The Practicalities of Mental Health and Gender Affirming Care for Trans Youth: An Interview with Jordan Held, LCSW

The Practicalities of Mental Health and Gender Affirming Care for Trans Youth: An Interview with Jordan Held, LCSW

An Interview with Jordan Held, LCSW

Jordan Held (he/him/his), LCSW is a Primary Therapist and Gender Specialist at Visions Adolescent Treatment Center. Prior to Visions, Jordan was a Therapist and Intake Coordinator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in the Center for Trans Youth Health and Development, the largest trans youth health clinic in the USA.

Jordan’s mental health practice centers around creating a trauma-informed and healing-centered space for both adolescents and their families. Jordan’s expertise is working with gender and sexual minority youth with complex histories of PTSD and trauma. Jordan speaks internationally about creating and supporting affirmative LGBTQ+ environments with an emphasis on informed consent and enhanced family communication. As a queer-identified, transgender man, Jordan brings an important dual perspective to his work as a mental health provider.

Prior to social work, Jordan worked extensively in secondary school education, with a decade of experience teaching, coaching, and developing health and wellness curricula. Jordan’s work focuses on gender violence prevention, diversity, equity, inclusion, and cultivating strength and belonging for teens. Jordan is on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the Laurel Foundation, JQ International, and Mental Health America of Los Angeles. Jordan is also a long-time facilitator at Transforming Family, a support group for gender-diverse youth and their family.

 In this podcast episode, we talk about trans mental health

What is gender-affirmative care?

• The way that “gender affirming care” is being taken out of context
• What is actually happening, how it has been politicized
• The misinformation related to what is available to children who are exploring their gender (i.e., parental consent and youth care)
• The role of therapists versus the role of medical providers
• Discussion of gender norms

Different types of transition for trans individuals

• Social transition (name, pronouns, clothes, haircut)
• Medical interventions that may start during puberty (i.e., puberty blockers, progesterone only birth control)
• Cross sex hormones and surgeries (which actually require a long process)
• States are very specific for what they require for gender care (as do insurance companies)

Conversations in therapy for trans youth

• Gender journey
• Meeting the kids where they’re at
• Lying to get what they need
• Letters and recommendations for surgery
• The gender dysphoria diagnosis and sorting that out from depression, anxiety, etc.
• Supporting trans youth with social transition and getting the support they need
• The concerns with maladaptive coping skills available online
• Positive resources for trans youth (scroll down to resources)
• Identity and impacts

The Politicization of Trans Individuals

• Jordan grew in privilege when he transitioned
• Legislation
• Schools removing conversations related to gender and sexuality
• Play and sports being withheld from trans kids
• Bias and how being trans is perceived
• The actual numbers of trans folks who want to play sports or want to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity
• Advice for trans kids and families where gender care is illegal, advice for therapists
• Age limits and laws that don’t align with logic

Culture, privilege, and being trans

• Increasing or decreasing privilege when one transitions
• Getting used to the changed dynamic within society based on external experience
• The complexity of the experience and the changing of the experience
• The concept of “passing” and how it taps into bias