Some case reports of boys noted that an actual physical loss of the mother (or a mother surrogate) preceded the emergence of feminine behaviors (e.g., Gilpin et al. 1979; Wallach 1961). This…

Influenced by Stoller’s (1968) claim that extremely feminine boys did not experience internalized conflict - and thus were not amenable to psychoanalysis - Green et al. (1972) developed a more eclectic and…

There is a large case report literature on the treatment of children with GID using psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, or psychotherapy, some of which is quite detailed and…

Follow-up studies of boys with GID, largely untreated, indicate that homosexuality, not transsexualism, is the most common long-term psychosexual outcome (Green 1987). Some parents of children with GID request treatment, in part,…

In the DSM, the presence of a disorder, by definition, assumes that there is associated distress and/or impairment. Although the assessment of distress in child psychiatric disorders, including GID,…

A fourth rationale for the treatment of GID during childhood is that such treatment might prevent its continuation into adolescence and adulthood. For many clinicians, there is little disagreement…

Several theoretical perspectives suggest that GID in children originates within the context of family factors or psychopathology. Such factors include parental conflict and trauma related to gender identity issues in their own life…

As a point of departure, let us consider five rationales for intervention that have been discussed in the treatment literature to date.