In many regions, institutional mandates and professional standards that prioritize affirming a child's gender identity without considering alternative approaches or potential risks, are requiring therapists to adhere to gender-affirming care protocols, regardless of any personal reservations and/or evidence based recommendations for anything other than affirmation and medicalization.

My loyalty isn't just with my 13-year-old client, but that client when they're 20, when they're 25…I have to make sure that I'm not just meeting whatever need they think they have at 13. That's not doing good therapy or being a good adult in general. Adults are supposed to help guide kids and that's not what we're doing.

In this bonus episode for premium subscribers, Tamara Pietzke speaks to the pressures therapists face to conform to gender-affirming care protocols. She emphasizes the need for parents to meticulously vet therapists before commencing treatment. She discusses the nuanced nature of empathy, stressing the significance of weighing long-term consequences over immediate desires. And she reflects on her unanticipated path towards activism, driven by her innate concerns for the welfare of children.

Watch our full length episode with Tamara Pietzke:

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