Thinking psychoanalytically, thinking better: Reflections on transgender

Saketopoulou, Avgi

doi:10.1080/00207578.2020.1810884

Cited by 32 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…However, medical transition has significant implications for young people, and short‐term solutions to psychic pain often have a hidden long‐term cost. While I agree with Saketopoulou (2020) that we should follow the patient’s material and timeline, as therapists, we must also sustain curiosity about why some material is presented at any given time as well as what is absent in sessions. While we need to be wary of forcing the agenda, we also need to be aware that we might be avoiding difficult areas of exploration and thought, which can significantly influence the patient’s actions.…”

Section: The Clinical Profile Of Gender‐dysphoric Childrenmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Clinicians who support the affirmative approach to trans-identifying children may claim that the approach represented in this paper pathologizes the dysphoric child. Indeed Saketopoulou (2020) argues that the analyst thinking should be along developmental rather than aetiological lines as the latter presumes pathology. My view is that while I always aim to understand the individual's presentation in terms of their development, I am also interested in exploring the unconscious forces that may be influencing the individual perceptions and belief system.…”

Section: The Clinical Profile Of Gender-dysphoric Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many clinicians and activists will argue that allowing the child or young adult to go through puberty without medical interventions causes unnecessary suffering and increases the difficulty of transitioning after puberty (Saketopoulou, 2020). However, medical transition has significant implications for young people, and short‐term solutions to psychic pain often have a hidden long‐term cost.…”

Section: The Clinical Profile Of Gender‐dysphoric Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

‘If only I were a boy …’: Psychotherapeutic Explorations of Transgender in Children and Adolescents

Evans¹

2022

Brit J Psychotherapy

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This paper is based on the author’s experience of working with a particular group of female/male trans children and young people who present a similar clinical profile: a fragile ego prone to fragmentation and concrete thinking. Often, there is evidence of a grievance over the failed ideal object, which is internalized, projected into the body, and then attacked. Faced with the developmental challenge of sexuality at puberty, young adults withdraw to a psychic retreat designed to halt development. This paper focuses on the development of a trans identity in defence against an underlying fear of depressive anxieties and psychic collapse. It describes the ongoing assessment of Joanne, a 19‐year‐old biological female who wanted to be known as Luke in therapy and wished to transition in the belief that this was the only way she could have a life. The concrete nature of Joanne’s thinking created problems in the therapy, as thoughts were often experienced as physical actions. This paper describes the function of the phantasy that transitioning performs in creating a psychic retreat from the demands of psychological development.

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Section: The Clinical Profile Of Gender‐dysphoric Childrenmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: The Clinical Profile Of Gender-dysphoric Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Clinical Profile Of Gender‐dysphoric Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

‘If only I were a boy …’: Psychotherapeutic Explorations of Transgender in Children and Adolescents

Evans¹

2022

Brit J Psychotherapy

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“…Ideally, the model can be used to break down into smaller pieces the oft-overwhelming subjective experiences of GD that can be difficult to describe with words. The clinical focus should always be on the idiosyncratic dynamic of GD of each young TGNC individual and their wider social context (Bell, 2020;Saketopoulou, 2020;Wren, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the global West since the mid-2000s, there has been an increase in the number of teenagers referred to clinics in an effort to alleviate GD through gender-affirming healthcare (de Graaf et al, 2018;Kaltiala et al, 2020a;Zucker et al, 2008). This has created increased attention both within clinics and in public debate regarding what constitutes best treatment for TGNC youth seeking such help (Bell, 2020;Saketopoulou, 2020;Wren, 2019). The first evaluative research of medical treatment for adolescents was promising.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating Gender in Everyday Life: Toward a Conceptual Model of Gender Dysphoria in Adolescents

et al. 2021

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A growing number of adolescents are seeking medical care to alleviate gender dysphoria (GD). This qualitative study explored the subjective experiences of GD among help-seeking transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) youth in order to develop a more nuanced conceptualization of the phenomenon. Fifteen life-mode interviews were conducted with newly referred youth between the ages of 13 and 19. All participants were assigned female at birth. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The participants targeted five major themes that characterize GD: (1) Bodily sensations were constant reminders of GD throughout the day, (2) emotional memories from the past of being different and outside triggered GD, (3) the process of coming out was a transformative experience that changed how the participants understood themselves, (4) GD both increased and decreased in relation to others, (5) everyday life required careful negotiation to feel whole without developing new forms of GD. Based on the results, we suggest a more conceptually nuanced model of GD, one which accounts for how bodily sensations and emotional memories from the past were sources that elicited GD. The sources were mediated through the process of coming out and relating to others, and this resulted in the negotiation of GD today. The conceptual model suggested in the present study could ideally shed light on preexisting knowledge on TGNC youth struggling with GD. In addition, an improved understanding of GD could ideally help clinicians when addressing individual treatment needs.

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Fashioning hate: Driving the runway of desire

Goldenberg

Brown²

2023

Appl Psychoanal Studies

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Sexist and homophobic attitudes are an individual's expression of the dominant sociocultural position which endorses sexism and anti‐homosexuality. We contend that misogyny and homophobia are pathological symptoms representing the internalization of these malignant social values. First, we explain that homosexuality (and other non‐binary identities), though previously experiencing widespread condemnation, are not and never were mental disorders. Instead, it is homophobia ‐ the fear of homosexuality—that reflects psychopathology and, ultimately, prejudice. We argue that these beliefs, in both straight and gay men, are related to fear and anxiety about one's own projected and gendered aggression. We maintain that they reflect the unsuccessful and incomplete resolution of the normative conflicts met during gender identity development. Essential to all healthy gender identity development is the childhood experience of attuned and accepting mirroring of the child by the parents and the culture. Without this regular experience of mutuality, recognition, and approval, especially regarding their most basic gender identity, children who are at risk develop ego‐syntonic misogynistic and homophobic beliefs. We include a case illustration of a gay‐identified man who was wounded and traumatized by homophobia and uses the concept and experience of homophobia as a defense.

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Thinking psychoanalytically, thinking better: Reflections on transgender

Cited by 32 publications

References 27 publications

‘If only I were a boy …’: Psychotherapeutic Explorations of Transgender in Children and Adolescents

‘If only I were a boy …’: Psychotherapeutic Explorations of Transgender in Children and Adolescents

Negotiating Gender in Everyday Life: Toward a Conceptual Model of Gender Dysphoria in Adolescents

Fashioning hate: Driving the runway of desire

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