Is an adolescent’s normal anxiety related to his or her physical changes during puberty evidence of “gender dysphoria” requiring medical intervention? Apparently so, according to the widely cited advocacy organization Gender Spectrum. Here are questions G.S. recommends that a healthcare professional ask the young “patient” open-ended questions in order to “establish trust” -- and pull the teen into further counseling and procedures:
Establishing Trust with Youth Seeking Gender Affirmative Medical Care https://www.genderspectrum.org/articles/medical-establishing-trust [no date]
... Use open-ended questions to establish rapport.
Getting Started
Begin by asking about your patient’s interests and strengths
*What do you like at school?
*What do you like to do during your
free time?
*What is something that you feel like
you’re really good at?
Transition to more personal questions about gender
identity
*Tell me about your gender history
*When did you start thinking about
this?
*Has [sic] your feelings about your
gender changed over time?
*How does your gender feel in terms of
your body, or in terms of changes to your body?
Gauging Gender Dysphoria
Seek to identify the patient’s current sense of living in their own body
*Are you having any sad feelings
about your gender? Can you describe them?
*Are you feeling anxious? In what ways?
*Are there experiences at home or at
school related to gender that are making you feel unsupported or depressed?
Are there specific parts of your body that are causing
these feeling?: [sic]
*Breast development?
*Menstrual cycle?
*Erections?
*Hair growth?
Establishing Goals
Clarify the patient’s goals related to their gender expression
*In the best-case scenario, how
could I support you?
What are you looking for?
*Social transition?
*Non-pharmacological changes?
*Medications?
*Body changes?
