Treatment | GD Alliance

"Often with the help of psychotherapy, some individuals integrate their trans- or cross-gender feelings into the gender role they were assigned at birth and do not feel the need to feminize or masculinize their body." - WPATH Standards of Care (2012), Page 8.

Psychotherapy

We highly recommend that you find a counsellor you feel comfortable talking to. For many people, gender nonconformity and/or GD are innate (won't change) however, identity is constructed and fluid (can change). Counselling can be helpful in several ways:

Improve coping skills and reduce distress
Explore your cross-sex identity and how it developed
Discuss non medical options for managing your GD
Explore whether or not your GD can be integrated into your identity in ways that work for you without needing to change your body medically (See below: hormone & surgery fact sheets)
Identify things that may be contributing to your GD
Improve social skills and supports
Address any other concerns you may have about your over-all mental health
Help with family or social conflicts
To prepare you for medical treatment, if needed

Several different kinds of therapy can be helpful for Gender Dysphoria:

Interpersonal psychotherapy
Gender Exploratory Therapy
Psychoanalysis/Depth Psychotherapy
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (especially if you're struggling with mood swings and social skills)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

There are many other types of counselling that can be helpful as well.

Medical Treatment

In some cases of severe Gender Dysphoria, medical treatments to change the appearance of of our bodies can be helpful. These treatments can not change your biological sex, but they can masculinize or feminize your appearance, which is helpful for some people.

This is a big decision. A medical transition is a very complex physical, social and psychological change, which can be extremely stressful. There are risks as well as benefits - which aren't entirely predictable. Note: though many people do experience relief from GD from these treatments, some people report no benefit or worsening GD. Transition regret is a risk and many of these physical changes are permanent.

Masculinizing Hormones Fact Sheet

Feminizing Hormones Fact Sheet

Masculinizing Surgery (coming soon)

Feminizing Surgery (coming soon)

Please talk to your doctor for more information.

Gender Dysphoria: A Therapeutic Model for Working with Children, Adolescents and Young Adults

Interpersonal psychotherapy with transgender clients

One Size Does Not Fit All: In Support of Psychotherapy for Gender Dysphoria

The need for thorough assessment and treatment of gender dysphoric children

Depth psychotherapy with transgender people.

Towards a Gender Exploratory Model: slowing things down, opening things up and exploring identity development.

Australian children and adolescents with gender dysphoria: Clinical presentations and challenges experienced by a multidisciplinary team and gender service