Psychotherapy for gender identity disorders

Abstract

SummaryThis article describes a special adaptation of group psychotherapy as a psychological treatment for people with a variety of gender identity disorders. It can be used as an alternative to or concurrently with hormonal and/or surgical interventions for transgender people. It is also suitable for individuals whose gender identity disorder remains after physical interventions. The article draws from a UK specialist pilot for such a treatment service and describes the explicit aims of the psychotherapy, the specialist adaptation of therapeutic technique required and observed thematic features relevant to working in this specific field.

“It feels like home”: Transgender youth in the Midwest and conceptualizations of community climate

“…While this message manifested in the form of resources, policies, and individual practices, youth also report an underlying, pervasive societal ideology that feeds and informs these manifestations. The local attitudes and awareness surrounding gender set a cultural expectation of what individuals and identities are legible (or understood), acceptable, valued, and valid (Butler, 1990; Hakeem, 2012). These messages are also perpetuated by the enforcement of a binary perspective on gender and religious judgment or stigma associated with transgender identities.…”

Gender-Affirming Treatment of Gender Dysphoria in Youth: A Perfect Storm Environment for the Placebo Effect—The Implications for Research and Clinical Practice

“…However, others argue that there are a range of contemporary therapeutic approaches which are not “affirmative,” but neither are they conversion practices (D’Angelo et al, 2021 ). Such approaches can include: Careful assessment and diagnostic formulation, appropriate treatment of co-existing psychological conditions, supportive and educative individual/family psychological care, group therapy, developmentally informed gender exploratory psychotherapy, trauma-informed psychotherapy, and a non-promotion of early childhood social transition (sometimes labeled under the umbrella term of “watchful-waiting,” which should not be interpreted as “doing nothing”) (D’Angelo et al, 2021 ; de Vries & Cohen-Kettenis, 2012 ; Hakeem, 2012 ; Kozlowska et al, 2021 ; Lemma, 2021 ).…”

Transition Regret and Detransition: Meanings and Uncertainties

“…Clothes, haircuts, colors, mannerisms, etc., do not have a sex. The original Dutch protocol for transition of minors emphasized the role of psychotherapy in fostering self-acceptance of gender-nonconformity prior to contemplating medical interventions (de Vries et al, 2006 ) and a growing body of literature describes an exploratory psychotherapeutic approach that can help people expand their definition of what it means to be a man or a woman, thereby potentially eliminating the need for transition-related medical interventions (Bonfatto & Crasnow, 2018 ; Churcher Clarke & Spiliadis, 2019 ; Evans, 2022 ; Hakeem, 2018 ).…”