Therapy First

Last updated
Therapy First
EstablishedJune 2021;3 years ago (June 2021)
PurposePromotion of "gender exploratory therapy"
Affiliations Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, Genspect
Website www.therapyfirst.org
Formerly called
Gender Exploratory Therapy Association (GETA)

Therapy First, originally named the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association (GETA), is a group created in 2021 by members of the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) and Genspect to advocate gender exploratory therapy, which experts consider to be a form of conversion therapy.

Contents

History

GETA was formed in June 2021 by four members of the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, Sasha Ayad, Roberto D'Angelo, Stella O'Malley, and Lisa Marchiano, and Genspect advisor Joseph Burgo. [1] [2] All of GETA's leaders are on the leadership team of or advisors to the gender-critical organization Genspect. [3] The Southern Poverty Law Center described Genspect, SEGM, and GETA as the strongest triad within the "anti-LGBT pseudoscience network", sharing over two dozen personnel connections. [1]

In 2022 GETA published a guide on gender exploratory therapy. [4] After the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) published the 8th edition of its Standards of Care, Burgo launched an initiative called "Beyond WPATH" calling WPATH discredited and stating the signatories, including representatives from GETA, Transgender Trend, the American College of Pediatricians, and Moms for Liberty, were opposed to "the affirmative approach". [5]

In June 2022, U.S. president Joe Biden released an executive order calling for the elimination of conversion therapy for LGBTQ2S+ youth. Shortly afterwards, Lisa Marchiano spoke to the Economist opposing the order two weeks later, stating a conversion therapy ban could cause a "chilling effect" on her organization. [3] [6] [7] In September 2022 GETA members submitted a comment opposing U.S. Department of Education guidance protecting gender identity under Title IX, arguing it would lead to mandatory social transitioning of children without parental consent. [1] In 2023, members filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration calling them to end prescriptions of puberty blockers to trans children. [1]

In late 2023, GETA changed their name to Therapy First. [8]

Views

GETA labels social transition, the act of adopting a new name, pronouns, or gender expression, and medical transition as "risky". [3] The organization argues psychotherapy "should be the first-line treatment for all cases of gender dysphoria" and transition related medical care for youth "should be avoided if possible". [3] [9]

Gender Exploratory Therapy

Gender exploratory therapy emerged recently as a non-affirmative approach to transgender youth. The founders of the approach argue transgender identities are caused by factors such as social contagion, homophobia, sexual trauma, and autism. [9] [10] The approach requires youth complete mandatory "extended" psychotherapy aimed at identifying possible causes of gender identity or trans identity before any transition process. [9] [11] [12] They characterize this approach as neither conversion nor affirmation. [8] [10]

They argue that the gender-affirming approach, which does not view transgender identities as pathological, is a political agenda. [11]

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration issued a report noting that "approaches that discourage youth from identifying as transgender or gender-diverse, and/or from expressing their gender identity" are "harmful and never appropriate" but sometimes “misleadingly" labelled as "exploratory therapy." [8] Gender exploratory therapy is considered by experts to be a form of conversion therapy. [1] [13] [14] [15] [16]

Reception

The American College of Pediatricians have cited numerous studies by GETA members to argue conversion therapies are necessary to maintain the "biological integrity" of trans and gender nonconforming people. [1] The Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity, a conversion therapy group formerly called the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, hosted a conference where board member Michelle Cretella linked the approaches, stating "It truly is very similar to how the Alliance has always approached unwanted SSA [same-sex attraction]" and "you approach it as 'change therapy'—or, even less triggering, 'exploratory therapy'." [8]

Erin Reed, a researcher who has studied gender exploratory therapy and anti-trans organizations, has compared them to crisis pregnancy centers which steer pregnant people away from abortions, stating GETA's strategy is to sound cautious and helpful while promoting the view people should live their lives as their birth assigned gender. [3] The Southern Poverty Law Center has described GETA as part of an "anti-LGBT pseudoscience network." [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have been used to this end include forms of brain surgery, surgical or hormonal castration, aversive treatments such as electric shocks, nausea-inducing drugs, hypnosis, counseling, spiritual interventions, visualization, psychoanalysis, and arousal reconditioning.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA), is a professional organization devoted to the understanding and treatment of gender identity and gender dysphoria, and creating standardized treatment for transgender and gender variant people. WPATH was founded in 1979 and named HBIGDA in honor of Harry Benjamin during a period where there was no clinical consensus on how and when to provide gender-affirming care.

The Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People (SOC) is an international clinical protocol by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) outlining the recommended assessment and treatment for transgender and gender-diverse individuals across the lifespan including social, hormonal, or surgical transition. It often influences clinicians' decisions regarding patients' treatment. While other standards, protocols, and guidelines exist – especially outside the United States – the WPATH SOC is the most widespread protocol used by professionals working with transgender or gender-variant people.

The Archives of Sexual Behavior is a bimonthly peer-reviewed medical journal in sexology. It is the official publication of the International Academy of Sex Research.

Kenneth J. Zucker is an American-Canadian psychologist and sexologist known for the living in your own skin model, a form of conversion therapy aimed at preventing pre-pubertal chidren from growing up transgender by modifying their gender identity and expression.

Stephen Barrett Levine is an American psychiatrist known for advocating the fringe view that gender dysphoria and being transgender are often caused by psychological issues that should be treated psycho-analytically as opposed to with gender-affirming care. He co-founded Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine's Gender Identity Clinic in 1974, served as the chair of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) drafting committee for the 5th edition of their Standards of Care (SOC-5) published 1998, and served on the American Psychiatric Association (APA) DSM-IV (1994) Subcommittee on Gender Identity Disorders.

The Swedish Women's Lobby is a Swedish gender-critical organization that claims to work for "sex-based rights."

Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions for transgender individuals. A major component of transgender health care is gender-affirming care, the medical aspect of gender transition. Questions implicated in transgender health care include gender variance, sex reassignment therapy, health risks, and access to healthcare for trans people in different countries around the world. Gender affirming health care can include psychological, medical, physical, and social behavioral care. The purpose of gender affirming care is to help a transgender individual conform to their desired gender identity.

Detransition is the cessation or reversal of a transgender identification or of gender transition, temporarily or permanently, through social, legal, and/or medical means. The term is distinct from the concept of 'regret', and the decision may be based on a shift in gender identity, or other reasons, such as health concerns, social or economic pressure, discrimination, stigma, political beliefs, or religious beliefs.

Rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) is a controversial, scientifically unsupported hypothesis which claims that some adolescents identify as transgender and experience gender dysphoria due to peer influence and social contagion. ROGD is not recognized as a valid mental health diagnosis by any major professional associations. The APA, WPATH and 60 other medical professional organizations have called for its elimination from clinical settings due to a lack of reputable scientific evidence for the concept, major methodological issues in existing research, and its stigmatization of gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

Jack L. Turban is an American psychiatrist, writer, and commentator who researches the mental health of transgender youth. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, Scientific American, and Vox. He is an assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at The University of California San Francisco and affiliate faculty in health policy at The Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender Trend</span> British pressure group

Transgender Trend is an anti-trans British pressure group, which describes itself as a group of parents, professionals and academics who are concerned about the number of children diagnosed with gender dysphoria. It was founded in 2015 by Stephanie Davies-Arai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stella O'Malley</span> Irish psychotherapist and author

Stella O'Malley is an Irish psychotherapist and author, with three books on parenting and mental health. She is a regular contributor to Irish national newspapers, podcasts, and TV. She made a documentary about gender dysphoria in children for Channel 4, and is the founder of Genspect, a self-described gender critical organisation opposed to gender affirming care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genspect</span> Organization opposing transgender rights

Genspect is an international group founded in June 2021 by psychotherapist Stella O'Malley that has been described as gender-critical. Genspect opposes gender-affirming care, as well as social and medical transition for transgender people. Genspect opposes allowing transgender people under 25 years old to transition, and opposes laws that would ban conversion therapy on the basis of gender identity. Genspect also endorses the unproven concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD), which proposes a subclass of gender dysphoria caused by peer influence and social contagion. ROGD has been rejected by major medical organisations due to its lack of evidence and likelihood to cause harm by stigmatizing gender-affirming care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine</span> Group opposing gender-affirming care

The Society For Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) is a non-profit organization that is known for its opposition to gender-affirming care for transgender youth and for engaging in political lobbying. The group routinely cites the unproven concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria and mistakenly claimed that conversion therapy techniques are only practiced on the basis of sexual orientation rather than gender identity. SEGM is often cited in anti-transgender legislation and court cases, sometimes filing court briefs. It is not recognized as a scientific organization by the international medical community.

Quentin L. Van Meter is a pediatric endocrinologist and president of the American College of Pediatricians, a socially conservative advocacy group which is known for opposing gay marriage, gender reassignment surgery, and abortion. He has advocated and referred his clients to conversion therapy and is known for rejecting the medical consensus on the efficacy and safety of transgender health care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cass Review</span> Review of gender identity services in England

The Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People was commissioned in 2020 by NHS England and NHS Improvement and led by Hilary Cass, a retired consultant paediatrician and the former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. It dealt with gender services for children and young people, including those with gender dysphoria and those identifying as transgender in England.

Miriam Grossman is an American psychiatrist and activist associated with anti-LGBT and conservative advocacy organizations. She is an opponent of gender affirming medical care for transgender people, and opposes sex education in schools, which she describes as a "marxist approach to human development".

The early 21st century saw a rise in and increasing organisation around anti-transgender sentiments in the United Kingdom, the most common strain being that of gender-critical feminism. This has led to some referring to the United Kingdom by the nickname "TERF Island".

The Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy (MoU) is a joint publication by a coalition of mental and physical health organisations in the United Kingdom disavowing the practice of conversion therapy. It was initially published in 2015 and only condemned sexual orientation change efforts, before being updated to include gender identity change efforts in 2017. Signatories include the Royal College of Psychiatrists, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, NHS England, the British Psychoanalytic Council, and the Royal College of General Practitioners. The UK Council for Psychotherapy was a signatory to both editions, but withdrew in 2024 over the inclusion of protections for transgender children.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Group dynamics and division of labor within the anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience network". Southern Poverty Law Center. December 12, 2023. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  2. ↑ "Timeline: Building a Pseudoscience Network". Southern Poverty Law Center. December 12, 2023. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Santoro, Helen (2023-05-02). "How Therapists Are Trying to Convince Children That They're Not Actually Trans". Slate. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  4. ↑ "Manufacturing the doubt that fuels the network". Southern Poverty Law Center. December 12, 2023. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  5. ↑ "Foundations of the Contemporary Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Network". Southern Poverty Law Center. December 12, 2023. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  6. ↑ Reed, Erin (2023-01-13). "Unpacking 'gender exploratory therapy,' a new form of conversion therapy". Xtra Magazine. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  7. ↑ "The Biden administration's confused embrace of trans rights". The Economist. June 23, 2022. ISSN   0013-0613 . Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Pauly, Madison; Carnell, Henry. "First they tried to "cure" gayness. Now they're fixated on "healing" trans people". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  9. 1 2 3 Ashley, Florence (2023). "Interrogating Gender-Exploratory Therapy". Perspectives on Psychological Science. 18 (2): 472–481. doi:10.1177/17456916221102325. ISSN   1745-6916. PMC   10018052 . PMID   36068009.
  10. 1 2 Lawson, Zazie; Davies, Skye; Harmon, Shae; Williams, Matthew; Billawa, Shradha; Holmes, Ryan; Huckridge, Jaymie; Kelly, Phillip; MacIntyre-Harrison, Jess; Neill, Stewart; Song-Chase, Angela; Ward, Hannah; Yates, Michael (2023). "A human rights based approach to transgender and gender expansive health". Clinical Psychology Forum. 1 (369): 91–106. doi:10.53841/bpscpf.2023.1.369.91. ISSN   1747-5732.
  11. 1 2 Cabarat, Mo (2023-12-11). "Gender transitions during youth: North American controversies". Mouvements (in French). 115 (3): 110–117. doi:10.3917/mouv.115.0110. ISSN   1291-6412.
  12. ↑ Saketopoulou, Avgi; Pellegrini, Ann (2024-07-02). Gender Without Identity. NYU Press. p. 28. ISBN   978-1-4798-3612-3.
  13. ↑ "WPATH, ASIAPATH, EPATH, PATHA, and USPATH Response to NHS England in the United Kingdom (UK)" (PDF). WPATH . November 25, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  14. ↑ Bharat, Bharat; Dopp, Alex; Last, Briana; Howell, Gary; Nadeem, Erum; Johnson, Clara; Stirman, Shannon Wiltsey (October 2023). "OSF". The Behavior Therapist. 46 (7). Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. doi:10.31234/osf.io/gz5mk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  15. ↑ Amery, Fran (2023-12-11). "Protecting Children in 'Gender Critical' Rhetoric and Strategy: Regulating Childhood for Cisgender Outcomes". DiGeSt - Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies. 10 (2). doi: 10.21825/digest.85309 . ISSN   2593-0281. Archived from the original on 24 September 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  16. ↑ Caraballo, Alejandra (December 2022). "The Anti-Transgender Medical Expert Industry". Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 50 (4): 687–692. doi:10.1017/jme.2023.9. ISSN   1073-1105. PMID   36883410. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
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