Children claiming to be "Therians"

[Tortoisegirl]

My 12 yo DD is away with her Dad and sent me an email last night saying she is now convinced she is a Therian. Having looked at the website she directed me to, I am now feeling very nervous she has got herself involved with something I would rather she hadn't. therian-guide.com The way she wrote in the email was very intense and adult, and left me with a feeling of dread.
As a bit of background... She doesnt eally get on with her dad, feeling very much the lesser member of his new family (wife and 6yo half sister). To be honest I know he loves her but he is crap at making her feel wanted, he never rings, she doesn't have her own space in his house, he went through a phase of calling her name eg goth, emo etc, and she tells me he calls her lazy. She has recently started asking me questions about why him and I split up when she was 2. I found a piece of paper the otherday witht he question "if he loved me why did he go?". Really heartbreaking.
Does anyone else have any experience of Therians or can give me some advice here. Im feeling really scared she is never going to open up about anything else again. Wish I could talk to her face to face. Im caught between telling not to be so silly and booking therapy. Both of which I know are the wrong responses.

Harmless phase unless she starts growling a lot!
Many cultures have spirit animals. Is this similar.

hey , i’m a therian and you definitely should listen to her! a therian is just someone who identifies as a animal on any non physical level (spiritually and/or psychologically) due to animalistic experiences. being a therian is not a choice and a thing that many people may not get. if you keep her away from searching about her identity she may feel like there is something wrong with her and may not open up more than you wish her too. It may be a phase or not but please just listen and try and understand it! if you want more information about please ask what information you want too understand i’ll happily answer

this may not be a phase tho @malificent7

There is no need to fear she won't open up because along her journey of discovering more and more things about her therianthropy she will want someone to talk to and no need to be concerned because she has just found a part of her she once was and is experiencing it over again. Just try to be supportive.

THERIANTHROPY IS NOT A PHASE. THERIANTHROPY IS NOT AN ILLNESS.
It is a whole community, what you identify as, experiencing animalistic behaviors, it's part of what make a therian a therian. AND NO IF YOUR DAUGHTER DOES START ACTING LIKE AN ANIMAL IT DOES NOT MEAN SHE NEEDS HELP. NO. THATS JUST WRONG.AND ALSO YOU SHOULDN'T WANT YOUR DAUGHTER TO STOP BEING WHO SHE IS IF SHE IS A REAL THERIAN. AT LEAST SHE TOLD YOU. SO JUST TRY TO BE SUPPORTIVE UNLIKE MOST PARENTS THAT HAVE KIDS THAT ARE THERIANS. It's not cool if she feels she has to hide who she really is to make you happy NO. IT'S JUST NOT COOL.

Hiya! I'm also a therian, and I'd just like to say that once your child knows who they are, you can't take that away from them. Don't hope it's 'just a phase' because you will be disappointed. The best thing to do is support them. I do quadrobics at the park myself, and honestly the worst thing that could happen is being called a furry, which we're not. Therians and furries are two very different things. So, yeah, try make your kids feel supported, it's the best thing to do, trust me.
Also, I reccommend watching some of these:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xkXQwCHQIi8
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2cSm4lp1Zgg
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/30CMuV4x4iY
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MUfNiLwrBig

Also @BreezyGoldSnake that is extremely offensive, this is WHO WE ARE that we're talking about. It's not a mental illness, we don't even choose to be therians. We do not need 'help', we may not choose to be therians but we choose to show our pride in being one of them.

As a therian myself, I recommend you just accept the fact that your child’s a little strange, but that’s just a great part of her! Try buying her a faux fur tail, and maybe a mask! Trust me, that always gets any therian child to feel supported. ☺️

My niece is a Therian, she's had to deal with some bullying unfortunately, as someone at her school found her Tiktok account and shared it around. That is the downside, other people's perceptions of Therians are skewed or negative quite often and they can be very unkind.

@Wysteria123 I've watched the videos and that's what my niece does, some of the clips you've shared are beautiful and so creative. I encourage parents to have a watch of what Therians are actually doing and look at the videos @Wysteria123 has linked to, rather than focus on negative things you've heard (like Therians demanding litter trays in their classrooms in the US, it's all nonsense and been debunked by Snopes etc!)

Hello! I am happy to answer your concerns on therianthropy and what you should do about it. Speaking from personal experience of being a therian, I would first advise you to be supportive of your child and ask them why they feel this way. There is a chance they could be just going through a normal stage of childhood, trying to discover things about themselves and all, but it is important to assume otherwise. Sending your child to therapy will not help whatsoever: rather, it would make them feel insecure. From what I have heard about their father from your post, they need someone to be supportive, and you are the only parent who can offer them that. So even if you do not agree completely with their therianthropy, it is important to stay open-minded. Have a wonderful day! I hope this helped. :)

Hey there. I don’t know why you would be concerned. At all. There is nothing wrong with it and it is not at all anything to worry about. I’m a therian myself, and growing up with two anti therian parents was one of the worst things to ever happen to me. Please let her be herself and support her. Please.