Any other BACP members on here?

Ugh. I work in mental health and I've been unpleasantly surprised by the lack of critical thinking and, err, reflection? on this issue from the qualified Psychologists that I know.

OP you have my sympathy. CP, took early retirement due to health issues. I recently heard from a colleague about the SW training she had to attend. There was zero discussion regarding the safeguarding of extremely vulnerable women on an inpatient ward. The entire training centred the needs of the trans person. My colleague is quite naive about these issues and asked a reasonable question but was shot down as her question was deemed transphobic. She was perplexed by the trainer’s response but quickly realised not to ask anything else. On hearing her account I felt relieved that my poor health had enabled me to dodge that bullet.

UKCP rather than BACP, but in terms of caputure there's no difference.

I work in a university counselling service and the young women I see are being fucked over. They hate their bodies because they compare themselves to perfection on Instagram all day long; their porn-educated controlling boyfriends want anal and tell them they're frigid if they refuse; and the lesbians have disappeared because they're being shamed into identifying as men or non-binary.

I'm so disappointed in my profession for their moral cowardice in not challenging the nonsense that is gender identity ideology.

A lot of ' non-political' middle class, white, straight women. A lot of beung careful, sitting on the fence and not wanting to 'upset anyone, meanwhile failing our diverse communities.

samosamo I take issue with this. The profession is overwhelmingly white and middle-class and this is a problem. But it's not a problem that we are mostly women. Men could be therapists if they wanted to but they don't because the profession has been devalued as one of the 'caring professions'.

I saw this on FB via a screenshot. I’m horrified. I’m not working in psychology yet, I’m about to start studying, so I hope you don’t mind me posting - I can just lurk after this. But I just wanted to say I’m really sorry you are facing this fucking awful barrier in work, as the people who are better placed than any to really unpick gender confusion/dysphoria. It makes me so angry. If these kids don’t have you all to help prevent them heading down this road, who do they have?!

I have many years to go but it scares me, especially as I am leaning towards some kind of specialism in autism or maybe trauma work. Both reasons why I was convinced I should be a boy for several years as a child.

Just bookmarking - I will post when I can as I have a lot to say on this issue

There are so many bizarre things about it. I know CPs who are deeply critical of almost all psychiatric drug interventions and the medicalisation of distress, but who have done training with Gendered Intelligence and now resist even mild debate about giving puberty blockers to kids. People who don't believe in the concept of autism, but are fine with labeling (as transgender/men) and medicating, for life, young girls who have the social difficulties associated with the ASD label. I know psychologists who have delivered teaching on the psychological consequences of FGM, and yet will in effect deny the importance of sex in female oppression. I've run out of anger, and mainly watch in bemusement.

I haven't seen captured.

Link?

I'm clin psych too.

Work in training, on one of the courses, though.

A blend of the type of navel-gazing (with a definite smattering of full on narcissism) associated with clinical training, a very captured university, and a very captured NHS...

Also it's part of the job to not be offended if a client unintentionally offends me during a session this with bells on. So therapists come in a 'highly narcissistic' variety now then? That's going to go well.

I'm retired; UKCP, not BACP, fyi.

Saw it. Read it. Ranted to my GC academic friend about it (I think she uses MN so might see me on here )

I felt exactly the same, it was all about the therapist not at all about the client. I've never seen such a breathtakingly self-centred article in there. I couldn't see beneficence anywhere in the article.

Also went to the website of the author who has a blog entry about the Keira Bell case with lots of handwringing about how terrible it is to deny children puberty blockers for gender dysphoria when they are prescribed to stop precocious puberty.

If I behaved like that I'd expect to be in breach of the ethical framework but they're being celebrated.

Also found the reference to making the toilets single sex interesting - the fact that they took care to explain that the two toilets are two standalone rooms. Because even in an article as self-centred as that one they took pains to admit that they wouldn't force (often vulnerable clients) into mixed sex shared facilities.

I'm a clinical psych. Tbh my profession is not th seat of radical thinking, it's cookie cutter.

A lot of ' non-political' middle class, white, straight women. A lot of beung careful, sitting on the fence and not wanting to 'upset anyone, meanwhile failing our diverse communities.

Don't expect anything more, you'll be perpetually disappointed.

I so agree w you to an extent. The therapist can explain their preferred pronoun, but it's not the client's job to remember it. I personally couldn't care less if my clients forget my name, as long as they're making progress. Also it's part of the job to not be offended if a client unintentionally offends me during a session, for example calling me Mrs or talking about 'coloured people instead of black. It's a different thing, of course, if they intend to. But I do believe that's another matter entirely.