Therapist; Decade of experience w gender dysphoria. "Gender" is a metaphor. Let's exhibit more wisdom, discernment, and compassion with dysphoric youth.
Joined November 2016
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After working with over 1,000 families since 2016, I’ve been reimagining what parent support can look like.
Last week, I launched my latest project, Sasha’s Parental Confidence Lab.
This is a parent group for people who usually avoid parent groups. 👇
Sasha Ayad, LPC retweeted
Last week, Therapy First convened mental health clinicians of diverse perspectives from across the U.S., Canada, and Europe for our inaugural conference, Identities in the Therapy Room: What Is Unfolding?, in New York City.
In his opening remarks, President @paulgarciaryan speaks to the professional polarization surrounding the mental health care of youth experiencing gender dysphoria and invites clinicians to listen deeply across differences in experiences, perspectives, and ideas with curiosity, openness, and humility—what he calls “the beating heart” of the psychotherapy profession.
Thanks for having me on, Pear!
Is the gender critical movement helping or hurting parents?
New video with @SashaLPC up on my channel.
We discuss her work with gender-distressed young people, how the “culture war” aspect of gender can negatively affect people- especially parents of trans-identified children, and what good therapy should look like.
Link in replies.
Barbell lifts for longevity
"they have uniquely efficient properties that are especially good for building your base, or for being the core of a program for people who aren’t hardcore lifters and just want to get the most out of a small and simple commitment"
The argument I see sometimes is that all lifting is contrived in that we couldn’t do it in nature without this modern, manufactured equipment, so as long as everything is contrived anyway, no lift has a better claim on being more useful than another for general training purposes. So you should just do either what you enjoy or what’s best for your goals, and not think of any individual lift as inherently indispensable. There’s some truth to this for those who are already reasonably developed but it misses an important part of the picture that Sara articulates here.
Basic barbell lifts - squat, deadlift, press, bench press - are not just some contrived lift like any other. They are how we figured out to ergonomically load the most basic, fundamental human movement patterns that are stable enough to be heavily loadable so as to produce a high or maximal force production event, but still working within the context of the normal gravity based environment that we operate within in real life.
They have unique characteristics that do actually make them more important and useful than other lifts within a certain context. This doesn’t mean you need to become a powerlifter or that you need to work on increasing your 1 RM on these lifts forever without branching out into any other things, but it does mean that they have uniquely efficient properties that are especially good for building your base, or for being the core of a program for people who aren’t hardcore lifters and just want to get the most out of a small and simple commitment.
In The Lab, you’ll learn to maintain your parental integrity and values while actively guiding your child toward healthy development (and protect your own emotional wellbeing in the process)
I’ll also show you how to build a relationship with your child that remains strong through any long-term outcome. 👇
I don't believe in rigid checklists, one-size-fits-all "detox" formulas, or conversations that breed more panic and anxiety for parents. 👇
Sasha Ayad, LPC retweeted
📽️ The 7 Principles of Psychoanalytic Therapy
A video introduction to in-depth psychotherapy
jonathanshedler.substack.com…
Sasha Ayad, LPC retweeted
The less people know about a subject, the simpler the answers seem. Cognitive science explains why.
We have two cognitive information processing systems. Nobel prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman called them System 1 and System 2.
👉 System 1 is quick, automatic, not fully conscious, and emotion-driven. It provides a false sense of certainty in the absence of real knowledge and understanding.
👉 System 2 is slow, deliberate, conscious, rational, and information-driven.
The more we know, the more likely System 2 is online— and the less willing we are to accept easy answers that “seem” right.
The less we know, the more likely we’re relying on System 1—and the simpler the answers seem.
This explains a lot of public discourse.
"I don't really see it, honestly. But show me..."
Therapy with a young person requires more than the therapist’s warmth or acceptance.
It requires the therapist to employ the clinical skills needed to enter a young person’s frame of reference—to listen closely, understand how they experience themselves and their world, and communicate that understanding in a way that allows the young person to feel recognized.
The therapist’s ability to create that experience of being recognized is an essential ingredient in effective clinical work.
Sasha Ayad, LPC retweeted
GCs often encourage this permanent victim identity.
There’s a tendency to treat “detransitioner” as a protected identity. “How could you say that to a detransitioner?”
“You need to be more sensitive because they’re a detransitioner.”
“You can’t criticise them- they’ve been through x, y, and z.”
It’s the same identity-as-shield mentality you see from gender ideologues and “woke” people:
“As a nonbinary person, I find this offensive.”
“How could you say that to a person of color?”
The identity becomes a trump card that ends the conversation and exempts the person from ordinary criticism or accountability.
Of course detransitioners should tell their stories, advocate for themselves, and seek justice for the harms done to them. But if we teach detransitioners to see themselves as a permanent victim class, we’re not helping them heal. We’re just keeping them in the same mindset they had when they identified as trans: the idea that their identity gives them a special status that others have to defer to.
Sasha Ayad, LPC retweeted
Clinical training on youth gender dysphoria and identity development has too often flattened complexity and created a sense of certainty that doesn’t track with what clinicians actually navigate in the therapy room.
At Therapy First, we train clinicians to stay curious, think carefully and deeply, and tolerate uncertainty—the same capacities we aim to help our young patients develop.
Sasha Ayad, LPC retweeted
Across all major mental health professions, ethical codes stipulate standards of professional conduct with colleagues because how clinicians conduct themselves toward one another directly impacts patient welfare. When it comes to youth gender dysphoria, those standards have too often broken down—and it is kids and their families who pay the price.
Sasha Ayad, LPC retweeted
We are proud to announce the full speaker lineup for our inaugural conference, featuring Alessandra Lemma, Lisa Marchiano, Jonathan Shedler, Laurel Silber, Amy Tishelman, and Eric Yarbrough, among 25 distinguished speakers.
🤝 This conference marks the first time high-caliber mental health clinicians from diverse perspectives will come together to find the common ground our profession urgently needs.
➡️ Join us in meeting one of the defining challenges facing youth today.
🗓️ October 17-18, New York City
Sasha Ayad, LPC retweeted
"Therapy First takes seriously the concerns of trans people."
-Paul Garcia-Ryan, President of Therapy First
In this clip, @paulgarciaryan and Sasha Ayad discuss what's required of therapists working with youth experiencing gender dysphoria.
Throughout the Egypt world cup games, I was trying to explain to my husband that Hany looks exactly like an ancient fresco... or is it a Coptic Church Icon? Vaguely, I knew I was right but couldn't find the proof.
Till now... Thank you Lulu
And why isn't this same strategy (of reviewing video and voiding a goal that takes place afterwards) applied to the other team?
A controversial call erased an incredible goal scored by Egypt.
Alex Scott | @petercrouch | @kschmeichel1 | Bob Bradley