Get Gender Help & Support
Jump to:
Online Support groups:
If you are experiencing gender dysphoria, one of the best ways to get support for is to talk to and understand the perspectives of people who have been there themselves and come out the other side.
- Detrans Community on Reddit ->
- Detrans Wiki on Reddit ->
- Official /r/detrans Discord Server ->
- Ask 50,0000+ detrans people with detrans.ai ->
Gender Affirming Care: What is it?
Gender affirming care is currently the standard (and often the only) treatment option for gender dysphoria offered by healthcare providers in the Western world. Gender affirming care essentially recognises societies gendered expectations and then adapts the patient to them. It is a staged approach that begins with social transition (name, pronouns, clothing), then hormone therapy, and then for some, irreversible surgical procedures. Gender affirming care can work as part of the healing process for gender dysphoria but it does come with serious risks and often permanent side-effects. Proceed with extreme caution, and make sure you watch some testimonies from people who have been down this path before going down it yourself.
Gender Exploratory Therapy: What is it?
Gender exploratory therapy simply means that your therapist doesn't rush to affirm and medicalise you. Instead they will start by exploring concepts of gender and why you might feel this way.
If you Google "gender exploratory therapy", you will find all sorts of articles and studies published by gender activists who compare it to gay conversion therapy (which is proven to be ineffective) and they attempt to frame it as being evil and inhumane. The truth is that gender exploratory therapy is very different from gay conversion therapy:
| Gay-conversion therapy | Gender-exploratory therapy |
|---|---|
| Goal: Change sexual orientation because it is viewed as pathological.1 | Goal: Understand the meaning of the dysphoria; outcome can be transition, no transition, or partial social transition.2 |
| Method: Shame, aversion, behavioural conditioning, prayer.1 | Method: Standard psychodynamic or humanistic techniques—open questions, curiosity, no pre-set end-point.3 |
| Evidence base: Consistently shows harm; every major medical body condemns it. | Evidence base: No RCTs yet, but parallels to therapies that reduce anxiety, depression, self-harm; no data showing systematic harm.2,5 |
| Ethics: Violates autonomy by pushing heterosexual identity as the only right option.1 | Ethics: Seeks to expand autonomy by ensuring the adolescent (and family) understand all options before irreversible steps.3 |
Show References
References
- U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services (2025). Report on Pediatric Gender Dysphoria and Gender Conversion Efforts.
- D’Angelo, R. (2025). “Supporting autonomy in young people with gender dysphoria: psychotherapy is not conversion therapy.” Journal of Medical Ethics, 51(1).
- Lemma, A. & Schmidt, L. (2024). “Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Gender Dysphoria is not Conversion Therapy.” Frontiers in Psychology.
- Korte, A. et al. (2021). “One Size Does Not Fit All: In Support of Psychotherapy for Gender Dysphoria.” Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Academic research in this field is often biased. One of the most influential studies (Interrogating Gender-Exploratory Therapy) was published in 2022 by Florence Ashley, a trans woman. In her study she dramatically condemns the practice. It should be recognised that people who identify as trans are motivated to protect their identity and belief system, and studies published by them should be treated with skepticism. They are gender activists, pushing their gender agenda. This study is absolutely full of logical fallacies, yet it was still published and used as justification for the continued medicalisation of people who experience gender dysphoria. See all of the logical fallacies in Florence Ashley's study
Fallacy Name Simple Explanation Example from the Paper Straw-Man Attacks an exaggerated or distorted version of the other side, not what they actually say. Claims GET “discourages all affirmation” and “assumes trans identities are pathological”, while GET proponents say they allow transition and don’t presume pathology. Hasty Generalisation Uses one or two stories to claim “this always happens to everyone.” Cites Keira Bell’s single court case to argue that questioning gender identity always backfires and forecloses exploration for every youth. False Analogy Says “A looks a bit like B, so A must be as bad as B” even when the important parts are different. Because GET talks about “exploring causes” like old conversion therapy did, the paper concludes GET is ethically the same as anti-gay conversion practices. Begging the Question Assumes the very thing you’re trying to prove, going round in a circle. “Being trans is not pathological, therefore any therapy that looks for pathology is unethical” — assumes pathology can’t exist instead of proving it. Appeal to Ignorance “We don’t have proof it’s true, so it must be false” (or the other way round). “There is no compelling evidence that trans identities are maladaptive, so they never are” — treats lack of proof as disproof. False Dichotomy Claims there are only two choices—black or white—when other middle options exist. Frames the choice as either “full, immediate affirmation” or “coercive conversion-like exploration”, ignoring parallel/supportive exploration plus reversible medical steps. Ad Hominem / Genetic Attacks the person or their motives instead of dealing with their actual argument. Calls GET advocates “the intellectual arm of political movements” seeking to criminalise gender-affirming care, instead of refuting their clinical claims. Slippery Slope “If we allow X, then terrible Y and Z will surely follow” without showing the chain will happen. “Questioning a client’s narrative will undermine trust, forcing them to lie and rush into medical steps” — no data given that this routinely occurs. Quantifier Shift Jumps from “many” or “most” to “all,” erasing exceptions. “Most youth want affirmation, therefore exploration disrespects EVERY client’s agenda” — ignores the minority who ask for deeper exploration. Confirmation Bias Cites only the evidence that supports your view and ignores the rest. Bibliography lists no studies showing neutral or positive outcomes of GET; only critical or affirmative-therapy papers are cited. Category Error Mixes up two different kinds of things (e.g., a tool with a moral stance). “Neutrality, much like the cake, is a lie” — treats clinical technique of neutrality as moral indifference, which are separate concepts. Misused Statistics Uses true numbers to push a claim the numbers don’t actually support. Cites low detransition rate (≈3 %) to argue exploratory screening is unnecessary; low base-rate doesn’t prove screening can’t prevent individual harm.
The notion that gender exploratory therapy is somehow evil and wrong is predicated on the idea that gender (a social construct made up of roles and stereotypes) is something innate within us, but there is no evidence to support this belief, and the mere existence of detrans people causes this theory to fall on its head. Gender activists then fall back to saying that detrans people were never 'real trans' people, but every single detrans person tells us that they were true believers and were fully 'in it', until one day they weren't any more.
It's also noteworthy that scientists are still yet to discover a 'gay gene', and many people who identified as gay or straight at one point come to a realisation that sexuality is not as black and white as society once told them it is. Bisexual people also often face stigmatisation from lesbian, gay and heterosexual identifying people - this is called bi-erasure. This parallels the detrans experience.
Where can I find a therapist who practices gender exploratory therapy?
Just Therapy
Just Therapy is born out of a desire to go back to what therapy should be – effective, ethical, and free from ideology. It is an association of therapists and counsellors aligned by common ethics and principles. Just Therapy recognises that much of the world of psychotherapy and counselling has been taken over by activists and ideologies, which risk harming, rather than supporting, the mental wellbeing of clients. Its members, who come from a wide range of disciplines and specialities, have signed a Code of Conduct.
Just Therapy Therapist Directory ->
Just Therapy Code Of Conduct ->
Therapy First
Therapy First unites mental-health professionals who believe gender-distressed clients deserve open-ended, evidence-based psychotherapy that explores unconscious and contextual factors before any irreversible medical steps; they reject both conversion practices and the “affirm-only” model, uphold client autonomy, and view childhood/teen medical transition as experimental, while still supporting adults’ right to bodily autonomy and continued therapeutic exploration.
Therapy First Therapist Directory ->
Beyond Trans
Stella O’Malley launched the Gender Dysphoria Support Network in March 2020 to give parents unbiased help with gender-distressed children; it quickly grew into a global community, spurring the 2021 creation of Genspect, an advocate for non-medicalised care. Recognising rising transition regret, the group started Beyond Trans in 2022, and in June 2025 merged it with GDSN to form one integrated, evidence-based support network for families, individuals and detransitioners.
Beyond Trans Therapist Directory ->
Beyond Trans Support Groups ->
The Detrans Foundation
The Detrans Foundation provides resources and support for detransitioners, including access to qualified therapists who understand detransition experiences. The following therapists are part of the Detrans foundation:
Dr. Kirsty Entwistle is a Clinical Psychologist who previously worked at the NHS gender identity development service for under 18s in Leeds. She is registered with the UK Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) and offers online consultations by secure videocall.
Anastassis Spiliadis is a Systemic & Family Psychotherapist who worked for four years at the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock, where he led the Family Therapy & Consultation Service. He resigned the Tavistock as he disagreed with the lack of a therapeutic model in understanding gender identity difficulties. He developed the Gender Exploratory Model and has extensive experience working with gender-questioning individuals and detransitioners.