I'm about to be on Free Speech Nation

[KatieAlcock]

On GB News.
Watch if you feel so inclined!

There are three of us psychologists all talking about our professional bodies.

Hope it went well! Will try to search for a clip

I’ll catchup on YouTube. Thanks for the heads up!

I’ve just been watching. Thank you for speaking up. It’s a pity the section was so short.

Well done! You got a lot across in a limited time. It seemed to be a good mix of experts, all sensible and articulate.

Thanks for the info, I can't watch live telly but I can watch it afterward, I hope it went as well as you hoped it would. 👍👏

Can we have a link please

Well done Katie. IIRC the Memorandum of Understanding hog tied therapists way back in the mists of time.
Especially pleased to see the BPS (British Psychological Society) being called out on its capture.
I hope that we hear more about the BPS' nefarious activities in the fullness of time.

Thanks, @KatieAlcock - anyone got a link to the You Tube yet?

Just after 39 minutes in.

How shameful is it that decent debate like that about a vitally important topic has to be left to GB News? But good contributions from all three.

It's so shocking how all these sectors are captured & blinded, like cruelly-treated prisoners of war. I'd really like to know more about what you were saying, Katie, about how small children really do see men with long hair as women, a dog wearing a cat mask as a cat etc. I know from experience it's so but would be interested in the theories and evidence etc.

Are there any other psychological conditions where the powers that be don't issue guidance? It's negligence.

Reporting that I've watched it to keep thread active. Also read andcwatched

I am reporting that I've watched it to keep thread active. Well done to the three of you for being cogent and reasoned. I also read and watched the thread about the new Cambridge Women's Society. (And then there is Sex Matters. Trios of people who dare to voice their thoughts. Perhaps there needs to be a new Psychology/Therapy society?

I’m pretty certain that this is mainstream interpretation of children’s developmental understanding of such things (though I can’t provide evidence as I don’t work in the field), so I was surprised at the mention that teachers and other early years professionals, as well as parents, are characterised as not knowing about it. I would have thought it was touched on in training, like the Sally Anne test for theory of mind.
Of course, in RL we know that small children think (for example) that someone dressed up as Santa in a grotto is actually Santa, so it’s not at all unlikely.

That Santa analogy is very powerful. Thanks!

eta - thanks @KatieAlcock for doing this debate.

(puts Lancaster University on offspring open day shortlist)

Yes please @KatieAlcock to more info on the young kids thinking "long hair = girl" stage. I remember learning about that in my teacher training nearly 30 years ago as part of learning about theory of mind, but I can't remember it (hoho) in enough detail to be able to look it up. It was around the time we learnt about Piaget, but that hasn't helped me find this in particular.

One thing that drives me round the bend about the rush to affirm by professionals/schools/universities is that no-one is considering the wider family. My experience of pre-gender CAMHS was much the same, it doesn't sound like anything has changed. In my wider family, we have several children with severe learning difficulties who are stuck at the "does long hair = girl?" stage and are unlikely to develop much beyond that. It is impossible for my little relatives to use opposite sex pronouns (and I think to encourage them to do so would be a safeguarding disaster zone, and I am pushing back on it). No doubt it's a similar problem for families with dementia, or English as a second language. But there's no "be kind" for them, is there. It's so unfair.

Anyway, if you have reading for us about the "long hair = girl" developmental stage then that would be really helpful, Katie.

Here's an article from 2019.

https://medium.com/@katieja/young-children-reality-sex-and-gender-3421f4f165f1?s=09

I suppose this all shows that some adults are trapped in their three year old minds when it comes to appearance vs reality, with regard at least to sex. Which is rather baffling.

Thank you for this Katie.

What is your take on why so many therapists, psychologists, and other clinicians and professionals who are well versed in child development, have forgotten, or ignored, this foundational understanding?

To me that's one of the major and most mind blowing questions!

They aren't well versed in child development. This particular finding is hardly ever taught, certainly not to medics, and by the time I see third year undergrads who learn related findings in 1st year, they've forgotten them all anyway. Those are the future clinical and educational psychologists, and a lot of therapists don't have a general psychology degree at all. This isn't taught at medical school either.

Thank you very much. They are evidently voices crying in the wilderness.

It certainly casts doubt on the profession that so many are captured. Poor parents who pay hundreds to captured psychologists thinking they will be helping their children, or children being seen by captured CAHMS psychologists.

I mean, the specific piece about sex identity is not surprising in the context of general cognitive development though, surely?

I expected knowledge of child development to be more key to all of the professions you mention. Although I have witnessed people who are well educated and experienced in viewing children through a developmental lense, somehow able to put that aside when it comes to this topic!

I was just interested in your take/experience on how that could happen.

Thank you for speaking out and for this excellent resource (the Mermaids link wouldn't work for me, but probably too old/gone now).

Thank you for the link to this clip @nauticant

BPS Watch is a blog set up by psychologists who became frustrated and disenfranchised by the British Psychological Society's approach to open debate and evidence based practice.
A quick google will take you there if you're interested. Also on X.

I agree with Katie that the knowledge and understanding of child development is woefully inadequate in the profession.