Juan*, a fifteen-year-old trans boy from Colombia, found life-saving support through groundbreaking, evidence-based therapies provided by The Jewish Board. With help from our Morris Black/Staten Island Counseling Center, a bilingual therapist introduced a plan of action that helped Juan find reasons to look forward to the future. This is his story.
Meet Juan
Juan is a transgender boy who spent most of his childhood in his native country of Colombia. When his mother, Adella, migrated to the United States, Juan remained with his father in Bogotá. Over the next few years, Juan continually faced rejection from his community, leading to feelings of depression and isolation. After an assault by an older relative led to a hospital stay, Juan was sent to live with Adella in Queens. Being apart for four years proved a difficult obstacle as Juan struggled to connect with his mother, who refused to accept his gender identity.
Crisis Leads to Action
As he entered his teen years, Juan continued to experience low self-esteem and grief, particularly from missing his father and feeling emotionally distant from his mother. Trapped in a body that didn’t match his gender identity, Juan attempted suicide. Luckily, Adella found her son just in time to save his life.
After an extended stay in a psychiatric hospital, Juan and Adella were referred to The Jewish Board’s Morris Black/Staten Island Counseling Center, an outpatient mental health clinic that provides a variety of programs for people who are coping with emotional, behavioral, and social challenges. Since our clinics are embedded in their communities, the staff are often bilingual, which made communication easier for Juan and Adella as they attained some much-needed care.
Communication is Key
Juan’s past trauma and current mental health status identified him as high risk, making a higher level of treatment critical. His team enrolled him in the Home Based Crisis Intervention (HBCI) program at Morris Black. HBCI programs are personalized to help young people who are experiencing a severe mental health crisis. HBCI pairs each youth and their family with a Crisis Interventionist (CI), who visits the client’s home several times a week to work on developing coping skills to prevent future crises. These visits occur over four to six weeks, after which the CI connects the families to ongoing long-term support.
Before, we barely talked. Now, my mom actually listens, and I think she’s starting to get it. We actually laugh sometimes now. I didn’t think that could happen.”
–Juan
Juan received weekly medication management and was connected to an individual therapist, while Adella participated in monthly therapy sessions. Juan finally had access to adults who affirmed his identity, and Adella had the support and counseling that proved essential while navigating Juan’s complicated needs. Adella worked hard to grow her understanding of her son’s past traumas and struggles with gender identity.
Forming a Bond and Building a Plan
HBCI paired Juan with a bilingual therapist, Katherine, who concentrated on establishing trust so Juan could feel safe expressing his innermost feelings. Juan opened up about being born into the wrong body, as well as revealing the constant stream of negative thoughts, including additional suicidal ideations. In order to reduce the risk of future suicide attempts, Katherine created a personalized safety plan that incorporated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to teach Juan how to avoid being consumed with negative thoughts, along with tools such as journaling and breath work to improve his quality of sleep.
Positive Strides Toward the Future
Over the last year, Juan’s self-esteem has improved, and he no longer entertains thoughts of suicide. At school, new friends enjoy his sense of humor and share his love of music and performing. Additionally, Juan has become involved in a local LGBTQ+ group, which provides him with opportunities to support other young people struggling with their sexuality and gender identity. Juan now sees a future full of possibility: he dreams of becoming a psychologist and using his experiences to help others like him. With his mother’s support, Juan is pursuing gender-affirming care, and together they’re in the process of obtaining legal status in the United States. Everyone at HBCI is incredibly proud of all the hard work Juan has put into his personal growth, including Katherine, who told us, “Juan has taught me as much as I taught him, especially about courage.”
*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of our clients.
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