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Contribute to Abbie’s ongoing efforts of service to the trans and gender diverse community.

Your contribution may change the trajectory of someone's life.

Two of Abbie's core values as a therapist and business owner, serving their community, are increasing accessibility wherever possible and to exercise the principle of beneficence as much and as often as possible.

Abbie offers Gender Affirming Referral Letters & Assessments at no cost to the letter-seeker. They do this because they’re committed to reducing financial barriers associated with gatekeeping life saving and medically necessary gender affirming medical interventions from the trans and gender diverse community.

While Abbie is committed to not passing on the financial burden, their ability to write letters comes from their education, clinical experience, and professional development – all of which came with a cost. The annual waived letter fees average around $15,000. 

Abbie is committed to increasing access to care as much and as often as possible. For clients who are unable or unwilling to use health insurance (regardless of reason), Abbie offers reduced fees whenever possible. They currently utilize the Green Jar Method, wherein clients paying in the top tiers support the ability to offer reduced fee spots in the lower tiers, with the middle tier representing the “actual cost” of the service.

In the past, when established clients experienced financial hardship, Abbie has offered more reduced fee, “low-bono”, and pro-bono services in order to ensure access to existing clients.

COVID-19 has been particularly difficult, in large part because trans and gender diverse individuals are already chronically under- and unemployed on average, often working in the fields of hospitality, retail, and other similar service industries. Nearly all of Abbie’s clients have been touched by COVID personally, whether by losing their job (or having hours cut), getting sick, or having a loved one affected. Not to mention, this is in addition to the cumulative impact of trauma and grief of an ongoing pandemic and a community for whom connection is essential to survival.

This has meant that in order to maintain continuity of care, to not add trauma by referring clients to a “more affordable” provider, and to lend whatever possible stability, Abbie expanded their reduced fees to existing clients well beyond their budgeted allotment. Meeting the needs of their clients has and will continue to be more important than money or profit. However, in Capitalism, we still have to find a way to “keep the lights on” in order to be able to provide these services.

As an additional way of increasing accessibility and affordability, Abbie now accepts commercial health insurance for those who want or need to use their coverage. Insurance reimbursement rates may be as low as 56% of the full-fee rate and this amount is set by the insurance company with limited room for negotiation.

In order to develop therapeutic tools to more effectively relieve the suffering, distress, and unpleasantness their clients experience, Abbie is currently undergoing the following trainings:

• Certified Sex Therapist through the Council for Relationships

• Clinical Hypnotherapist through the Society for Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis

• EMDR Therapist