James Esses Case - Evidence-based therapy

[RoastChicory]

There has been an update from James Esses, who was suspended from his psychotherapy course as he set up a petition to make sure therapists were allowed to explore issues with gender dysphoria patients and not simply affirm the patient’s self-diagnosis.

Shockingly, it appears that the U.K. psychotherapists association put pressure to expel James from the course. They are therefore also now part of the case. If James wins, this would set a very important message to similar associations.

Email copied below

Update on Expelled from my university course for holding gender critical views

Dear Supporters,

Thanks to the overwhelming support I received from my original crowdfunding, my lawyers have now been able to draft and lodge my claim. My lawyers are Akua Reindorf, who wrote the Reindorf review into the treatment by Essex University of its gender critical staff, and Peter Daly of Doyle Clayton Solicitors, who acted for Maya Forstater in the appeal that established gender critical beliefs such as mine as being protected from discrimination.

My claim is in the Employment Tribunal, because both of the Respondents provide workplace qualifications. These are litigated in the Employment Tribunal because of section 53 of the Equality Act 2010.

The First Respondent is Metanoia. The acts of discrimination I am litigating are set out in my original crowdfunding page.

The Second Respondent is UKCP, the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy. This is the main registration body for councillors and psychotherapists in the UK. These are not regulated professions, so they don’t have a regulator in the same way that Doctors have the General Medical Council, or solicitors have the Solicitors Regulation Authority. But UKCP is in many ways a quasi-regulator, because registration with the UKCP (or one other counterpart) is required in order to qualify formally as a counsellor or psychotherapist.

It has come to light in Subject Access Request responses that UKCP were far more involved in Metanoia’s actions towards me than I had previously realised. Metanoia were liaising with UKCP, who were putting pressure on Metanoia in how they dealt with me. My claim is therefore also against UKCP, on the basis that its actions instructed, caused or induced Metanoia’s discrimination against me, as well as those actions being discriminatory against me in their own right. As with Metanoia, I am litigating against UKCP on the basis that it is a qualifications body, but also on the basis that it is a Trade Association – both of these are within the Employment Tribunal’s jurisdiction under the Equality Act 2010.

This is, as far as I am aware, the first claim for gender critical belief discrimination brought against a registration body or quasi-regulator like UKCP. This is therefore an important case because it will have relevance for other regulators and other regulated professions.

I'm just going to state again what James Esses says on his Crowdjustice page because it's important to show he does recognise that transition is appropriate for some:

For some, gender reassignment will be the appropriate treatment. For others, it will not.

@anaily

GC philosophy is boys will be boys, girls will be girls. That any other combination is wrong and needs to be corrected. No deviation or anything.

That’s the complete opposite of what GC feminists believe

I watched this yesterday. I was very impressed by James Esses.

@anaily

"What makes you feel that way? What has been happening in you le life? Basically, to do psychotherapy. "

The aim of the therapy tying to find a cause? Some trauma perhaps? To then fix that with the goal of the trans kid no longer identifying as their gender? So the child is gender conforming? Sounds eerily similar to conversion therapy. I can see why childline dropped him. Hopefully all the children he came into contact with are followed up with. Promoting extreme forms of self hate is not therapy.

Nobody in the social sciences, counselling or therapeutic professions is allowed to even ask the right questions or talk about it publicly, but if you look at the Venn diagram of clients who present with gender dysphoria and clients who have experienced trauma (either because of trying to live with undiagnosed autism, denial of their sexual orientation, or CSA), it’s almost a perfect circle.

Trans allies talk about dysphoria as if it happens in a vacuum. You just are dysphoric - ‘born in the wrong body’, etc. But it’s not fixed and innate like a sexual orientation. It’s overwhelmingly more often than not a trauma response in young people. And a fetish in older people (predominantly men).

But mental health professionals are discouraged from looking at these disorders through those lenses and instead are bullied into unquestioningly affirming the client.

A Venn diagram that shows a minority group is traumatised that results in them being trans? And you want to further stigmatise that minority by suppressing and restricting their access? And portraying them as a threat to society?

Any evidence that under 18 trans is caused by trauma, and 19 onwards trans is a result of fetish?

Have dug.

And you want to further stigmatise that minority by suppressing and restricting their access?

Again you've misunderstood. James wants to ensure they can access a full and thorough therapy. Not restrict their access to just a very limited half an hour chat. HTH

@334bu

*GC philosophy is boys will be boys, girls will be girls. That any other combination is wrong and needs to be corrected. No deviation or anything.* 😂😂😂😂😂

The complete misunderstanding of what GC is quite embarrassing really

Could we have a face palm icon?

Good to see this thread bumped. I contributed at the time - he's such a balanced person with a clear acknowledgement that some people are trans alongside all the concerns about the gaslighting of children that persuades them to sign away their future fertility and to alter their growing bodies before they have reached maturity.
Off to donate again and let's keep this thread close to the top of the board - it's such an important cause.

@anaily

A Venn diagram that shows a minority group is traumatised that results in them being trans? And you want to further stigmatise that minority by suppressing and restricting their access? And portraying them as a threat to society? Any evidence that under 18 trans is caused by trauma, and 19 onwards trans is a result of fetish?

Restrict their access to what? James is proposing, and I am supportive of him, that we widen the therapeutic approach towards trans issues. At the moment it's restrictively and prohibitively narrow - affirmation. It's professionally negligent not to be curious about any potential co-morbidities.

In children with gender dysphoria, there is a sense of urgency that their trans identity must be affirmed as quickly and frictionlessly as possible through hormones and surgery.

In the cases of adults, this seems to fall by the wayside in favour of a self-ID style approach where no hormones or surgery are necessary to achieve transition.

Again, it's a question professionals are not allowed to ask. Why can a man with a penis say they have fully transitioned to being a woman without any surgery or hormones? Why isn't that option available for trans children? Why put them on drugs asap? What's the urgency if, as an adult, drugs and surgery don't seem to be pertinent to transition at all? It's contradictory.

You support increased funding for gender clinics then?

@anaily

You support increased funding for gender clinics then?

If there's a demonstrable clinical need then yes of course, absolutely. There should be far more resources put into supporting children who are suffering from MH issues, gender dysphoria, anorexia and a whole host of other things. Very sadly in this country such services are atrociously resourced by the NHS.

It's one reason we really really need James and others like him to be able to train as therapists.

DoubleEx you are against those who do get medical help, and also against those that don't get medical help? I would say it's down to the individual for what they want.

I shall dig again on payday.

@anaily

DoubleEx you are against those who do get medical help, and also against those that don't get medical help? I would say it's down to the individual for what they want.

I'm against unnecessary medical intervention. Currently, professionals aren't allowed to do any sort of exploration to find out if medical intervention is necessary or not.

I am not a TERF, Karen, transphobe or otherwise, i am definitely not GC and I would go to rallies to support trans right but I agree that children experiencing gender dysphoria and those who identify as trans/non-binary etc require guidance and time to make sure they are making the right decision with how they'll go through their transition.

They shouldn't be stopped but they should be held back from making non-reversible and potentially damaging changes until they've had plenty of information and help. There are lots of routes to go down to validate their gender and they should be given fair and equal information to help them choose the right one. I personally think any serious stages (i.e medication, binding, etc) should only be taken at 16+ and surgery 18+ but lifestyle changes, pronoun and name changes can be supported at any age. Not because I don't believe them or because I don't think they should have physical transitions but because it's a lot to take on and they deserve to be supported through it when they're mature enough to understand how their body is and how it will be.

So anaily. Have you statistics that disprove the latest papers that point out that leaving mental health conditions untreated because ‘affirmative’ only treatment has been given leads to those mental health issues causing even worse trauma in the future?

Have you not seen the recent study from Australia that show a more holistic approach leads to healthy patients in the long run? It and other papers from past and current gender clinic clinicians are on the break-it-down thread.

Why are you advocating for poor quality health care for trans people?

As a parent of a vulnerable teen who also has many friends who are trans needing complex and individual health care as they are all 14-15 years old, I can assure you one size does NOT fit all and frankly, you are advocating for these teenagers to have substandard care.

You either have not read the studies, the reports and papers or you have an agenda that will cause harm to teenagers and children. Which is it? Because there are now plenty of trans people themselves advocating for better standard of care than simply affirming only and even those posting on MN that usually disagree with us on many other aspects will agree that mental health care needs to be very much individually tailored and dealing with underlying issues as well.

Such an important case. I’ve donated and shared.

I am not a TERF, Karen, transphobe or otherwise, i am definitely not GC

Fascinating that the poster with the most box labels sprinkled through their posts is the one insisting that others are the box assigners.

Can you see nuance in people at all without having to box them up?

I see James now has over 57k notes in his repertoire.

Perhaps people who have transitioned and regretted it, might have benefited from good psychotherapy/counselling??? Not for conformity, but to explore before making such a massive decision.
Wonder what they'd say?
As for GC being boys will be boys and girls will be girls.. spectacularly missing the point 😆

I don’t believe there’s any misunderstanding on this thread, it’s deliberate misrepresenting the GC position.

Absolutely howling at Anaily getting GC feminism so wrong. Literally could not be more backwards. You really need to educate yourself Anaily, you've totally got the wrong end of the stick.

Also the other poster who says I'm not a terf or GC and then goes on to say exactly what GC feminists think. You couldn't write it. Too funny.

@Deliriumoftheendless

I don’t believe there’s any misunderstanding on this thread, it’s deliberate misrepresenting the GC position.

Oh absolutely. But it's a great way of keeping the thread active

@anaily

The main stigma and mockery comes from GC people telling them to conform to gender stereotypes according to their anatomy. The reality is they are trans.

Gender critical people are CRITICAL of gender, hence their desire to eradicate gender stereotypes.

How is this so difficult for you to understand?

The clue is in the name. GENDER. CRITICAL. Critical of gender. Not wanting to perpetuate it.