Psychological support for trans people: affirmative psychology

Trans people constitute one of the segments of the population in which there is a greater degree of discrimination even today.

Statistically, people who have not developed a gender identity that fits with cis canons (based on in gender roles) suffer a much higher unemployment rate, and also present a greater risk of trying to end their life. This is not because being trans is a pathology (this pathologizing conception has been discarded since the psychiatry and clinical psychology), but to the strong stigmas and discriminatory dynamics against them that follow existing.

Thus, what is known as affirmative psychology has emerged, from which special attention is paid to the experiences of trans people, to help them integrate into themselves and accept their non-normative gender identity. In this article we will see what it consists of.

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What is affirmative psychology?

Affirmative psychology is an approximation of applied psychology towards the problems and needs that usually affect people in the LGTBI community

. It is a way of addressing the experiences linked to sexual orientations and gender identities that go beyond the norm, that is, experiences related to the possibility of expressing sexual and gender diversity freely and without complex.

It is a non-pathologizing vision; that is, it does not assume that there is a qualitatively different and problematic psychic structure in the homosexual and trans people, so it does not propose a cure towards heterosexuality or identity cisgender.

In fact, it originated as a way to help gay and bisexual people to develop a positive perspective on their sexual orientation, accepting and not assuming they have a disease, dealing with the stigmata and myths surrounding their collective; Over time, work began to help trans and asexual people as well.

Precisely this explains why we speak of affirmative psychology: it is about affirming in a positive and constructive way that part of a person's identity, without repressing it or trying to eliminate it to fit in with "the norm" in order to get rid of the social stigma that has long affected people from the LGTBI community. And it is because there is a whole series of expectations, prejudices and roles very internalized by society and that presuppose how they should be behave men and women, any dissent in this sense has been severely punished, coming to be seen as part of a disease.

Thus, this way of judging minorities has come to produce a self-fulfilling prophecy effect, damaging their mental health.

This type of prejudice and pathologizing ideas have generated a series of social stigmas that, in some cases, have even been materialized in discriminatory legislation. Fortunately, countries such as Spain are currently shedding these discriminatory elements in their written regulations, but A whole series of social dynamics still remain that reproduce the discomfort with oneself in many of the people of the groups LGTBI.

On the other hand, affirmative psychology should not be understood as the psychology applied to the sexuality of people who do not fit the canons of heterosexuality and cisgender identity. This is so because it is not limited to the problems and needs associated with sexual practices, but rather addresses above all bio-psycho-social issues derived from the stigma and hegemony of the roles of gender.

Definitely, affirmative psychology is based on the idea of ​​the acceptance of sexual orientations and identities; It is not sought to repress or hide that facet of oneself, but to integrate it into the self-concept and to be able to express it in a satisfactory way and not limited by personal complexes.

That is, from affirmative psychology the objective of "curing" a psychopathology is not proposed (since gender identities that go outside the norm are not a disorder), but focus on the common experiences of people from the LGTB community to address their problems and needs, understanding what they are going through, going beyond the presuppositions that are often based on the cis and heteronorm paradigm.

It is not a specific type of therapy or an intervention model with specific and unique techniques and strategies for these cases, but rather a set of ideas and references to adapt to the kind of experiences that often lead this type of minority to seek psychological support professional.

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Main areas of work of psychological support for trans people

As we have seen, affirmative psychology is not limited only to providing help to trans people; in fact, it originates with care for homosexual people, although over time it has expanded its focus of action to include the entire LGTBI community. Therefore, focusing on the care of trans people from affirmative psychology, the following intervention fronts should be highlighted.

1. Psychoeducation in the field of gender identities

There is a lot of misinformation about everything related to the experiences of those who are part of the LGTBI collective, and some of these myths cause problems. Therefore, psychoeducation is essential.

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2. Fight internalized transphobia

Transphobia is not simply a social phenomenon; It also has an individualized component, of beliefs and feelings that go so deep that they are accepted even by many trans people, who blame themselves for being "weird" or "degenerate" and only see a "cure" as a way out. it happens. Many times, these pathologizing beliefs coexist with others of self-acceptance, fighting against them and giving rise to apparently contradictory behaviors.

Therefore, affirmative psychology helps the person to definitively get rid of these dysfunctional beliefs and to adopt a positive perspective on her gender identity.

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3. Support in dealing with uncertainty and conflicting ideas and beliefs

As gender identity is outside the canons of cisgender, trans people tend to feel much more disoriented and lack of references; thus, they are forced to examine many more aspects of their ways of behaving, and without guidance provided by external institutions, it is easy to focus on the contradictions that generates their "philosophy of life".

For example, many trans people find it problematic to accept themselves and at the same time maintain beliefs religious whose main institutions spread transphobic messages or, at least, do not take into account trans-

For this reason, affirmative psychology helps to face this lack of answers that does not seem to affect other people, and to assume a certain degree of contradiction in the beliefs of oneself (since it is impossible to develop beliefs in complete harmony), as long as that friction between ideas does not generate much discomfort or lead to rejection of one same.

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4. Support in intra-family conflicts

Unfortunately, trans identities continue to trigger conflicts within the family due to transphobia. Therefore, in therapy trans people are helped to cope with these problems and, if possible, approaches are made through family therapy to fix the root problem.

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Are you looking for professional psychological assistance?

If you are interested in starting a psychotherapy process or want to have psychological assistance through affirmative psychology, we invite you to get in touch with our team of professionals.

From Cepsim Psychological Center We attend both in person at any of our consultations located in Madrid, as well as online via video call.