Let’s Learn About Transgender Clients and Mental Health.

I have a specialty in working with transgender clients. It is such a hot political topic right now! No matter the political identification, people are genuinely concerned about two things: acceptance of this population (no matter what age) and children being “converted.” As a specialist, I can sympathize and even agree with both sides of the worry.

Let’s understand something first. Being transgender is a real medical genetic reality. Humans are not exactly alike, and there are all kids of anomalies as we grow in the womb. Mix-up’s can happen. This is one of them. You get the brain of a particular gender and the body of the other. This causes real suffering…as you can imagine. People want to be loved and accepted. This is why it takes people years before they come-out as transgender. It is scary as hell and takes real bravery to transition. When therapists help people transition we do a thorough reconstructing of their lived experience showing that this condition has been present all along. We do a deep dive into childhood, teenage-hood, and the dysphoria experienced along the way. We don’t write letters until everyone is sure that this condition is present and the client can handle the transition in a healthy way.

It is true that some kids who identify as transgender are looking for positive attention. In some schools being trans is cool. And kids really don’t care about the issue as much as adults do. I think that acceptance is great. To that I say, let them explore. It won’t necessary stick. Kids change their minds and in time figure out who they are. It is a phase for those who are not really transgender. It is not a phase for those who really are. Before anyone can dole out hormones, we need to see that the condition has been present since childhood and persists over time.

I think it is really hard to figure out who we are, and now there are more choices! So how do we support those who might be experimenting? We slow the role on hormones and help them understand themselves better. For those that are transgender, we ought to be able to work with the parents and doctors and make the best decisions for that child or teenager, not have politicians tell us what we can and can’t to do with our bodies. It is a real medical condition. Just because it seems weird and new, and we are not used to this condition in people, shouldn’t make us jump in terror and be highly reactive. We, as therapists, need to be supportive and not reactive. We need to understand childhood exploration, development, and understand the culture of the time. We need to help others understand as well, and not be so frightened. We need to advocate for the mental health of our clients and be gatekeepers.