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Working with Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth

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Handbook of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Medical Conditions

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Abstract

Recent decades have brought increased awareness of the diverse mental health needs of transgender and gender expansive youth. Accordingly, interest continues to emerge in developing empirically based affirmative interventions that are specific to these needs. Previously supported treatments informed by Cognitive Behavioral Therapeutic frameworks can be adapted to effectively target a highly unique set of medical and psychosocial challenges relevant to gender-affirmative care. This chapter seeks to explore the current treatment components and associated empirical support of utilizing CBT approaches with transgender and gender expansive youth. Case examples and dialogues will be provided to illustrate implementation of these approaches.

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to extend a special thanks to Diane Ehrensaft, PhD, for her review and consultation on this chapter. Dr. Ehrensaft’s dedication to transgender and gender expansive youth has been invaluable to the progress of this field. Her longstanding support and advocacy for gender-affirmative care have been foundational to our current understanding of best practices and essential to the concepts covered in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Andrea Carolina Tabuenca

  2. Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Krista Hayward Basile

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  1. Andrea Carolina Tabuenca
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Correspondence to Andrea Carolina Tabuenca .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Child Emphasis Area, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Robert D. Friedberg

  2. Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Jennifer K. Paternostro

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Tabuenca, A.C., Basile, K.H. (2019). Working with Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth. In: Friedberg, R.D., Paternostro, J.K. (eds) Handbook of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Medical Conditions. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21683-2_24

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