37 - WPATH, Part II - Activist Ideology Replacing Therapeutic Psychology

In this second part of a series on WPATH, we will continue with Stella O’Malley’s description of the organization in her interview with Benjamin Boyce[1]:

So then they call themselves WPATH which was a fabulous name and they are really upped their ability to brand. And…in 2012 they let out their “Standards of Care 7” - so this was the seventh one since 1979. And this was the game changer.

So they had kind of slid in in Urst place, and in only place, as the people who provide standards of care even though they were just a moniker. They might as well call it “guide to anybody who's working with transgender people,” - you know, nobody passed this, they just continuously released them. And then when they released them in 2012 they [made] this extraordinary decision and they took away therapists as being an important part of the equation.

So rather than someone com[ing] to a therapist to explore where they're at, what their feelings [are] around gender, what their expectations are around gender, what their expectations are about medical transitions…should they medical…. Should they consider the sexual trauma that they experienced, or should they consider their misogyny - their internalized misogyny. They didn't do any of that because instead they said, “No. No, the role of the therapist from 2012 onwards” - that's “Standard of Care 7” - the role of the therapist is to facilitate transition. Just your job, yeah, which is demeaning the role of a therapist.

Because I would argue a therapist - as a therapist myself - I would say we offer what I've trained for. What I studied so hard, what I thought so hard, and put all my effort into was to offer a therapeutic process. And this is an experience - if you came to me I would offer you something that's quite serious and I would hope that we would engage in a collaborative relationship that would require commitment from both sides and e[ort. And it will be quite a serious thing. It's not just I'll just facilitate whatever you want, because I'd say that's demeaning the whole concept of therapy.

And in a way you know therapeutic process has moved into the concept of
therapeutic support, just in general people talk about the phrase “therapeutic support.” I.e. - I support you therapeutically to do whatever you wish.

…WPATH…said … “Hey you therapists - don't mind your process, don't mind your support - you're just facilitators. You just guess anybody who wants medical transition, you get them it. You help them access it.”

“Affirmation Only” is not Therapy – Parallels to Helping those With Unwanted SSA

In Dr. Jordan Peterson Speaks Out Against Therapy Bans, R4R Feb 10, 2022, we heard Psychologist and author Jordan Peterson talking about this same thing happening in Canada due to their broad-based “conversion therapy” ban:

Peterson: So now in Canada, because they ban conversion therapy, it's now all affirmation therapy.

Shapiro: Right, this is...

Peterson: There's no such thing as affirmation therapy.

Shapiro: Right...it's insane. I mean the semantic game that was used in order to say well, conversion therapy - which was at one time electric, you know, using electric shock to treat homosexuals - and saying that that's the same thing as you have a gender confused 12 year old...

Peterson: Look, I had a 14 year old kid who was a client of mine. And, you know, he was in the mid stages of puberty. He was a pretty creative kid, agreeable kid as well right, and that’s important. So he had a bit of a feminine temperament - that also meant he could be pushed around fairly easily. Well, there was an aggressively gay guy in his school hitting on him, and trying to convince him that he was gay.

Well he didn't know, so he wanted to talk to me about it. It's like, well I wasn’t going to tell him[2]- I didn't - what the hell do I know about this kid...

Shapiro: Exactly

Peterson: ...you know? And I wanted to hear what his problems were, and how it might be sorted out - what he wanted. And, like, that's what you do in therapy is you help people sort out their problems.

Now this idea is,[3]you come to me with an axiomatic claim - whatever it is about your identity - and my job is to rubber stamp it. It's like - that's not - I’m not a therapist then.

We also saw Christian Psychologist and Professor Dr. Mark Yarhouse making similar observations in Creating Space for Professional Christian Counselors – Part 1 SIT/ Essentialism vs. Social Constructionism, R4R, Dec. 9, 2020:

“...gay affirmative therapy, which is in many ways the default posture clinicians take...may not be a good fit for all clients. In particular, clients who hold conventional religious beliefs and values may not feel the posture of gay affirmative therapy to be a supportive one for their own needs, depending on how such therapy is practiced. Gay affirmative therapy is not so much a protocol as a way of seeing a person’s sexuality. In practice, gay affirmative therapy can at times assume a preferred identity outcome (e.g., gay) and same-sex sexual behavior as a taken-forgranted expression of that identity, in keeping with its assumptions about sexual identity and expression, even though these assumptions are not necessarily shared by every client.” Sexual Identity and Faith: Helping Clients Find Congruence, by Mark
Yarhouse, pg 5

So we see the ideology of sexual orientation identity and gender identity undermining any attempt at exploring other options in a therapeutic context with a professional psychologist. They are obligated to reply “you must be trans,” or “you must be gay,” and offer support in pursuing a life centered on those identities. This negates any deeper psychological assistance with depression, abuse, peer pressure, non-gender conforming personality traits, etc.

This trend has slipped under the radar of many in regards to sexual orientation ideology, as the impact is more subtle in comparison to the medicalization path many are funneled into when it comes to gender ideology. Both can result in a lack of procreation, continuing to carry the above-mentioned mental health concerns, and deep undermining of one’s relationship with the Lord. God wants us to be reconciled to Him in every aspect of our lives:

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the lesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the lesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. II Cor. 5:16-18

There is great joy to be found in being in a right relationship with the Lord, in seeing ourselves as He does, and in being in right relationships with others. Let’s keep pressing on in encouraging deeper healing and reconciliation in the lives of those around us.

[1] How Gender Activists Dictate "Standards of Care" | with Stella O'Malley

[2] [that he’s gay] – this is my inference of what Dr. Peterson is saying here, in light of
the context.

[3] [Referring to “affirmation therapy.”]