Families in Transition – Parenting Gender Diverse Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults

Families in Transition: Parenting Gender Diverse Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults is a compilation of clinically oriented articles, research, and case material authored by mental health and medical experts, both nationally and internationally known, as well as first-person narratives written by parents and families. It explores the complexities faced by parents and caretakers attending to the needs of their children in a largely hostile world. The professional articles are positioned side by side with the voices of the parents themselves—each complementing the other—together adding up to a richly complex, original tapestry.

While most books on this subject highlight the experiences of the gender diverse child and adolescent, parents' perspectives are placed front and centre. Those raising these children and adolescents have unique struggles and personal processes as caregivers and advocates. Making complex social and medical decisions in a society that is hostile and polarized only complicates the picture. This book highlights their rarely heard voices and gives insight to therapists and physicians on how to support all members of the family, helping them grow and heal during what is often a challenging time.

Families in Transition:

• Challenges the ways we think about cultural norms and how those impact our clinical work;
• Explores a parent's desire for their child to live authentically alongside a desire to protect them;
• Highlights how the attitudes and behaviours of extended relatives impact the gender nonconforming child and their caretakers;
• Presents a historical overview contrasting the reparative and the affirmative models of treatment;
• Illustrates how difficult treatment can be when a patient is reticent to disclose their gender identity to their parents or when parents either have little information or are in denial;
• Offers strategies on how best to advocate for a child in a school setting;
• Outlines best practices for the care of transgender youth.

This text is designed for mental health professionals—clinicians, educators, and researchers; medical providers; parents and caretakers of gender diverse children, adolescents, and young adults. It is suitable for graduate and doctoral level coursework in a range of subject areas, including gender, sexuality, and family studies.