Coping with a transvestitic mate: clinical implications

The transvestite's mate often seeks psychiatric consultation following discovery of her partner's cross-dressing. The clinical management of such situations is complex and mandates investigation of how such women have coped with the knowledge that their partner wears women's clothes for sexual arousal. This report reviews the coping styles of 20 women married or living with transvestitic men. Depression, hostility, sadism and alcohol abuse were methods utilized to cope with their perverse mate. Therapeutic strategies are discussed to help such women during the initial stages of a consultation so that they may develop sufficient insight and information to intelligently manage the dilemma in which they find themselves.