So, I’ve been listening to this podcast, this morning. In it, ‘Joanne’ talks about sustaining her marriage through her husband’s transition to live full time as ‘Helen’ @transwidows #AGP pod.link/1491735705/ep/…
First of all, h/t to @Quieten_Down who first alerted me to the podcast
‘Joanne’ is gaslit throughout the podcast, but the most heinous part comes when ‘Joanne’ tries to explore her need for sexual intimacy, as a heterosexual woman. I’m concerned that what ‘Joanne’ experiences is #ConversionTherapy @BACP
All the psychological professional bodies signed up to the ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ relating to #ConversionTherapy bacp.co.uk/media/6526/mem… 
The #MoU defines #ConversionTherapy as “therapy that assumes any sexual orientation... (is) inferior to others, and seeks to change or suppress them, on that basis.”
During the podcast, Joanne discusses her heterosexual orientation and her desire for exclusive sexual contact with a male life partner, repeatedly. Her husband, ‘Helen’, has transitioned, and now identifies as a ‘lesbian’, and ‘Joanne’ no longer feels able to be intimate.
The Therapist, Prof Tanya Byron, explores how heterosexual ‘Joanne’ could explore sexual intimacy with ‘lesbian’ ‘Helen’. She states “genital stimulation is just genital stimulation”, suggesting ‘Joanne’ could get back her intimate relationship.
This is exactly what gay and lesbian people have fought against for so many years, culminating in the original #MoU. It is not true that the sexual orientation of a partner can change, and it’s deeply unethical to try.
An ethical approach would be to validate ‘Joanne’s desire for a mutually fulfilling heterosexual relationship with a male partner, and to validate her boundaries, and seek to explore whether she wanted to pursue such a relationship, outside/after ending, her marriage
Let’s remind ourselves what #ConversionTherapy is, and the goals of ethical practice, when a client expresses deep dissatisfaction with their sexual orientation.
As we can see, the risk of covert #ConversionTherapy within professional practice is explicitly discussed in the #MoU. A practice doesn’t have to be named #ConversionTherapy, to be #ConversionTherapy
In these cases, the #MoU makes clear that practitioners are expected not to favour any sexual orientation over any other, or find any sexual orientation preferable. #ConversionTherapy
The reason why ‘Joanne’ is being asked to consider becoming a ‘lesbian’, and having a sexual/intimate relationship with ‘Helen’, is #Autogynephillia ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2200520… which is a common reason for #MtT ‘late transition’
Exploring the features of #Autogynephillia could have helped ‘Joanne’ find the words to describe her discomfort at being expected to have a ‘lesbian’ relationship with ‘Helen’. It’s worth reading about this phenomenon ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2200520…
Anne Lawrence has written extensively on #Autogynephillia, which was described by @BlanchardPhD in his ‘two types’ taxonomy of transsexualism
researchgate.net/publication/77…
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1795188…
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1795188…
researchgate.net/publication/77…
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1795188…
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1795188…
It’s also worth reading “The Man who would be Queen” by Michael Bailey, which is a very interesting study of certain MtT transsexuals known to the author #Autogynephillia researchgate.net/publication/28…
It’s easy to see why ‘Helen’ wants to be in a ‘lesbian’ relationship with ‘Joanne’. It’s a typical marker of #Autogynephillia that after transition, MtT conceptualise themselves as ‘lesbian’. These relationships are seen as the ultimate validation
What this requires of extant heterosexual marriage partners, is a complete reconceptualisation of their sexual orientation. It’s #ConversionTherapy. It’s #RapeCulture. It’s #misogyny. And it’s a tragedy that so many therapists can’t see it
Therapists also have a duty to explore the health risks of sexual contact with their spouse, who may be having casual sexual contact with men, as a way to validate their femininity. This is a common feature of #Autogynephillia. Wives should be empowered to make informed choices
If you want to find out more about Prof Byron, the Therapist in the podcast, her website is professortanyabyron.com/clinician/clin… #ConversionTherapy
You may wish to make a complaint about a therapist that you feel neglected their duty to avoid covert #ConversionTherapy, especially during your own (or your children’s therapy). If they’re registered with @bacp, you can do so here: bacp.co.uk/about-us/conta…
