Treatment options will vary depending on your needs. The level of treatment required will be assessed individually, to help make you feel comfortable in your gender identity.

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 out your life in your preferred gender identity. If your gender identity is less fixed, then specialist psychotherapy may be more helpful than physical treatments.

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. If you are thinking of pursuing, or are currently undergoing, physical treatments at a gender identity clinic, then mental health support can complement this. One-to-one counselling and talking therapies will have an increased focus on any emotional difficulties or anxieties you may be experiencing.

Please note, in cases where those who have already transitioned are wanting to go back to their biological sex (referred to as transgender dysphoria), the specialist gender dysphoria psychotherapy may not be the best option for treatment support. Other services will be better designed to specifically deal with the complexities of these particular struggles.

Dedicated psychotherapy service at The 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, to help understand what you are experiencing and why. This is regardless of any physical treatments that you may currently be undergoing or are thinking about.

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 refers to an inner conflict between a person’s biological sex and the gender in which they identify. This can cause significant emotional distress and make you feel uncomfortable with your given gender to the point where carrying out the expected roles and traits of your biological sex.

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. Some people with gender dysphoria find discussing their feelings and understanding of their gender identity can be enough to help them feel comfortable with their biological sex, without the need for any physical treatments

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. This could be 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 the 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 biological sex.

You may also encounter difficulties at school or work due to the enormity of the emotional distress gender dysphoria can cause. This may mean everyday tasks become more difficult as you struggle to feel comfortable in your biological sex. 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 solely to behaviour. Gender non-conformity refers to behaviours you may display which don’t appear to match with your biological sex, and the term doesn’t relate to anything around your mental state, feelings or emotions.

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 biological sex. Taking a dislike to activities and play socially regarded as being preferable to their biological sex 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 of not having preference for games and activities typically associated for their gender
• Going to the toilet in a manner unusual for their biological sex, 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:

• Fully aware that your biological sex conflicts with your gender identity
• An intense desire to change or remove the genitalia or aspects of your anatomy associated with your biological sex
• Feeling most comfortable when living life in the gender role you prefer
• Wanting to hide or alter physical anatomy of your biological 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 biological sex.

Due to the social stigmatisation which can take place against those with gender dysphoria, the resulting feelings of isolation and low-self-esteem can be very distressing, and may lead to you experiencing depression, self-harm or even considering suicide.

There are many reasons you may grow up with gender dysphoria. Gender development and how you identify with your biological sex is part of a complex process involving hormonal changes 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 amount of people will continue to struggle with gender dysphoria in adulthood.