This morning I found the latest copy of the key counselling magazine ‘Therapy Today’ waiting for me in my postbox. Every month the editor presents a dilemma and invites therapists to respond and some responses are published. I excitedly flicked to page 40 to find my contribution to this months dilemma.  The dilemma relates to how I as a counsellor would support a young person who was struggling with gender dysphoria and attempting to navigate additional barriers to being who they feel themselves to be.

I’ve taken a quick screenshot here:

“Dilemmas: Gender Identity and Young People”, Explore the Impact of Culture.

I stressed in the article the importance of respecting the gender pronoun that the young person chooses to describe their own identity, with a consideration around confidentiality for the young person in case they are not able to be ‘out’ to others.

You can read the article by obtaining a copy of Therapy Today magazine from the BACP or access the online version from the official website.

Thanks to Therapy Today and  BACP for the opportunity.

 

Image Credit
From Therapy Today, July 2016.