Parents, caregivers, and your child’s community will play a crucial role in supporting and affirming a young person’s gender identity. Some families find it helpful to connect with a therapist to provide additional support, however Psychologists, Counsellors and Doctors need to do further studies on top of their degrees to be suitable and beneficial for people with issues around gender-diversity, whilst gender is a major component of the master’s qualification needed to be a Clinical Sexologist.  It is essential that you ask the professional that you choose to assist with Gender-diversity about their qualifications and experience in this area.

It is also very important to choose the right person to assist you as parents can have a difficult time accepting or even understanding gender-diversity.  For many, their child maybe their first introduction to Transgender or Non-binary and they can feel helpless, or at its worst non-accepting.  If the professional supporting you views you as wrong, or is not confident in gender-diversity, then their guidance risks doing further damage.

It is difficult to understand how a parent can reject or neglect a child with any diversity, however this can come from being thrusted into being expected to understand and adapt.  Any sudden and major changes can be difficult for anyone to absorb.

We all come through our own journeys in life, and to be confronted with something that you don’t understand, something that is new and challenges your values, can cause a personal confusion and conflict, both internally and externally.  A child going through puberty can be extremely difficult for parents on its own, and regardless of what someone’s gender identity is, everyone starts to experience emotional changes during puberty and changes in their friendships and other relationships.

This is all totally normal for everyone, but it can feel stressful to manage so much change if a person is also feeling like their physical body does not match their gender identity.

Regardless of how your child identifies, remember that there is no one way to be any gender and that gender variations are perfectly normal variations of human diversity. There are lots of ways to manage puberty so that it can be a fun, exciting time of change, rather than a scary or stressful one.

Talking with a Dave Wells as an individual or as a family, may help the parent/s to improve their support to a young trans person, or a person who is questioning their gender identity with the aim of creating or strengthening their home environment where the young person is provided with a solid foundation to develop confidently and adapt their personal appearance to their gender identity.

Educating and supporting parents with gender-diverse children and creating or enhancing a safe loving home is paramount.  Transgender young people experience discrimination report higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide. Supportive home environments have been shown to decrease these mental health disparities.

It is especially important that parents and caregivers provide the necessary supports for trans children and Dave Wells can assist you through this journey to create harmony and a life of new and exciting opportunities.

‍