Has anyone got some research links?

[Isadora2007]

I am on a counselling forum on Facebook and a post is active about trans kids. Someone has posted links to some tease eg which seems quite legitimate and up to date. But they’ve also posted links to the Mermaids website so I’m guessing we know which side of the debate they are on...it appears they may have done a research paper on it as their references are quite official.
So I wondered if anyone here might have some research based replies? Or links.
Thank you.

Research about what? Its not clear what you are debating. Surely the best answer is to say ''I'm not sure what research you need to tell you that sterilizing gay and non gender conforming children is wrong.''

Isadora, out of curiosity, is it a forum for people seeking counselling, or counsellors/counselling students?

Could we also have some context as to the debate, please, other than it being about trans kids?

Ummmm it’s a forum for counsellors. They’re not allowed to talk about actual clients though. I’ve attached a few photos.

I am not articulate or educated in the area enough to argue back.

Is it Counselling Tutor, or another one?

I'm stuck on this one, as it's presenting it as cut and dry facts, when we know that's not the case. Counsellors are required to act with candour, care and integrity, in line with their own values, but there is a real risk of validating transition through collusion, or through delivering acceptance and empathy without congruence or challenge.

Part of me wonders, if said poster is using such biased research, how they would react if a client brought concerns about their child's transition to the counselling setting. Would this counsellor be able to put the client first, or would they risk steering the client towards forced acceptance without considering the exploration of the client's emotions and thoughts around the subject?

PS, sorry, I know that veered more into theory, but currently looking into various research papers. Will link later. :)

Don't be intimidated, lots of those links are not very official at all. They've linked to Vox, Psychology Today and The Atlantic.

Luckily for you, a poster called Frack has helped us all tremendously with research on the transing of children in recent days. There's a lot of good stuff on these threads:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3738164-Fracks-reference-post

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3733358-trans-kids

Can you be more specific about the argument you are trying to make or are you just trying to respond to what's in the screenshots?

If you can c&p the links to the references they are using it will help us come up with responses.

This is mainly a test link, but explores the effects of gender-transition medication upon the wellbeing of transgender youth

I know for me, within the space, the biggest consideration I would have is "Is this the best option for the client, and am I offering them unconditional positive regard; have I stepped into their world and understanding of it, or am I viewing it with an agenda." As a counsellor, that would be a present consideration through both sides, regardless of whether the client experienced gender dysphoria or was gender critical.

As a counsellor, it's not about our thoughts and feelings about how someone should be living their life, but to help them navigate, explore and process their emotions, thoughts and experiences in a way that makes sense to them. Of course, challenge is a useful tool in the counselling room, but with charities such as Mermaids, I would find myself concerned about collusion. That is down to my own ethical concerns about Mermaids, however.

ESPECIALLY from a counselling POV, I don't feel this is as cut and dry as providing the theory regarding the effects, but at the same time, we need to be sure that both ourselves and our clients are reasonably informed with whatever decisions are made. I'd certainly consider how my responses measured to the BACP (or other governing bodies') ethical frameworks.

OK, I've checked the link, and it doesn't work, just takes you to the UOS login page.

This is the full article

Upon rereading, I've noticed that the negative effects on the female brain are somewhat downplayed, and the benefits on the male brain emphasised.

This is damning on puberty blocking drugs - Polly Carmichael presented some findings from the Tavistock research at the WPATH conference in 2016:

wpath2016.conferencespot.org/62620-wpathv2-1.3138789/t001-1.3140111/f009a-1.3140266/0706-000523-1.3140268

The research showed 100% persistence in children given puberty blocking drugs, compared with 9.3% of children who were not. It also showed that the children who were given these drugs had worse mental health after one year.

The Health Research Authority has recently told the Tavistock to stop plugging these drugs as a 'breathing space' because it's 'misleading'. The purpose of puberty blocking drugs is not to provide space for children to 'explore their gender identities' it's to make them pass better as adults following hormonal transition, 'without the need to surgically reverse or otherwise mask the unwanted physical effects of puberty in the birth gender. They said worsening mental health was not unexpected.

www.hra.nhs.uk/about-us/governance/feedback-raising-concerns/investigation-study-early-pubertal-suppression-carefully-selected-group-adolescents-gender-identity-disorders/

Michael Biggs has written about this here:

www.transgendertrend.com/health-research-authority-puberty-blockers-commit-children-permanent-physical-transition/

and SunMum has written an excellent more general article with lots of useful links to resarch here:

www.transgendertrend.com/puberty-blockers-safe/

FrothyDragon that literature review only looked at studies on adults.

@FrothyDragon thank you so much. I have actually stolen some of what you replied to me to answer on there. It’s not for tutors. But for counsellors. I’ve attached some more references. The person has written a blog and a publication. And likes to call us TERFS and frequented this forum too at one point so hopefully isn’t reading now 😬

@PencilsInSpace aye, was going to come back to the research tomorrow, but felt it would do as a starting point perhaps. But glad to see you've offered some good links for consideration

@isadora2007 was coming at it from a student perspective, but that's certainly something that would need to be considered. Are GC feminists outside of her bounds of empathy, and if so, to what extent is she colluding with TRAs within her responses? Is she able to offer a non-judgemental space to a client whose beliefs differ from hers, as if she's using terms like TERF, I'd suggest her UPR has been compromised. Admittedly, I'm coming heavily from the Rogerian model, but this still collated to the ethical framework.

As a side note, Counselling Tutor is a wonderful resource. Its aimed at both qualified counsellors and counselling students, but they have a weekly podcast which explores a different issue each week.