University of Toronto Faculty of Law and Joint Centre for Bioethics.
Perspect Psychol Sci. 2023 Mar;18(2):472-481. doi: 10.1177/17456916221102325. Epub 2022 Sep 6.
Opposition to gender-affirmative approaches to care for transgender youths by some clinicians has recently begun to consolidate around "gender exploratory therapy" as a proposed alternative. Whereas gender-affirmative approaches follow the client's lead when it comes to gender, gender-exploratory therapy discourages gender affirmation in favor of exploring through talk therapy the potential pathological roots of youths' trans identities or gender dysphoria. Few detailed descriptions of the approach's parameters have been offered. In this article, I invite clinicians to reflect on gender-exploratory therapy through a series of questions. The questions are followed by an exploration of the strong conceptual and narrative similarities between gender-exploratory therapy and conversion practices. Finally, the ethical dimensions of gender-exploratory therapy are discussed from the lenses of therapeutic neutrality, patient-centered care, loving attention, and therapeutic alliance, suggesting that the approach may be unethical.
一些临床医生最近开始反对为跨性别青年提供性别认同支持的方法，转而支持“性别探索疗法”作为替代方法。在性别认同支持方法中，医生会根据客户的引导来确定性别，而性别探索疗法则不鼓励性别认同，而是通过谈话疗法来探索青年跨性别认同或性别焦虑症的潜在病理根源。目前几乎没有提供该方法参数的详细描述。在本文中，我通过一系列问题邀请临床医生反思性别探索疗法。问题之后是对性别探索疗法与转变实践之间的强烈概念和叙述相似性的探讨。最后，从治疗中立、以患者为中心的护理、关爱关注和治疗联盟的角度讨论了性别探索疗法的伦理维度，表明该方法可能不道德。
