Treatment options will vary depending on whether you or your child requires support and how much mental and physical treatment will likely be required to feel comfortable in the gender identity.

While talking through your feelings surrounding gender identity in an understanding environment may be enough to reduce any distress associated with your biological sex, some may wish to seek out further treatment options such as gender reassignment surgery leading to eventual transition to the opposite sex, or choose hormone treatment or surgery alone.     

Much of the treatment process will depend on how persistent and intense the feelings of dysphoria are, with Priory’s therapy services aimed at guiding you through any associated emotional difficulties you might have with gender dysphoria.

Tailored psychotherapy sessions can explore what it means to be any gender and the discomfort or unhappiness associated with gender dysphoria. The ultimate goal is to provide and promote ongoing support so that you can live your life in your preferred gender identity.

Treatment for children

Treatment services for children may involve a multi-disciplinary team of therapists and consultants with a focus on helping them understand and evaluate feelings about gender dysphoria which may confuse them more than adults. Teaching methods to cope with distress and giving them a safe environment to explain these emotions is paramount.

Family therapy can be useful parents and children alike, helping form a positive atmosphere for support and discussion to help improve understanding of gender dysphoria and how to avoid feeling uncomfortable about gender identity.      

Treatment for adults

Due to the majority of children with suspected gender dysphoria no longer showing a sign of the condition once they have gone through puberty, treatment mostly consists of talking therapy until reaching adulthood. If you are an adult with gender dysphoria, physical interventions such as hormone treatment and/or surgery may be suitable if you have a more severe case of gender dysmorphia, although if you gender identity is less fixed, then specialist psychotherapy may be more helpful than physical treatments. 

If you are thinking of pursuing physical treatments at a gender identity clinic to help you feel comfortable with your gender identity, or you are currently undergoing treatment, then mental health support such as one-to-one counselling and talking therapies will have an increased focus on any emotional difficulties or anxieties you may be experiencing. 

Dedicated psychotherapy service at Priory Hospital Roehampton

Priory Hospital Roehampton offers a dedicated psychotherapy service to support people with gender dysphoria. The service is available for anyone with gender dysphoria, regardless of any physical treatments such as hormone therapy or surgery that you may currently be undergoing, have already undergone, or are thinking about. It does not conflict with any physical treatment, and will complement services offered by gender identity clinics.

The aim of the psychotherapy treatment is to:

• Provide a supportive thinking and enquiring space to consider gender and how it affects us
• Help to reduce the amount of distress caused by gender or gender preoccupation in everyday life
• Enable you to tailor-make your gender identity, as relevant to you
• Explore and widen a gender repertoire without restricting to binary gender models
• Give you stability in your bespoke gender identity, irrespective of biological sex or gender framework

You will receive an initial assessment, followed by individual therapy sessions and possibly a weekly therapy group. The service is led by an experienced consultant psychiatrist who is gender aware and transgender-friendly, with over 15 years' experience of working therapeutically with people who have gender identity issues.

Gender dysphoria is a medical condition which refers to an inner conflict between a person’s biologically assigned gender and the gender in which they identify. This can cause significant emotional distress and make you feel uncomfortable with your given gender, particularly when carrying out expected roles and traits related to your assigned gender.

Children, young people and adults can have gender dysphoria, although puberty is often the primary stage at which the associated feelings intensify or are removed completely. If you remain uncomfortable with your gender into adulthood, then hormone treatment and surgeries leading to medical transition are possible, although some people with the condition find discussing their feelings and understanding of their gender identity can be enough to help them feel comfortable with their given gender.

The state of mind associated with gender dysphoria can be expressed in many different ways, allowing you to show the gender you feel you belong to through a use of clothes to cross-dress, hairstyles and even openly wanting to be addressed by name and pronoun in accordance with the gender you identify with. Children will often display similar expressions of gender identity, including regularly stating they will grow up as a member of the opposite sex, or will request to have their appearance styled in the gender in which they most identify.

The particular challenges you may face if you are diagnosed with gender dysphoria include being stigmatised or discriminated against by other members of society, which can make you feel lacking in self-confidence and at greater risk of developing mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. If your child has gender dysphoria, they may face bullying or harassment at school in an attempt to pressure them into adopting a persona or dress which is more akin to their assigned gender.

You may also encounter difficulties at school or work due to the enormity of the emotional distress gender dysphoria can cause, meaning everyday tasks become more difficult as you struggle to feel comfortable in your assigned gender. The condition can also have a significant impact on relationships, whereby friends and partners may struggle to adapt to the changes in your lifestyle as you work towards changing gender for example. 

Gender dysphoria differs from gender non-conformity, in the sense that the latter refers to behaviours you may display that don’t appear to match with your assigned gender given at birth, and is not recognised as a medical condition.       

While there are no physical symptoms of gender dysphoria, its effect on the mind in terms of the range of emotions experienced and display of behaviours can cause significant disruption to your daily life.

The common emotional symptoms of gender dysphoria can include:

• Feeling that your gender identity does not align with your biological sex
• Being more comfortable when in the role of your preferred gender identity
• Having a strong desire to hide or get rid of the physical signs of your biological sex

Signs of gender dysphoria in children

The signs of gender dysphoria can appear in early childhood, where your child may request items of clothing or a haircut which isn’t perceived as representative of their assigned gender. Taking a dislike to activities and play socially regarded as being preferable to their assigned gender may be indicative of them growing up and working through their gender identity, and may not continue into adulthood.

Some of the most common signs of gender dysphoria in children include:

• Wanting to wear clothes typically worn by the opposite sex
• Refusing to take part or not having preference for games and activities typically associated for their gender
• Going to the toilet in a manner unusual for their assigned gender, such as a boy sitting down to use the toilet, or a girl standing up
• Expressing hope that their genitals will change to the opposing gender
• Becoming distressed at visible physical changes seen during puberty

Signs of gender dysphoria in adults

When signs of gender dysphoria are observed past puberty and into adulthood, it often confirms that the behaviours displayed in childhood weren’t just part of growing up. If you are an adult with gender dysphoria, there is less confusion regarding your gender identity and how you want to be perceived by others.

Having more certain feelings and active behaviours surrounding the conflict of identity are often employed to help you feel more comfortable about how you want to approach the situation. Some of the most common signs of gender dysphoria in adults include:

• Being fully aware that your assigned biological sex conflicts with your gender identity
• An intense desire to change or remove the genitalia or aspects of your anatomy associated with your assigned sex
• Feeling most comfortable when living life in the gender role you prefer
• Wanting to hide or alter physical anatomy of your assigned sex, such as breasts if you identify as male and muscle definition if identifying as female

You may find it hard to deal with your gender dysphoria, particularly when you wish to open up to others about your gender identity, and it can be common to suppress your feelings and attempt to live the life of your biological sex simply to avoid any potential negative feedback or pressure to conform to your assigned gender.

The social stigmatisation which can take place against those with gender dysphoria resulting in feelings of isolation and low-self-esteem can be very distressing for the individuals experiencing them.

There are many reasons why you may grow up with gender dysphoria, with gender development and how you identify with your assigned gender being part of a complex process involving hormonal changes when you are in the womb as a baby, as well as bodily changes as you grow older. 

Gender dysphoria itself is very rare, and while children may show signs of the condition when they are younger, such as having interests leaning towards typical interests of their opposing biological gender, only a small number of people will continue to struggle with gender dysphoria in adulthood.