THE CONVERSATION — Slow in January, Alberta’s Premier, Danielle Smith, unveiled policies promoting parental rights and gender-affirming care. These laws want to change the way transgender kids can use preferred pronouns and titles in classrooms, as well as access to medical care, and sports.
Op-eds in media have also highlighted how practitioners are helping transgender children and the long-term results of medical treatments. And suggested that “adults can live with the consequences, but inexperienced children can’t”.
This suggests that medical professionals are not assessing the maturity and readiness of transgender children, and that children shouldn’t be transitioning before they reach adulthood.
I want to explain gender-affirming care and how professionals use it as a registered clinical social worker and registered marriage and family therapist who primarily works with the 2SLGBTQIA+ population. Detransition is something I want to talk about because too many individuals misinterpret and use it inappropriately.
There are a number of crucial factors that must be taken into account before addressing age. A child must be assessed as a sophisticated small in order to receive gender-affirming care, which is a comprehensive examination carried out by a professional such as a counselor or social employee.
Gender-affirming care
According to the American Paediatric Society, gender-affirming care assesses emotional, interpersonal, medical and surgical options for gender-varied people. These assessments explore an individual’s individual, parental and economic biographies, as well as their emotional health and physical health. Professionals use this information to best understand how and what their abilities and strengths are and to provide them with the support they need.
Although health doctors may be the first point of contact for children exploring their gender identity, several other professions may offer gender-affirming care, such as psychologists, social workers, teachers, counsellors and fun coaches.
One of the first things that mental health professionals look into when working with transgender children, youth, and their families is allowing children to express gender creatively. The term “gender creativity” is used to describe the fluidity of gender, how one’s identity can change as we become more aware of it, and how it fluctuates with each other.
Giving a child the freedom to express their gender expression and independent thought and creativity will not make them believe they need medical care. On the contrary, as a professional, these interventions are used to support a child’s understanding of their options through improving self-confidence and self-esteem.
Social play can be engaged in through methods like learning about their own preferences, expression styles, and ultimately discovering what makes them happy. This is done in order to assist children in developing self-assurance and self-worth, enabling them to participate in social situations without fear of social consequences.
Importance of support
We frequently evaluate our own behavior in relation to other people’s perceptions of social customs and laws. These social customs suggest that our biological sex must match socially mandated forms of gender expression.
When someone admits that their identity is distinct from these social norms, the transition begins. This doesn’t imply that everyone who feels this way will eventually transition socially or medically.
Once a child can identify that they feel a certain way, it is vital for them to receive support from parents, caregivers, teachers and their broader community. Gender non-conforming young people are at risk for mental health struggles such as anxiety, depression, self-harm and attempted suicide.
One possible explanation for this could be minority stress, which is the distinct, chronic stressors minorities experience related to their identity, including victimization, prejudice and discrimination.
It is crucial to consider the social and political contexts that restrict gender expression because it affects everyone and can cause harm to children who are gender diverse. Given this and the stress experienced by minority people, it is crucial to give children the freedom and space to express themselves so that they can understand that gender expression has two options: to conform to social norms or to transition medically.
Mental health professionals assist children in better understanding their emotions when they are provided gender-affirming care. This entails learning how to regulate emotions and identifying them. This includes addressing unfavorable beliefs about children’s emotions, normalizing emotional responses, and encouraging them to develop more self-awareness.
Some people think that when providing such care to children and youth, mental health professionals focus on gender dysphoria. Because your gender identity does not match your birth gender, you may experience anxiety or distress.
However, before medical interventions are used, children and youth are given a variety of forms of support. Medical interventions are oftentimes the last method a child is provided, and when it is provided, some have described it as life-saving.
Practitioners promote gender euphoria, the joy of integrating gender identity with gender expression, through gender-affirming care. This is accomplished by assisting children in developing their social and psychological well-being and helping them to find confidence and self-worth.
What is detransitioning?
Some children with gender differences may require medical treatment, but that doesn’t mean they have to endure for the rest of their lives. Professionals are addressing the
severity of dysfunction caused by gender dysphoria by giving children and youth access to medical care.
“Detransition” is a term used to describe those who have undergone medical and/or surgical interventions, and then reverted back. People who have had medical or surgical procedures because of discrimination, stigma, or family pressure are subject to correctional strategies, according to research.
It is crucial to comprehend that transgender people who use medical and surgical means for a while before stopping may not be detransitioning.
Some people who identify as non-binary start medical interventions, at a small dose or for a certain amount of time, rather than commit their lives. I’ve seen many people begin hormone therapy and have their doctor change the dosage as they continue to explore their gender identity in my practice.
There is a need for more research into detransition, particularly in terms of how therapists can best assist people who choose to stop or change their medical intervention plans with their doctors.
Ultimately, gender-affirming care is about providing people with the support they need. To enable them to see themselves in positive ways. It is not about pathologizing gender expression.
Gender transition is not about fitting into preset ideals, but rather, finding joy in day-to-day experiences that is cultivated by our happiness, confidence and sense of belonging.
Gio Dolcecore, Assistant Professor, Social Work, Mount Royal University
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