Transgender Emergence

Arlene (Ari) Istar Lev, LCSW-R, CASAC, CST is a social worker and family therapist, who is the Founder and Clinical Director of Choices Counseling and Consulting (www.choicesconsulting.com) where she has provided individual and family therapy in Albany NY for nearly 30 years. She is also the Director of TIGRIS—The Training Institute for Gender, Relationships, Identity, and Sexuality (www.TIGRISinstitute.com), a professional training program in Albany, New York. Arlene specializes in issues related to gender and sexuality, including working with the LGBTQ couples and families. She is a Credentialed Alcoholism Counselor and a Certified Sex Therapist (ASSECT). Arlene is a part-time lecturer at the University at Albany, School of Social Welfare where she is the Project Director of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Project (SOGI). She is an international lecturer on issues related to sex and gender, and has taught at Smith College School for Social Work, Empire College, Vermont College, Union Institute and University, and the California School of Professional Psychology. Arlene has authored over 30 journal articles and book chapters and including authoring two books: The Complete Lesbian and Gay Parenting Guide and Transgender Emergence, which was the winner of the American Psychological Association (Division 44) Distinguished Book Award, 2006.

Foreword
Preface: Overview of Transgender Emergence
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Language of Gender
Gender Dysphoria and Etiological Theories
The Families of Transgendered People
The Need for Training
Part I: Theoretical Understandings of Transgenderism
Chapter 1. The Transsexual Phenomenon Meets the Transexual Menace
Compassionate and Controversial Treatment of Transsexuals
The Mental Health Professional As Gatekeeper
Clinical GuidelinesTherapeutic Standards of Care
Chapter 2. The Legacy: Gender Variance in History
The Historical Legacy
Medical Science and Gender Variance
Chapter 3. Deconstructing Sex and Gender: Thinking Outside the Box
Four Components of Identity
Deconstructing the Assumptions of Sexual Identity
Part II: Diagnosis and Assessment
Chapter 4. Etiologies: Causes and Categories
Etiological Theories: Nature and NurtureEssentially Constructed
Categorical Classifications: If the Shoe Doesn’t FitForce It
Chapter 5. Diagnosis and Transgenderism: The Creation of Pathology
The Power of Diagnosis
Gender As Pathological Diagnosis
Part III: Treatment Issues
Chapter 6. Learning to Listen to Gender Narratives
Mental Health Issues and Transgenderism
Clients Seeking Therapy
Transgender Narratives
Therapist As Midwife: The Birth of Story
Chapter 7. Transgender Emergence: A Developmental Process
Coming Out
Transgender Emergence
Chapter 8. Family Emergence
Partners, Spouses, and Significant Others
Developmental Stages for Family Members
Families Coping with Transgenderism
TransParents See
Chapter 9. Transgendered Children and Youth
Treatment, Prevention, and Parental Rights
Families with Gender-Variant Children
Gender Variance and Progressive Treatments
Transgender EmergenceStep-by-Step Maturation
Chapter 10. The Treatment of Intersexed People: Time for a New Paradigm
Assigning Sex and the Modern Medical Protocols
Creating Psychosocial Emergency
Standards of Humane Treatment for Intersexed People
Appendix A. The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Definition of Transsexualism
Appendix B. Common Intersexed Conditions
Appendix C. Letters of Recommendation for Hormones
Glossary
References
Index