Vaden Health Services is committed to the health of queer Stanford students by providing both specialized care and inclusive services. Vaden Health Services houses both Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) and the Weiland Health Initiative. The Weiland Health Initiative focuses on serving students across the spectrums of gender and sexuality through therapy, programming, education, and advocacy.

Additional Information
Since systems impact individuals’ health, Vaden is committed to providing ongoing inclusivity training for its providers, continued reform of Stanford medical and administrative structures, and advocacy in navigating health care on and off of campus. Below you will find information on the clinical services that Vaden Health Services provides. For more information on the systemic, educational, and advocacy work being done, please visit the Weiland Health Initiative.
Counseling
CAPS and Weiland therapists are available to help students experiencing a wide variety of personal and relationship concerns. Visit the CAPS homepage or call 650.723.3785 to make an appointment. During your initial CAPS Access Coordination appointment, inform the clinician that you would prefer to see a CAPS or Weiland therapist who has specialized training in working with gender and sexuality. You also can identify a counselor with extensive training in LGBTQIA+ mental health issues at CAPS by an asterisk posted next to their name and a note on their Staff Page profile.
- Individual brief counseling at CAPS and Weiland are confidential and free of charge.
Available to all students, including those in staff roles supporting others across the gender & sexuality spectrum. Weiland Connects visits are one-time, 30-minute sessions where you can speak confidentially with a gender and sexuality-affirming clinician. In these sessions, you can learn more about therapy, discuss resources, process feelings, or learn how to better support queer students if you are in a staff role. These sessions can be booked via VadenPatientPortal or can be directly scheduled by emailing Weiland Health Initiative.
Gender-Affirming Care
Vaden Health Services offers specialized services for folx exploring their gender and gender affirming care. Some people who identify as transgender, non-binary or gender expansive choose to go through a process of transitioning from the gender they were assigned at birth to the gender that is congruent with their identity.
There are many physical, emotional, social, and legal challenges that transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive folx experience while in transition(s), and Stanford students are no different. The providers at Vaden Health Center recognize both the challenges and the joys of transitioning and are here to support you. Some people who transition choose to change their name and pronouns, so please let our providers know the name you prefer and the pronoun that is appropriate for you, and ask that they note this information in your file.
The process of transitioning involves many aspects of a person’s social, emotional, and physical life. In terms of physically transitioning (hormones and/or surgery), there are many options. The transgender/gender-expansive experience lies on a spectrum, and many individuals can choose from a variety of options to reflect a gender expression that best aligns with their identity. Some transgender/gender-expansive people decide to take hormones but don’t do surgery, while others do surgery but not hormones. Some do both. Some do neither.
Regardless of how one identifies their gender, the decision to physically transition lies with the individual. It’s your decision what you want to do with your body within the time frame that is comfortable for you. It is the doctor’s or counselor’s job to support your process and guide you along the way. Access our FAQ on gender affiriming surgery and more here.
We are in the process of shifting our language to Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy (GAHT) from Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). This link takes you to a quick Instagram gallery explaining why.
Note: Visits to Vaden Health Center for the purposes of obtaining HRT are covered under your Health Fee although your insurance (Cardinal Care or other Insurance Provider) will determine how much you pay for the hormones/medications (which will be filled at your local pharmacy).
For specific questions or services around gender-affirming care, you can make an appointment with a Vaden clinician with experience in transgender health care at the VadenPatientPortal by checking the “Transgender Health Care” box. Providers have been trained and strive to use whatever language students find most comfortable regarding sex, gender, pronouns, and identity.
- If you would like to provide feedback about any of Vaden’s services or providers, please feel free to fill out our online feedback form. Access our feedback form here
Many folx choose to pursue gender confirming surgery as a part of their gender journey. One does not have to identify along the gender binary (e.g. trans woman, trans man) or have taken hormones in order to pursue this step.
The overall process typically involves:
- Schedule an Appointment: Meet with a qualified mental health care provider, such as a CAPS or Weiland clinician, for an assessment and to obtain a letter of support. This process may take more than one session. To schedule an appointment, visit VadenPatientPortal.
- Research Surgeons and Insurance: Determine your insurance coverage and research potential surgeons. Your CAPS or Weiland provider can assist you.
- Obtain a Referral: After receiving your letter of support, get a medical referral to a surgeon from your Vaden Medical provider. One letter is needed for top surgeries, and two letters from different providers are required for bottom surgeries.
- Consult with Your Surgeon: Have a consultation session with your chosen surgeon for guidance.
- Schedule Surgery: Book the surgery date while allowing sufficient recovery time.
- Follow-Up Care: Proceed with the surgery and plan for any necessary follow-up medical and as-needed additional care.
Many folx choose to pursue hormones, otherwise known as Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy (GAHT), as a part of their gender journey. One does not have to identify along the gender binary (e.g. trans woman, trans man) in order to pursue this option. The following informationn walks through the steps involved.
Acquire documentation (if available) in support of GAHT from past/current mental health or medical providers.
- Have you met with a provider in the past/present about GAHT?
- Yes- Ask your provider to send documentation of informed consent for GAHT to Vaden.
- If unable to acquire documentation, proceed to Step 2.
- If able to acquire documentation, proceed to Step 3.
- No- proceed to Step 2.
Make an appointment with a Weiland Health Initiative clinician.
- Go online to VadenPatientPortal
- Under Medical Services select Transgender Health Care
- Select a “CAPS HRT Consult Appointment” Note: Regardless of insurance, Weiland and CAPS assessment appointments are typically covered by your Health Fee.
- During this appointment, you will meet with a gender specialist therapist who will speak with you about factors, concerns, or considerations relevant to starting hormones. The goal of this consult is to help make your experience of initiating hormones as positive as possible. These meetings also serve as opportunities to think through a timeline that works for you and get additional support around the process of pursuing gender-affirming care.
Make an appointment with a medical provider at Vaden.
- Go online to VadenPatientPortal.
- Under Medical Services, select Transgender Health Care.
- Meet with a medical provider to discuss GAHT risks/benefits and eligibility (the degree to which GAHT is indicated and lack of medical contraindications). Note that asking questions is an important part of this process and will not jeopardize your chance to get hormone therapy.
- Follow up with laboratory appointments to assess for health risks and establish baseline.
- Once your medical provider has approved GAHT, this provider will assist you in navigating GAHT type/decisions (such as types of applications, etc.), provide relevant prescriptions, and generate plans with you regarding the administration of the chosen application (for example, planning to bring in hormones to follow up appointment in order to learn how to inject hormones or receive assistance around this process).
Sexual Fluidity
For some people, sexual orientation and desire are not rigid or continuous throughout their lives; rather, they can be fluid and change over time. Mass media and mainstream LGBTQ+ movements and organizations often define sexual orientation identity as one (but no more than one) of the following: heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual and pansexual. More niche, often online, communities add other identities: demisexual, sapiosexual, lithosexual, and many others. And while sexual orientation and gender identity are not the same thing, the concept of a sexual orientation is typically based on the sameness or difference of genders among two or more people. A framework of sexual identity based on static, binary gender categories leaves no space for those whose gender identities transcend the gender binary, nor for anyone attracted to them.
Unfortunately, what many communities share in conceptualizing sexual identity, is a belief in its fixed nature. From the “born this way” rhetoric of the mainstream gay rights movement seeking to root gay and lesbian identity as established at birth, or the search for a “gay gene” seeking to legitimate gay and lesbian identity through biology, sexual identity – more colloquially described as ‘sexuality’ – is cast as a characteristic or trait that does not change. Mainstream LGBTQ discourse subscribes to a model of identity formation and development that assumes an early discovery of same-gender attraction, a period of hiding that attraction (being “in the closet”), an explosive coming-out process by which that attraction becomes a publicly held identity, and finally a stabilizing of that identity over the long-term – typically, the remainder of an individual’s lifetime. For some people, sexual orientation and attraction are very fixed; however, this is not the case for all.
This depiction of fixed sexuality is often established in opposition to the conservative argument that sexuality is both “unnatural” and “a choice” – an argument that seeks to delegitimize same-gender relationships and orientations by virtue of them being non-normative, and by virtue of them not fitting into a prescribed perception of “appropriate” human sexuality often informed by religious beliefs. Countering this argument, then, often involves arguing that human same-gender relationships are both “natural” and “not a choice” – through examples of same-sex relationships in animals, same-sex human relationships in history, and the aforementioned framings of sexuality as a biological characteristic established at birth.
Human sexuality, however, is understood currently as more complex than either of these binary depictions typically show it to be. We now often differentiate sexual, romantic and aesthetic attractions and identities from each other, framing each as a constantly-changing characteristic shaped by past and current experiences, other held identities (whether racial, class, gender, ability, religious and/or others) and an individual’s own agentic desire. An individual may, for example, desire to have sexual relationships typically with women, but find themselves romantically attracted to people of all genders and aesthetically attracted to more androgynous forms of gender expression. Many years later, the same individual may find that their sexual, romantic and/or aesthetic attractions and identities have changed –perhaps as a result of living in a different environment and interacting with different communities, personal and/or spiritual exploration, a significant formative sexual or romantic experience, personal choice, some combination of all of these or for a different reason altogether.
No matter the cause, sexual fluidity is an experience shared by many people, and does not inherently imply any negative emotional or mental health outcomes for individuals who experience it. For many, sexual fluidity is just one of the many unique ways in which people experience their sexuality over a lifetime.
Alongside Stanford’s Weiland Health Initiative, the Queer Student Resources Center located in the Fire Truck House provides a warm and welcoming space for the extremely diverse population of students celebrating, questioning, investigating and struggling with sexual orientation and/or gender identity.