James Esses, a former a Criminal Barrister and currently a Trainee Psychotherapist, discusses the current social dilemma at the heart of the gender identity debate where countries are banning “conversion therapy” while dismissing the beneficial uses of therapeutic approaches to gender dysphoria. Analysing the deeper issues central to the refusal to embrace anything but affirmation, Esses points out how it the proposed ban on conversion therapy in terms of gender dysphoria is “very dangerous” to the client-therapist relationship as he underscores the need to push against the stereotypes being recycled by the gender identity lobby asking “What is wrong with being gender atypical?” Claiming that we need to spend more time addressing gender stereotypes, Esses lays bare some of the fundamental dangers at the heart of a petition and he and other members of Thoughtful Therapists addressed to the British government, namely the conflation of “conversion therapy” with beneficial therapy which effectively mandates the affirmation of transitioning.

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