What it Means When Transition Hits Plateau?
Dr. Z talks about hitting plateau during transition—that standstill period when you feel like nothing is happening. Plateau happens to pretty much everybody—Dr. Z has yet to see someone who hasn't hit this period. It's an inevitable part of transition and actually a really important part.
In the beginning, you realize your authentic self, start coming out, begin hormones, do hair removal, voice training, change pronouns—all these igniters put fire underneath you. You feel excitement, nervousness, euphoria, and most importantly: control. You're finally taking control of your life, doing something about dysphoria—it's empowering. You continue climbing until you hit plateau—suddenly nothing is happening or not happening quickly enough. Fear and doubts come up: "Is this the right thing? Will I ever achieve congruence? This isn't happening fast enough."
This standstill happens because you've used up all your wood (transitionary steps)—there's nothing to throw on the fire, so you're losing faith, questioning everything. But just because the fire isn't burning as high doesn't mean it's not burning at all. Like gardening: you plant seeds, irrigate, fertilize, buy best soil—then hit plateau because you have to wait for fruits of your labor to come to fruition. Farmers don't panic during waiting periods—they have faith they did everything correctly.
Watch to find out why plateau is essential (you can't go through transition without it—things don't just catapult upward), three main reasons plateau happens (you've done everything and now waiting on time; waiting on others like surgeons/insurance/money; waiting on intimate people like spouse/children to catch up), why something is definitely happening underneath even when surface looks still (you're miles away from where you started, you're compounding/accumulating—continuing hormones/voice training/hair removal/therapy), and what to do during plateau (take care of harvest—eat well, exercise, prepare for surgery, work on integrating inner self, excavate internalized transphobia, focus on other life areas, trust the process).
