Well, speaking as a former psychology professor and family therapist who has done sex research (and in full disclosure, I went into the field to try to figure out my interest in weight-gain): Having trained many therapists, I would want a therapist to be non-judgmental and ask "what does weight-gain mean to you?" It's important to understand what the meaning of a behavior is for the person doing it, rather than the therapist projecting his or her own issues onto the patient. In a society that fat-shames and assumes fat equals death, it's hard for a therapist to not have "fat is a problem" rushing into their mind.

A psychiatrist I admire once wrote, "what we call a neurosis is the way a patient deals indirectly with his problem." In other words, if the patient deals directly with his problem, he probably doesn't need a therapist.

Just so, if a patient has gained weight because he or she is depressed, that would be a way of dealing indirectly with a problem. Maybe a relationship ended, or a loved one died and food and drink are used to "fill the feeling of emptiness." Then the treatment is to deal with the depression--not the weight-gain.

But tbh, a lot of therapists are not trained to deal with "kinks." If you say you enjoy BDSM, many therapists will not know much about it directly, and may tend to resort to stereotypes. They may feel personally uncomfortable with a kink that isn't theirs. In the field, therapists are very hesitant to be open about their own kinks, for fear of being judged by their peers. There is a concern of those not into BDSM that it's a type of sexual abuse. But for some, BDSM has been a way they have discovered of dealing/controlling their earlier experience of sexual abuse. And for many into BDSM, they aren't there because they had been sexually abused in the past.

So--if a patient/client (insurance--a patient gets meds and a client doesn't) opens up about a kink, the question should be "what does this mean for you?" If the client/patient is unhappy with the kink, then the next step is to explore if there are alternative behaviors that will provide the results engaging in the kink provides. If the client/patient isn't uncomfortable with the kink, then one of the basics of therapy--"you don't fix what's not broken."

If there are health problems due to a weight-gain kink, then that's something else, but again, the treatment should be--if the client/patient feels they need to lose weight that they would prefer to keep--then again, it's exploring alternatives that can provide some of the things the patient/client gets from being bigger.

Over the years of my being in the gainer community, I've encountered individuals who have had unpleasant interactions with therapists over this, and others who felt the therapist provided them a lot of help. As one of the other posters shared--if it's brought up but isn't seen as an issue for the patient, then the therapist should move on to work with the things that are issues.

The only other thing I'd be concerned about since in my practice I mostly saw couples--a kink that isn't shared by a couple can sometimes cause conflict. If that's the issue, then I would expect a good therapist to treat a kink no differently than anything else that causes conflict within a couple.

One theory of this stuff is that it can be thought of as a type of sexual orientation. Just as you can't magically change a gay person into a straight person in therapy, if being a gainer is indeed a type of sexual orientation, then it's unlikely a therapist can "fix a gainer" because, again--there's nothing to fix. This would be where the "patient is dealing directly with a problem." If the individual feels a need to be larger and becomes larger, they aren't dealing indirectly with a problem. If for example, a person enters into a relationship with a dominant feeder, and gains weight only to please the feeder, when gaining isn't the person's kink--then that's a problem because the person is seeking love and approval by the indirect way of gaining. If this was making the gainer upset, then as a therapist, I would want them to examine the nature of their relationship.

For "newbies" it's not uncommon in the gainer community to speak of "civilians"--those that are not into the kink of gaining. It often leads to a problem in dating or staying in a relationship, if gaining for one member is very much like a sexual orientation--the desire to gain isn't going to just "go away." But just as a straight person won't always emotionally understand what it means to be gay, a non-gainer won't fully understand why a partner wants to deliberately gain weight. This would be a situation where a therapist might help, but the problem isn't the gainer--the problem is the interactio

I've taught at the Kinsey Institute on cross-cultural sexuality and my own sex research has focused on inter-racial same-sex couples. In full disclosure, I became a psychologist to try to figure out why I had such a fascination about men gaining weight.

I really appreciate the insight and wisdom of Plumpingup. I'd just add a few things--
A) Western medicine is still trying to figure out the complexity of gender identity, and it's taken decades to separate out the fact gender identity is different from sexual orientation. That confusion screwed up a lot of poor folks.
In my experience over many years in the gaining community, I find some bio-males associate becoming fat with becoming more feminine (curves/softness/nurturing/breasts) and others who associate gaining with becoming more masculine ("big man on campus" "large and in charge" "noticeable" "intimidating" "claiming space." The take away--the same experience means different things to different people.
C) I would suggest you contact a Grommr member by the name of Figure, who might share their experience of connecting gaining with an increased sense of femininity. Figure is a bit older than you are, and has had more time to both think this through and explore what in means in terms of transforming one's body.
D) Although it comes from pathology, there's a newer theory there are more types of sexual orientation than gay/bi/straight. For example, it makes sense that "gainer" may be a sexual orientation for some, where orgasm is connected to it, and a "real" gainer can't stop being a gainer, any more than a gay guy can't "stop" being gay.
E) Just so, I suspect the desire to be pregnant is something that transcends gender. There is even an interesting phenomenon called "couvade," where a cis-male has the symptoms of pregnancy, including weight gain.

My point--you may experience a number of "overlaps" of an interest in couvade, an attraction to exploring gender fluidity, and a need to gain. But it may well be these are three different things you may try to be squashing together to make it "one" thing when it may be many.

The best part (speaking as a therapist)-- I celebrate you asking these questions at the age of 19, rather than being miserable most of your life and finally trying to get some answers when you're over 40 and ending a disappointing marriage where you managed to make a spouse as unhappy as you've been. I've seen too many people who waited too long to seek answers. Best of luck

Many years ago I read an interview with a gentleman who had worked as a fat man in a circus side show. So to be clear, we're not talking someone slightly chubby, although in the photo he wasn't a size that would raise many eyebrows on this site. He explained he would rub a lubricant around his male member. Then lying down and facing up, he would start rocking back and forth, not needing his hands to do so (unless he was rocking his belly with his hands. It was my understanding the pressure of his heavy belly allowed enough friction against his erect penis allowed him to climax.

So glad things are working out so well with you Maybe you take your brother out for some eating contests while you're there--help jump start your own gain and encourage him to pork up some more at the same time

I did a search and the last info on Susanne Eman was from 9 months ago, so I thought I'd share this. For newbies, Ms. Eman has a goal of becoming the world's heaviest woman. The Huffington Post recently did a story with 10 slides that was based on an Inside Edition (for non-U.S. viewers, Inside Edition is basically a tabloid type television program)piece that focused on her getting her wedding dress made. She is marrying a chef, and several of the photos in the slide show are of him both feeding her as well as preparing her meals. Sorry I can't figure out how to post an image here, but you can find the story and see the slide show here--just keep scrolling down for the slideshow: www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/07/800-pound-bride-susanne-eman_n_1498377.html

Is it too late to try this out?