A Template Therapists Can Use to Help Detransitioners Who Need Accommodations at Work or School
Two can play at the letter-writing game
Introduction
Therapy has been mis-used and co-opted into a political agenda that has resulted in thousands of unnecessary, life-altering drugs and surgeries given to vulnerable people — youth; autistics; gays and lesbians; people with sexual trauma; the list goes on.
It’s time that rational therapists fight back. So today’s motto is: two can play at the letter-writing game.
It’s time we start helping detransitioners and other survivors of gender malpractice (SOGM) get their lives back. Many SOGM are working hard on their health and recovery, but having difficulty getting stable financially, in part because their current or prospective academic and workplace environments are so inundated with gender nonsense that they find it difficult to function. I don’t blame them. Many SOGM have complex PTSD due partly or fully to their experiences with ideology and malpractice. The world isn’t helping by continuing to reinforce reminders of harm at every turn.
So while I’m generally in the mindset of anti-fragility, not coddling; and I don’t believe it’s therapists’ job to make the world a “safe place” for our clients; when it comes to this issue… I believe we’ve royally f’d up, and it’s on us to fix it. Complex PTSD amongst SOGM is a very real, debilitating phenomenon, and unlike other situations in which the concept of “trigger” is overused, maybe when it comes to this one, we’re not doing enough to accommodate. If we can help SOGM get their lives back, even just a little, I think we should do it.
So, without further ado, below I’ve written a sample template for a letter therapists can modify as needed to help detransitioners carve out a bit more breathing room for themselves out there in the world.
Note: “Patient A” is fictional. Any resemblance to an actual person is coincidental, not deliberate.
The Template
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Stephanie Winn.
I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of Oregon operating in private practice.
I have diagnosed Patient A with chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (F43.12) on account of her traumatic experiences as a survivor of medical malpractice and the resultant impact on mood, cognition, and behavior.
Patient A was provided with the wrong diagnosis and treatment for psychological distress experienced in her teens. Patient A needed treatment for depression and body dysmorphia, but her distress was wrongly attributed to her gender by a poorly trained provider, and the “treatment” path involved permanently and irrevocably altering her body in ways that have magnified her distress and caused new iatrogenic harm. Patient A believes that she was led down this path by an [online and/or in person] social group she was involved with at the time, that she now believes to be a cult.
Among Patient A’s symptoms of complex PTSD, she experiences flashbacks, panic attacks, and mood swings when faced with triggers that remind her of her painful and traumatic experiences with misdiagnosis, malpractice, bodily harm, and/or cult involvement. These symptoms create clinically significant distress and impair her ability to function in an academic, social, and/or occupational setting.
Patient A is engaging in therapy, working on improving her mental health, and developing her coping tools for functioning in a wide range of situations. She appears to be of sound cognitive and intellectual functioning, and able to complete [most/all] of the duties associated with her role as a [student/employee].
However, at this time, she will function best if allowed to disengage from certain situations that involve trauma triggers while not being integrally essential to the job at hand.
Please excuse Patient A from any pressure or obligation to participate in such non-essential, trauma-triggering tasks as:
—Stating one’s pronouns during meetings
—Including pronouns in company email signatures
—Workplace discussion of politics or gender
—Trainings on the use of “gender inclusive” language
While these sorts of practices are generally and broadly intended to be kind and inclusive, for Patient A, they are anything but. Rather, these types of social rituals can trigger heightened distress, as they remind her of her former involvement in beliefs and practices, such as the idea that a woman can become a man, that led to her medical mistreatment and ultimately to the permanent damage her body has suffered.
With these exceptions and reasonable accommodations, Patient A should be capable of performing the duties of her role as a [student/employee].
Kind regards,
Stephanie Winn, LMFT
Additional Notes
(added 11/16/22)
A reader on Twitter suggested that this project should receive feedback from HR professionals. I would welcome that.
I’m also awaiting feedback from a disability rights advocate who is well familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It would be helpful to hear his perspective on whether this is written in such a way that it protects employees or students from discrimination on the basis of disability.
This letter is written from the professional “to whom it may concern.” There are two ways for a therapist to share a letter like this. One is for the patient to sign a Release of Information (ROI) authorizing the therapist to share specified material with a specified individual or agency. The second option is for the therapist to simply write the document, give it to the patient, and allow the patient to do what he or she wants with it.
Obviously this letter is not a one-size fits all solution. It’s not appropriate for every situation. And when used, it will need to be customized to the individual. This is just a starting point.
Be well and good luck out there.
