Transgender development model (Reading)

Most of the available models on gender identity development were written through a medical lens. In module 3 you can find Morgans and Stevens’s and Pinto and Moleiro’s models of transgender identity, which does not pathologise transgenderism.

Important note on “second puberty”:

Mental health professionals should be prepared to understand the dynamics of coming out and the gender affirmation process correctly. Hormone Replacement Therapy and bodily changes can induce various emotional and cognitive processes that are a little bit similar to puberty. Also, LGBTQI+ persons – especially those identifying as trans – might have missed or didn’t have the chance to fully experience several important milestones throughout their childhood and adolescent years. These are not developmental milestones, but important life events that help to construct our sense of selves. LGBTQI+ persons can feel the urge to reconstruct these experiences, and mental health professionals should recognize that this temporary regression or “craze” (impulsivity) is completely normal and expected, and should be very careful not to apply any diagnostic labels to it. It is also important to deal with this in the therapeutic context, as these changes can have an effect on the therapeutic relationship itself, and transference can occur.