The effects of gender identity change efforts on Black, Latinx, and White transgender and gender nonbinary adults: Implications for ethical clinical practice

Abstract

Gender identity change efforts (GICE) and sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) continue to be practiced by mental health professionals and religious organizations. It is frequently sought out by families who are rejecting loved ones with marginalized sexual orientations and gender identities. This study explored the impact of religious and nonreligious GICE on the mental health of transgender and nonbinary adults through a secondary data analysis of the U.S. Transgender Survey. Results found that both nonreligious and religious GICE were associated with increased odds of suicidal ideation and attempts. Only nonreligious GICE was associated with severe psychological distress. Black individuals showed increased odds of binge alcohol consumption when exposed to nonreligious change efforts, while White individuals showed decreased odds with both nonreligious and religious GICE. This study supports ethical and legal bans on GICE.

“Extremely toxic and evil” reflections on gender identity change efforts by Christian religious leaders: Implications for therapy with transgender and nonbinary clients

“…Results from this study align with the literature that documents the harm caused by GICE, as well as the ineffectiveness of GICE (Conine et al, 2022; Dromer et al, 2022; Heiden‐Rootes et al, 2022; Goodyear et al, 2022; Turban et al, 2020). The participants highlighted their own lived experiences of working with individuals who have experienced GICE and shared examples of the harm they have seen in these individuals that mirrored what is documented in the scholarly literature.…”

“…Gender identity change efforts (GICE), which seek to alter a transgender and/or nonbinary person's gender identity to be a cisgender identity, have been found to cause psychological and relational trauma (Del Río‐González et al, 2021; Goodyear et al, 2022; Green et al, 2020; Heiden‐Rootes et al, 2022; Turban et al, 2020). However, these practices continue to be used by therapists, and there are multiple states in the United States that do not have legal restrictions on the practice of GICE, leaving transgender and nonbinary people, especially transgender and nonbinary youth, at risk of being harmed (Green et al, 2020; Kinitz et al, 2022; Turban et al, 2019).…”

“…In terms of the harm caused by GICE, Goodyear et al (2022) found in their qualitative study that experiencing GICE negatively impacted transgender and nonbinary individuals' abilities to form romantic relationships and led to a sense of isolation. Other researchers have documented the link between exposure to GICE and increased suicidal ideation and psychological distress (Heiden-Rootes et al, 2022;Turban et al, 2020). Scholars have also found that GICE is ineffective, as these practices do not shift individuals with a marginalized gender identity to develop a dominant socially sanctioned identity (i.e., cisgender; Conine et al, 2022;Dromer et al, 2022).…”

Suicide capability within the ideation-to-action framework: A systematic scoping review

“…However, Pettit et al [ 88 ] did not find a relationship between life stressors and suicide attempts within a sample of military personnel diagnosed with early onset BP. Sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts, which have previously been reported as a painful injury [ 96 ], were found to be related to both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts [ 83 , 97 ]. These results suggest that life stressors, abuse, and trauma appear to contribute to suicide capability.…”

Transgender and gender diverse clinical competency and affirmative training in graduate education.

“…TGD people have varied experiences when seeking mental health services. For instance, some TGD people have encountered clinicians who have attempted to change their gender identity (Heiden-Rootes et al, 2022), and others have experienced misgendering (Blumer et al, 2013) and deadnaming (Taylor, 2022). In addition to these explicit acts of discrimination, some TGD individuals share that they often must educate their clinician on terminology or issues related to broader TGD experiences to provide context for their presenting issues (McCullough et al, 2017).…”