Uploaded: June 2019, Issue 35
 

Anastassis Spiliadis

Anastassis Spiliadis is a Senior Systemic & Family Psychotherapist and a qualified Systemic Supervisor & Trainer. He works in the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistockand Portman NHS Foundation Trust, in the Maudsley Centre for Child & Adolescent Eating Disorders (MCCAED) and in independent practice, both in London and Athens.Email: anastassis@icf-consultations.com

Abstract

Throughout the western world, the care of children and adolescents whose sexed corporeality is at odds with their gender-related feelings raises medical, psychological, and ethical dilemmas. There are currently differing views around what constitutes responsive and timely support for these young people and how professionals can operate within a rapidly shifting and contested field, in which evidence-base is scarce. In this article, I aim to reposition the theoretical framework away from ‘affirmative’ or ‘reparative’ polarities, arguing that both can be problematic, and to invite the reader into a Gender Exploratory Model (GEM) grounded in a systemic-developmental framework; such a model acknowledges and often embraces the notion of uncertainty with regards to young people’s developmental trajectories and clinician’s ‘unknown unknowns’ and exploratory responsibilities. A short introduction to the service(GIDS), as well as a presentation of the current theoretical and clinical debates will offer a contextual base for clinicians supporting young people experiencing gender dysphoria. This is not an attempt to explore the multifactorial aetiology of gender dysphoria but rather one to add on the theoretical underpinning of therapeutic approaches in supporting these young people.