Thoughtful Therapists and Gender Dysphoria
= "psychotherapists and counsellors working in the area of gender and gender dysphoria".
URL = https://thoughtfultherapists.org/
Description
"we are a group of psychotherapists and counsellors working in the area of gender and gender dysphoria. We have come together in a bid to protect the integrity of the open-ended exploration of feelings and ideas that has always been, and is still now, a necessary component of ethical and effective therapy.
We are concerned that the proposed Bill to Ban Conversion Therapy may criminalise or ban beneficial exploratory therapy in the context of gender dysphoria as we feel this will be detrimental to both therapists and clients who want to work in this area. We believe that ethical therapists would never carry out conversion therapy and so the focus should be on protecting the integrity of ethical therapy. We do not agree with faith-based conversion ‘therapy’ and we do not consider it in any way ethical.
We are concerned about the consequences of the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy. This document seems to promote an affirmation-only approach for therapists working with individuals with gender-related distress. There is no long-term, high quality evidence base to support the affirmative approach and we are concerned that this narrowminded approach limits the range of therapeutic options available to individuals who are endeavouring to freely explore their innermost thoughts and feelings."