, a licensed mental health counselor, clinical supervisor and adjunct professor in Washington state (He/Him pronouns). I hold a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling with a concentration on social justice-aligned counseling and attention to intersectional identities. I have specific training and lived experience in supporting transgender people of all ages in overall medical and mental wellness. My style of therapy is relational, and I have a Level One Sensorimotor Psychotherapist and a Level One certification in Internal Family Systems interventions. You can view my license number and credentials on Psychology Today and my website.

WHY I AM HERE: I am humbly creating this GoFundMe with the hope that I can be able to afford to continue offering reduced and free gender assessment appointments to those who are looking toward gender reassignment surgeries, hormone replacement therapy, and related needs that require an evaluation of health and understanding of the impact of these procedures to meet the requirements of insurance companies.

While many clients and their families can pay out of pocket for these appointments, the reality is that most people I encounter do not have insurance coverage, lack family/financial support, or have to choose between paying bills and getting these hoops jumped through to feel authentic and healthy in their bodies and brains. The long waiting games, denials of coverage by insurance using fine print or petty nitpicks, and the microaggressions and abuse take an enormous toll on people who are (obviously) not experiencing these particular hardships alone. This increases the terrifying risk of harm, including isolation, neglect of other needs/bills, suicidal ideation, self-harm, substance abuse and more.

THE CHALLENGE: I want to continue providing 1-2 assessments and two sessions at a reduced cost or pro bono per month, specifically for those with financial needs and other barriers to care (no insurance coverage, medical bills, lack of family support, etc.). Currently, I am looking at either stopping pro bono work with clients until I am more established or raising my rates for others beyond what I think is fair given my mission as a social justice-aligned counselor (which would lead to losing the clients I currently serve).

WHY I DO THIS: Rates for comparable providers in my area are often 1-3x as high as my own. For individual sessions, I offer a sliding scale fee of $80, while the full payment is $120. My assessments for letters are 2 hours and include a free 20-minute consultation, the session, the letter itself, and any necessary changes to the letter in the future for this client. These were $150 until I realized this was not feasible and far beneath other providers in the area, many of whom do not have my knowledge and training. Often, providers do not abide by current WPATH standards of care and base their practice with trans people on archaic, unnecessary, unethical methods.

As a transgender provider, I come to these sessions with the knowledge that the process toward these goals, whether it be regular counseling sessions or movement toward necessary procedures, is agonizing and can be unbearable- not to mention devastating when costs stack up, and it's nearly impossible even to find a provider willing to work with trans clients who has had any trained experience- let alone find a good match. The comments and actions of past therapists still weigh heavily on me. I seek to offer the kind of care I believe that all people should have a right to without snide comments, invasive questions, being ghosted, and further ostracized and neglected.

While I build my caseload, I am asking for your support for me to offer these services without forsaking my own ability to do this work. As it is I am struggling to stay ahead and expand my business as I wait for insurance companies to panel with me and deal with my own stress, including the realization that I ineligible for public service loan forgiveness, even after 10+ years of various service to underprivileged communities deserving of funding, attention and care.

WHAT THE FUNDS WILL SUPPORT:

$40 covers one 30-minute psychotherapy session

$80 covers one 60-minute psychotherapy session

$160 covers a 100-minute psychotherapy session and/ or sensorimotor psychotherapy session for trauma recovery

$200 covers multiple 60-minute sessions *or*a 2-hour gender evaluative letter assessment

All funds received will support me in A) being able to continue to offer these sessions to those who need care and cannot currently afford it, B) having the ability to cover the cost of a session when clients are in crisis and financial hardship.

WHO IS THIS GOING TO?

These funds will be utilized for free and reduced gender therapy and assessments for clients who are unable to pay the sliding scale fees of $80-90 for individual therapy sessions and those who are unable to afford a two-hour evaluative session at the cost of $200 toward GRS/HRT/etc.

These funds are utilized for clients who have multiple intersections of difficulty happening. In addition to financial insecurity, they may be experiencing houselessness, racism, asylum seeking/persecution, no insurance due to finances/ undocumented immigrant status/etc., disability, all of the above and more.

These funds will be directly transferred to me to ensure that I am receiving compensation for these sessions and have money on retainer to be able to continue to offer these options to those who meet the above criteria based on reported need.

Please consider donating even $5 toward a session for a person needing specialty care who cannot afford it.

Encourage other providers who are not in trans community to consider putting money into the pockets of trans providers to give high-quality care to underserved trans clients.

Image: WE DEFEND OUR TRANS FAMILY by artist Micah Bazant