Counselling and Gender Critical beliefs

[rallyingcry]

Full disclosure: I'm a therapist and GC.
I work with children, teenagers and adults.
I don't come across trans issues often but when i do, always act with love, compassion and curiosity. Sadly I do tend to refer on clients where this is the main presenting issue as the law is unclear on conversion therapy and we don't appear to be allowed to explore issues, even when the client wants to! Insane! So I have to be careful and don't want to work under a cloud of censorship. I do worry that these clients will be potentially harmed by an affirming therapist who
doesn't help young people explore their identity when they want to, before embarking on lifelong irreversible journeys.
Anyhow, the person centred organisation (person centred is a modality which centres the client)
has released this statement:

https://www.the-pca.org.uk/index.php?option=comcontent&view=article&id=2786&catid=25&idU=1&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR00mQSg57WMSizvor-EEwTllyel1hsK9CIxsghsAOnI2vjPYY2l5ivNXH00aemUDEp4ti7NIIh7vhBST9J7Q

The well known therapist, academic and writer Mick Cooper (has a facebook page, look him up) has linked to this article on facebook and states that there's no place in person centred therapy for counsellors who are GC.

Is he also saying that therapists who are atheists, shouldn't work with christian/muslim/jewish clients? Because they don't share their belief systems? I'm not religious at all, but frequently work with clients who are followers and I show a respectful curiosity.

Anyone have any thoughts? Obviously no one
was really in disagreement with him in the comments and it seems a lot of comments have been removed. A well known TRA is one of the posters. And obligatory critic of the Cass Review as per expected.
I suspect the silent majority are remaining silent for the same reason I am.
We know that many detransitioners are angry that their therapists didn't ever explore underlying reasons for dysphoria, but simply affirmed.
I was trained to explore, show curiosity and gently challenge when appropriate.
The state of therapy today worries me greatly.

@rallyingcry possibly!
Reading that statement from the PCA and all the associated applause reminded me of how alone I felt as a student. . I’m lucky enough to work somewhere very supportive, I really landed on my feet post qualifying. But my course was a slog and I felt like the only non-believer. It’s very difficult to be a counselling student and a sex realist. I was hopeful things were improving but I’m not sure they are…yet.

I've been on a NHS waiting list for what seems like a lifetime, for therapy (PTSD)
I've been planning on requesting a biological female and if possible with GC views. I wonder if they'd refuse to take me on and accuse me of transphobia. It's probably a moot point anyway as I have a feeling I won't receive therapy anytime soon unless I go down the private route.

Just because he's well known and an academic doesn't mean he can't be a blinkered idiot.

Never really understood the love for Mick Cooper. For someone who is existential in his approach, I find his lack of curiosity on this hot topic utterly bizarre. Personally, I'd much rather listen to Ernesto Spinelli if I want depth and nuance.

I also had a brief run in with an activist therapist. She did her best to accommodate me but I could see she was visibly shocked that I didn't agree with the transitioning of children. That was six years ago. I wonder if she's since changed her mind.

If you're looking for non-ideological reality-based therapy, James Esses started a directory called Just Therapy and there's also Critical Therapy Antidote which is anti- activism in the therapy space. The other one is Thoughtful Therapists. But there's all kinds of grass roots organisations popping up like Genspect and SEGM, Therapy First to name a few.

thank you.
There's no mention of safeguarding whatsoever.
Never mind the rights of children to go through puberty.
Nevemind the Cass Review which has been
universally accepted.
Never mind the rights of detransitioners who can't understand why they were affirmed with no exploration.
Just #be kind.

I trained as a person centred therapist in 2010 - 2014 or thereabouts, and was disappointed even then to realise that there are a lot of people who just spout nonsense as soon as they are able to call themselves any kind of expert. Person centred approach practitioners are famous for having massive disagreements and arguments, divisions and splits, factions and frictions. Yet the theory Is sound, the principles are good. The problem is people will interpret, and claim that their own interpretation is the only correct one.

I found many things about the article extremely annoying. Firstly, the author is not identified even though no doubt Mick Cooper has had a lot of input into it. secondly, it is absolutely stuffed full of nonsensical claims and Woo language. It uncritically uses the term "cis gender" and states that the suicide rate has exponentially risen since the Cass report which is, as another poster stated about one of the things in the article, demonstrably false.

The arguments put forward in the article are poorly expressed, and dogmatic. Suggesting that a therapist might engage in "conversion therapy" and then going onto describe what that means is logically inconsistent. If a person-centred therapist has so-called gender critical views, and felt that they would not be able to counsel the client and fulfil the necessary and sufficient conditions for therapy to take place, they would not accept the client, as it would be unethical. If they did accept the client then they would not attempt to impose their personal views or beliefs upon the client.

Making false claims about rising suicide rates is not only stupid, it’s dangerous, given the propensity of such statements to push people who are contemplating suicide towards action.

You would think such a well respected counselling expert would know that.

I have a very good idea who was behind writing/contributing to this.

Does their name begin with a S?

yes and not only allowing the suicide claim post to stand, but also allowing the post saying that the Cass review had been disproved to stand....

who?

Totally agree that PC does tend to attract a lot of people who seem to misunderstand the basic principles of good therapy - which are there in PC as OP mentioned - but are easy to ignore if you yourself are uncomfortable with potential challenges to the therapeutic relationship which may include safeguarding or maintaining congruence. Much easier to misunderstand affirmation to mean nodding along. That's easy, right?

I think a lot of people who train as therapists honestly need some good therapy themselves and use these training courses to process their own stuff. I blame these inappropriate students wholly on the institutions who should be turn these people away but instead see them as much needed cash cows.

Being a therapist demands a level of emotional stabilty and constant curiosity about the other and the self's interpretation. Rogers described the process as having one foot in the client's world and one firmly in their own.

Sadly, therapy has been overtaken by the 'lived experience' crew with absolutely no concerns about the dangers of transference and counter transference. Instead they advertise their rigid outlook, looking for equally identitarian clients to affirm their world view. I'm not sure how thos can service the client.

If you can't work with difference (acknowledge it, tolerate it and/or be able to sit with what you don't necessarily know first hand), then maybe being a therapist is not for you.

What a garbled, convoluted way of undermining your skills. And the "plenty of evidence" that he presents incited is totally false. I don't envy you in your profession.

The UKCP aren't so bad, they're probably the most respected psychotherapy organisation in the UK. They apologised to James Esses at least.
I'm with the BACP who are still somewhat (mostly) captured.

MC has just put another post up about yesterday's post, doubling down and showing that he's somewhat confused about what GC means and lacking respect for PC therapists who can separate the client from themselves. I mean it's basic Rogerian theory. A good therapist can work with clients who have different beliefs to them.

Will it be the same people who redrafted the MoU to include questioning gender identity (an ill defined and ever-changing term)?

Being curious about why someone might believe they are 'born in the wrong body' (incongruence) or voicing caution about a client's desire to pursue risky experimental surgeries (non-malficience) is not conversion therapy but upholding basic ethical principles. So what happens if a therapist gently and appropriately challenges this thinking in a trans identified client? They could end up in jail. However, a therapist's job is not to nod along but to try and help the client understand themselves and to be realistic about themselves within the world we all inhabit. It is entirely possible to be a (sex) realist and not have a vested interest in whether a client ultimately chooses to transition or not - but still gently challenge the desire to do so for the client's sake. Informed choice is what I care about - that and safeguarding. I'm not paid to be my client's friend but as a safe sounding board. A place to explore.

I do see a future (if it's not already happening) where trans identified clients will simply not get the same high quality of care they deserve as anyone with any principles will not be able to work ethically with this cohort - thanks to the activists desperate to affirm their own choices.
It's all incredibly sad and incredibly damaging for the profession as a whole.

"The UKCP aren't so bad, they're probably the most respected psychotherapy organisation in the UK"

Sadly, I think that apology was a condition of the settlement with Esses. Can you still find it on their website? I bet not.

Their recent choice of chair (voted in by a tiny minority of members) suggests they are fully on board with the extreme critical social justice agenda and will continue to railroad the basic principles of good therapy.

@MakingClothesFlat wrote "I think a lot of people who train as therapists honestly need some good therapy themselves and use these training courses to process their own stuff. I blame these inappropriate students wholly on the institutions who should be turn these people away but instead see them as much needed cash cows."

I find this is true, from my own experience too.

me too. On my course of 15, I'd say at least 6 were there to process their own unprocessed trauma and use the training as a form of therapy.

You need to feel the unconditional positive regard in the relationship in order for your own growth to happen. Since your therapist is not making you feel that way (because you feel there are things you can’t say without being judged) then I would urge you to find a new therapist where you feel completely held, heard and seen.

But how is that possible? I know that therapy has been really captured by this. I simply wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing this with any stranger at all. And maybe that’s me not them.

But we know that in so many spheres trans/gender exists outside the usual rules or norms.

yes I think that's the problem: trans extremism has led to a culture where we just can't have calm rational debate. I mean Stonewall said it themselves!

The therapist who has started this thread would be a safe place to share anything you brought to the session, and there are many others on this thread by the sounds of it.

And anyway, the person-centred approach is about putting the person first, being open to what they’re bringing and being present with this and with themselves. A skilled therapist can be present with someone with different beliefs.

If you’re wanting therapy at the moment, please don’t be put off by the experience with your particular therapist. You won’t be getting the best experience with her if you’re having to hide parts of yourself in the session. And there are many wonderful, skilled, attuned therapists available.

I recently attended the compassionate inquiry training and I’d really recommend a therapist trained in this modality if it suits you to try it.

Unlike most of West and Central Europe, Britain doesn't have a ban on conversion therapy yet. Even if it did, this would not prevent a therapist or counsellor talking to a client about sexuality or gender identity.

Isn’t there a statistic that said a young person was more likely to have been abused by their parents at Tavistock?

The suicide statistics sound extremely dodgy. If you are going to denounce biological reality, you better have some good statistics to back it up.

However person centred therapy is, you need to have an overview of what’s going on at population level to put things into context.