A psychotherapist who works with gender distressed young people without affirming their gender identities in California, where "conversion therapy" is banned, explains why her practice is legal
“Similarly, therapists are sometimes confronted with an unshakable belief that one is trans, rather than that one identifies as trans in a way that acknowledges the reality of sex, or the insistence that long-term, life-changing decisions can be made when the faculties and experience to make such decisions are absent. We cannot—and should not—attempt to change this belief, but rather to work on creating and sustaining a relationship that facilitates the development of internal scaffolding, of a capacity to think and feel as fully as possible without collapse.”
This passage resonated with me deeply, even if it also frustrated me.
The best, most effective therapy takes time and trust. If patients have access to those things--if clinicians have access to them--there is great potential for help and change.
But so many current trans-identified or trans-questioning youth don’t even have a therapist--let alone a *good* therapist, let again alone the years of time to build a trusting relationship where the clinician can help them work through these issues in the appropriate way.
I am heartened to read about one such therapist’s work. I also see so much sober truth in their observations.
It does, though, seem in tension with the situation on the ground, so to speak.
Tough business: lots of minefields and fanatics who don't take prisoners. Good luck to you and others like you who take charge and courageously try to help these people deal with their problems.
"Gender Affirming Care" is one of the Stalinist religions of our time. Dissent is as welcome, as it was in 1933 in Russia. I wrote that "Many other countries (including the UK, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden, etc.) have recognized that ‘Gender Affirming Care’ doesn’t have a good track record of working and have sharply restricted ‘Gender Affirming Care’ as a consequence. I also wrote that even the New York Times had turned away from ‘Gender Affirming Care’.
These statements are factually accurate and press releases (from each country) support them. Predictably, the fanatics went crazy and claimed that I was wrong.
In the US, the fanatics have captured (or worse) the AMA, the APA, and many other organizations. Consider the near universal prevalence of the acronyms AFAB/AMAB. Neither is even remotely correct. Sex is not ‘assigned’ at birth (or before). Sex is observed. The observations are around 99.9% correct. In rare cases, observed sex and actual sex don’t match. For example, Caster Semenya was thought to be female at birth. He has 46,XY genes, male normal levels of Testosterone, and two testes. He has no ovaries, no Fallopian tubes, and no Uterus. He does have 5-ARD.
"Gender Affirming Care" is the gay/lesbian conversion therapy from hell.
Children who may be sissy boys or tomboy girls are part of the pool who may be told, by teachers/counselors/students, etc, "Maybe you are trans". It may be that these paragons of trans acceptance are in fact world-class homophobes.
The prevailing model of gender identity does, in a sense, create the problem it aims to address, categorising the experience of gender dysphoria in socially irreconcilable terms, resulting in a vicious circle that cannot be socially integrated without conflicts about meaning and therefore harm. What are you thoughts regarding the following analysis, can it be exploited therapeutically? https://michaelkowalik.substack.com/p/gender-identity-on-trial
While I agree that the text allows some theoretical ability to contest a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, I am skeptical that it is a solid protection. To me, the way it was written was so broad and the terms for the protections are so fuzzy that the goal looks to be to intimidate people into not risking a full analysis.
The issue is not just with how the law and the guidelines are written, it has to do with the enforcement culture. Biased enforcement has to be expected.
Lysenko had the huge ‘advantage’ that he could offer his crazy theories before the details of DNA/RNA/protein synthesis were well known. Now they are. As a partial consequence, the fanatics have moved on the gender ideology (which can not so easily be disproven). Of course, at a lower level ignorance abounds. In Maine, Christy Hammer dared to say that humans have only two sexes. She was correct of course. 21 out of 22 students responded by walking out. The last student eventually went along with the mob.
To whom you are attracted sexually is purely subjective and therefore cannot reasonably be contested by an outside observer. Where you decide to live your life on a spectrum of superficial, stereotypical male to female attributes (and we all do) is also purely subjective and similarly cannot be questioned. However, your biological sex reflects an objective reality which you cannot change and therefore you cannot expect someone else to confirm such a purported change. This is the single most important reason to divorce T from LGB. They are simply not the same thing.
Hi Sophie! I work with Our Duty and we are always looking for therapists that take a more open minded approach than just abject affirmation. Can you email me gigilarue1969@gmail.com?
“Similarly, therapists are sometimes confronted with an unshakable belief that one is trans, rather than that one identifies as trans in a way that acknowledges the reality of sex, or the insistence that long-term, life-changing decisions can be made when the faculties and experience to make such decisions are absent. We cannot—and should not—attempt to change this belief, but rather to work on creating and sustaining a relationship that facilitates the development of internal scaffolding, of a capacity to think and feel as fully as possible without collapse.”
This passage resonated with me deeply, even if it also frustrated me.
The best, most effective therapy takes time and trust. If patients have access to those things--if clinicians have access to them--there is great potential for help and change.
But so many current trans-identified or trans-questioning youth don’t even have a therapist--let alone a *good* therapist, let again alone the years of time to build a trusting relationship where the clinician can help them work through these issues in the appropriate way.
I am heartened to read about one such therapist’s work. I also see so much sober truth in their observations.
It does, though, seem in tension with the situation on the ground, so to speak.
Tough business: lots of minefields and fanatics who don't take prisoners. Good luck to you and others like you who take charge and courageously try to help these people deal with their problems.
Danny Huckabee
"Gender Affirming Care" is one of the Stalinist religions of our time. Dissent is as welcome, as it was in 1933 in Russia. I wrote that "Many other countries (including the UK, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden, etc.) have recognized that ‘Gender Affirming Care’ doesn’t have a good track record of working and have sharply restricted ‘Gender Affirming Care’ as a consequence. I also wrote that even the New York Times had turned away from ‘Gender Affirming Care’.
These statements are factually accurate and press releases (from each country) support them. Predictably, the fanatics went crazy and claimed that I was wrong.
In the US, the fanatics have captured (or worse) the AMA, the APA, and many other organizations. Consider the near universal prevalence of the acronyms AFAB/AMAB. Neither is even remotely correct. Sex is not ‘assigned’ at birth (or before). Sex is observed. The observations are around 99.9% correct. In rare cases, observed sex and actual sex don’t match. For example, Caster Semenya was thought to be female at birth. He has 46,XY genes, male normal levels of Testosterone, and two testes. He has no ovaries, no Fallopian tubes, and no Uterus. He does have 5-ARD.
About time psychologists push back; surgeons, endocrinologists, NP's, and PCP's have an incentive not to.
"Gender Affirming Care" is the gay/lesbian conversion therapy from hell.
Children who may be sissy boys or tomboy girls are part of the pool who may be told, by teachers/counselors/students, etc, "Maybe you are trans". It may be that these paragons of trans acceptance are in fact world-class homophobes.
The prevailing model of gender identity does, in a sense, create the problem it aims to address, categorising the experience of gender dysphoria in socially irreconcilable terms, resulting in a vicious circle that cannot be socially integrated without conflicts about meaning and therefore harm. What are you thoughts regarding the following analysis, can it be exploited therapeutically? https://michaelkowalik.substack.com/p/gender-identity-on-trial
While I agree that the text allows some theoretical ability to contest a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, I am skeptical that it is a solid protection. To me, the way it was written was so broad and the terms for the protections are so fuzzy that the goal looks to be to intimidate people into not risking a full analysis.
The issue is not just with how the law and the guidelines are written, it has to do with the enforcement culture. Biased enforcement has to be expected.
Lysenko had the huge ‘advantage’ that he could offer his crazy theories before the details of DNA/RNA/protein synthesis were well known. Now they are. As a partial consequence, the fanatics have moved on the gender ideology (which can not so easily be disproven). Of course, at a lower level ignorance abounds. In Maine, Christy Hammer dared to say that humans have only two sexes. She was correct of course. 21 out of 22 students responded by walking out. The last student eventually went along with the mob.
To whom you are attracted sexually is purely subjective and therefore cannot reasonably be contested by an outside observer. Where you decide to live your life on a spectrum of superficial, stereotypical male to female attributes (and we all do) is also purely subjective and similarly cannot be questioned. However, your biological sex reflects an objective reality which you cannot change and therefore you cannot expect someone else to confirm such a purported change. This is the single most important reason to divorce T from LGB. They are simply not the same thing.
Hi Sophie! I work with Our Duty and we are always looking for therapists that take a more open minded approach than just abject affirmation. Can you email me gigilarue1969@gmail.com?