The mother of a transgender child has come forward to condemn legislative efforts to ban so-called "conversion therapy," which she warns is a backdoor for filling the ranks of the mental health profession with activists, rather than therapists.
When her own daughter first came out as "trans," this mother, who wishes to protect her identity by remaining anonymous, says she actively sought out a therapist to help the girl "sort out what her gender dysphoria meant" – only to learn that very few "therapists" today are in the business of giving actual therapy.
"I quickly discovered that it is nearly impossible to find therapists who do this kind of work," the anonymous mother wrote in a piece for The Federalist.
"If a girl presents as transgender today, the vast majority of therapists will immediately affirm the girl's declared gender identity and ask her what steps she would like to take toward transition."
Reflecting on the life of her own daughter, this mother merely wanted to help her child learn whether she's truly a transgender, or simply a homosexual who's ashamed of her same-sex attraction, for instance.
Other potential possibilities for her daughter's transgender feelings include a reaction to trauma, a desire for respect, feeling uncomfortable with feminine stereotypes, or even an internalized "hate for women's bodies."
But none of this could be explored, as the more than a dozen so-called therapists whom this mother approached were only interested in "affirming" the girl's transgender identity.
"I finally resorted to paying out-of-pocket for my daughter to talk online to a therapist who lives in another state," the mother writes.
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Thousands of parents of gender-dysphoric youth are similarly unable to find real help for their confused children
Sadly, this mother is not alone in her fruitless quest for honest therapy. She explains in her article that she belongs to an online support group with more than 1,500 other parents just like her who are similarly distraught that standard mental health therapy no longer seems to exist.
"Finding therapists who provide standard mental health therapy rather than automatic affirmation is a frustration for most of us," she laments.
This is where anti-conversion therapy legislation comes into play. Some 29 states are currently mulling whether or not to prohibit such therapy, which has been given an expanded definition in the age of trans-madness.
"The term conversion therapy used to apply only to attempts to change a person's sexual orientation," the mother writes. "Now the term is applied to attempts to change either a person's sexual orientation or a person's gender identity."
Why this is problematic has to do with the large percentage of "transgenders" who are merely confused about their gender identity, and in need of help, not affirmation. Anti-conversion therapy legislation will leave such individuals not only helpless, but also affirmed in their mental illness.
"What the general public does not understand is that standard mental health therapy is now considered conversion therapy when practiced with gender-dysphoric youth," the mother further reveals.
In her daughter's case, the out-of-state therapist who's helping her "think deeply about what her feelings mean and whether transition would be a helpful thing for her" is a rare commodity – and an increasingly rare commodity as activists who believe in an affirmation-only approach "are filing complaints to her therapist's licensing board, claiming the therapist is practicing conversion therapy."
It's an extremely slippery slope with disastrous consequences for gender-dysphoric youth who might otherwise be convinced that their transgender feelings stem from something other than a built-in "gender identity."
Be sure to read the mother's full article at The Federalist.
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