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“I Am My Own Gender”: Resilience Strategies of Trans Youth
Author(s) -
Singh Anneliese A.,
Meng Sarah E.,
Hansen Anthony W.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of counseling and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.805
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1556-6676
pISSN - 0748-9633
DOI - 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00150.x
Subject(s) - cognitive reframing , agency (philosophy) , mental health , stressor , psychological resilience , psychology , resilience (materials science) , isolation (microbiology) , social isolation , social psychology , developmental psychology , sociology , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , physics , social science , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , thermodynamics
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.