“I Am My Own Gender”: Resilience Strategies of Trans Youth

Abstract

Nineteen trans youth participated in a phenomenological study of their resilience strategies for navigating stressors in their lives. The authors identified 5 supports and 6 threats to participants’ resilience. The 5 themes of resilience were: (a) ability to self‐define and theorize one's gender, (b) proactive agency and access to supportive educational systems, (c) connection to a trans‐affirming community, (d) reframing of mental health challenges, and (e) navigation of relationships with family and friends. The 6 major threats to participants’ resilience were: (a) experiences of adultism, (b) health care access challenges, (c) emotional and social isolation, (d) employment discrimination, (e) limited access to financial resources, and (f) gender policing.

What does it mean to be a successful adult? Exploring perceptions of the transition into adulthood among LGBTQ emerging adults in a community-based service context

“…Similar to other research on LGBTQ young people of emerging adult age (Wagaman, 2014;Singh, Meng, & Hansen, 2014), participants identified opportunities to help others as a primary mechanism for achieving selffulfillment. The emerging adults in this study perceived themselves as having the capacity to impact the world around them.…”

“…For these participants, the emotional, physical, and economic resources that it took to embody the gender with which they identified reflected levels of personal preservation and internal strength and resilience that are perhaps not as salient for cisgender heteronormative emerging adults (Singh, Meng, & Hansen, 2014). By centering the experiences of these young people, as Torkelson (2012) suggests, we can identify aspects of emerging adulthood theory that resonate with LGBTQ emerging adults, but for whom accessing them is met with additional barriers.…”

Adult Attachment and Transgender Identity in the Italian Context: Clinical Implications and Suggestions for Further Research

“…Vice versa, the psychological clinical encounter may be seen as a valuable opportunity for helping transgender people to improve their quality of life in a more general sense, and in particular their ability to engage in adult romantic relationships, beyond any pathologizing instance. Although within our sample the majority of people have shown a secure attachment style, and previous researches have studied specific resilience strategies developed by transgender people in response to societal stigma (Singh et al, 2011; Singh, Meng, & Hansen, 2014), this is not always the case. For this reason, clinical work should assess attachment styles as a standard part of treatment planning, and should be primarily aimed to increase a person's sense of security.…”

Les expériences de victimisation, la santé mentale et le bien-être de jeunes trans au Québec

“…Ces résultats montrent l'importance de mettre en place des programmes visant la prévention de la violence faite aux personnes trans et le changement des attitudes défavorables qui invalident le vécu des jeunes trans, notamment l'idée que la transidentité peut être une phase ou doit être traitée (Singh, Meng et Hansen, 2014). Des actions concrètes telles que la formation du personnel scolaire ou la sensibilisation des élèves devraient être développées et implantées pour réduire l'intimidation dans les écoles.…”