Understanding the current science on gender dysphoria's causes, available treatments and outcomes, and live clinical controversies is essential to supporting families well. This page organizes relevant publications — separated by whether the transgender family member is a child/adolescent or an adult — alongside several current issues clinicians are likely to encounter.

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A note on inclusion: listing a publication here doesn't imply endorsement by the Regeneration Resource Center. Few resources are written from an explicitly Christian perspective — the main exceptions are the Christian Medical & Dental Associations' transgender resources and Yarhouse (2015) below. Even where you may disagree with an author's underlying view of transgender identity, the information presented can still be useful.

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Etiology (causes) of gender dysphoria

• Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents — see chapters 6–7 on biological and psychosocial etiology. Though published in 1995, its summary of the research gaps largely still holds; Hruz (2020) offers some updates on biological etiology (pp. 35–36).

• From Mental Disorder to Iatrogenic Hypogonadism — a balanced peer-reviewed discussion of the "pathologic condition vs. natural variation" debate (pp. 5–9), concluding that gender identity is likely best understood as a complex interaction of biological, individual, and environmental factors, without strong empirical support yet for any single model.

• Lev, A. (2004). Transgender Emergence. New York: Routledge — see Ch. 4, Etiologies.

 

Treatments for gender dysphoria & outcomes

• WPATH Standards of Care — useful for helping family members understand available treatment options.

• Transgenderism and Intersexuality in Childhood & Adolescence — see chapters 6–7 on clinical management.

• Advancing the Practice of Pediatric Psychology with Transgender Youth — current treatment options, useful for explaining these to families.

• Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria — covers rising referral rates, the growing share of referred biological females, suicide risk, and rapid-onset presentations.

• The Battle Over Gender Therapy (NYT) — summarizes current clinical debates.

• They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost? (NYT) — tradeoffs of puberty blockers.

• CMDA Transgender Resources

• Brown, M. & Rounsley, C.A. (2003). True Selves. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass — secular perspective.

• Yarhouse, M. (2015). Understanding Gender Dysphoria. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press — conservative Christian perspective; Ch. 5 covers treatment.

• Yarhouse, M. & Sadusky, J. (2022). Gender Identity & Faith. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press — for clinicians helping clients reconcile faith and gender identity.

 

Interventions for families with a transgender child or adolescent

• Brill, S.A. & Pepper, R. (2008). The Transgender Child. San Francisco: Cleis Press — Ch. 2, Family Acceptance: From Crisis to Empowerment.

• Coolhart, D. & Shipman, D.L. (2017). Working Toward Family Attunement. Psychiatr Clin North Am, 40(1), 113–125 — secular family therapy model.

• Ehrensaft, D. (2011). Gender Born, Gender Made. New York: Experiment — Ch. 2, The Family's Path Is Covered with Roses and Thorns.

• Gottlieb, A.R. & Lev, A.I. (2019). Families in Transition. New York: Harrington Park Press — Ch. 5 on extended family, Ch. 11 on parents' identity, Ch. 17 on siblings.

• Raj, R. (2008). Transforming Couples and Families. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 4(2), 133–163 — the Trans-Formative Therapeutic Model, written by a transgender clinician.

• SAMHSA (2014). A Practitioner's Resource Guide: Helping Families to Support Their LGBT Children. Available here.

• Wahlig, J.L. (2015). Losing the Child They Thought They Had. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 11(4), 305–326 — ambiguous loss perspective.

• Additional secular resources: Cooper (2009); Golden & Oransky (2019); MacNish & Gold-Peifer (2014); Malpas (2011); Vanderburgh (2009).

 

Interventions for families with a transgender adult

• Lev, A. (2004). Transgender Emergence, Ch. 8, Family Emergence — one of the earliest resources specifically addressing families with a transgender adult.

• Raj (2008), above, also addresses the Trans-Formative Therapeutic Model as applied to families with a transgender adult.

 

 

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• Current Clinical Issues

• Implications for Clinicians

• Services & Other Resources