New Video Equips Parents and Counselors to Help ‘Gender Dysphoric’ Children
“Gender dysphoria” is the psychiatric term for a mental health disorder. Individuals have thoughts and feelings that cause them to reject their bodily male or female sex; they attempt to identify as either the opposite sex, neither or something in-between.
For decades now, transgender activists and their allies claim the only way to help those struggling with this confusion is to agree with them. They claim we must help these individuals attempt to live and look like the opposite sex through social transitioning and damaging medical interventions.
But there are alternatives.
Julie Hamilton, a licensed marriage and family therapist with a private practice in South Florida, provides this much-needed alternative.
Gender Identity 101, offers guidance for parents and therapists who want to help children embrace their bodily masculinity or femininity. Hamilton has been practicing therapy since 1995 and educating others about sexuality and “gender” since 2003.
Gender Identity 101 gives a Christian and therapeutic view of sexual identity concerns, helps parents and therapists understand the issues surrounding transgenderism and explains the best approach for gender dysphoric children and teens.
One Christian counselor who previewed the video told the Daily Citizen:
“This was an extremely well-produced video. I believe this video would be an excellent resource. … I dare say our constituents would have lots to learn and would come away both encouraged and empowered.”
In addition to Hamilton, the video features Dr. Susan Bradley, a psychiatrist, and psychologist Kenneth Zucker. The curriculum also provides “stories from those who experienced gender insecurity or gender dysphoria in their childhood.”
“Drs. Kenneth Zucker and Susan Bradley are two of the world’s leading experts on gender dysphoria,” Hamilton explains, adding,
“Their extensive experience dates back to the 1970s when Dr. Bradley opened one of the first pediatric gender clinics in North America. Dr. Zucker began working there as a graduate student at that time and later became its director.”
“They have treated hundreds of children and teenagers over the years, researching and publishing for decades on this topic.”
Hamilton explains the three main approaches to gender dysphoria in childhood:
- “Gender-Affirming” Care.
- Watchful Waiting.
- Active Therapeutic Approach.
The first affirms the child, in their belief, that they are a different sex or “gender.” It encourages the disorder, first with “social transitioning,” where a child attempts to live as the opposite sex, usually changing their name, dress and hairstyle.
This usually then leads to the use of experimental, damaging medical interventions: puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries.
The second approach waits to see if the child will outgrow the condition, as parents try “not to do too much one way or the other when it came to little kids,” Zucker explained. The problem with this, he added, is that “parents are always doing things with their kids.”
In other words, “watchful waiting” is an impossibility in the real world.
As Hamilton explains, “Researchers have found that up to 90% of children who are not encouraged to become the opposite sex will outgrow the desire to be the opposite sex by the time they reach adulthood.” Many of these children will go on to struggle with homosexuality.
Hamilton explains the third option,
“The active psychotherapeutic approach is when a professional assists the child in dealing with the underlying issues associated with gender dysphoria.”
This is the approach she recommends and goes on to explain in the video.
“Sadly, the active psychotherapeutic approach has often been mischaracterized as so-called conversion therapy, a term that has become synonymous with abusive practices,” Hamilton states.
“But in reality, it’s simply talk therapy, like talk therapy for any other issue. … Ironically, this characterization ends up hurting clients because it discourages them from pursuing professional help for becoming secure in their gender or reducing unwanted same-sex attractions.”
She adds, “Therapy can be quite effective in helping children with these issues.”
Children and teens struggling with sexual identity confusion very often have underlying factors contributing to this issue. Hamilton, Zucker and Bradley go on to describe some of these, and those who wrestled with their sexual identity give personal examples of how these issues played out in their own lives.
For younger children, these factors can include sex-atypical personality characteristics, misconceptions about gender, parent-child relationships, peer relationships, and problematic family psychodynamics.
For older adolescents, teens and young adults, Hamilton describes three groups who develop late-onset gender dysphoria – although there can be some overlap between these groups. Dr. Zucker explains these are “new subgroups of adolescents” that have become prominent in the last 15 years or so.
Some teen and young adult males who did not struggle with sexual identity confusion as children, Zucker explains, develop “transvestic fetishism, which is sexual arousal associated with cross-dressing. Or what we call autogynephilia, sexual arousal at the thought of being a woman … or having female sexual anatomy or … simply behaving like a woman.”
A second group are autistic children and teens, where typical traits like black and white thinking, social challenges, lack of relational understanding, difficulty with self-regulation, or thoughts of being “different” from others can lead to embracing the transgender subculture as a way to feel welcome and accepted.
The final group is usually teen girls or young women who develop what some researchers call Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria. Some of these may be on the autism spectrum. In addition, most have other co-occurring factors, such as depression, anxiety, suicidality, trauma or body image issues.
The desire to live as the opposite sex can also be exacerbated by transgender-identified friend groups and activist communities on the internet.
Gender Identity 101 goes on to describe how parents and therapists can help those struggling with these concerns. Hamilton, Bradley and Zucker discuss different contributing factors and how counselors and parents can address these issues.
The video ends with explanations from Christians who had sexual identify confusion but came to healing and wholeness.
Along with finding help through counseling, Christian practices like prayer, confession and repentance, deep experiences with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, and the healing grace of love, truth and acceptance are also discussed as effective.
Gender Identity 101 is a helpful tool for parents and counselors, but it also provides encouragement and insight for those struggling with sexual identity confusion, pastors, other family members and the full body of Christ.
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If you or someone you know is struggling with homosexuality or transgenderism, Focus on the Family offers a one-time complimentary consultation with our ministry’s professionally trained counseling staff. The consultation is free due to generous donor support.
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