Spiritual Psychotherapy for a Client with Gender Dysphoria

Gender dysphoria refers to the noticeable incongruence between gender identity and biological sex along with clinically significant distress or impairment in important domains of functioning. We presented a case study to illustrate the effective use of spiritual psychotherapy in a female with gender dysphoria.For this case, a total of thirty, 90-minute sessions were held with a spiritual therapist up to 8 months. A psychiatrist assessed the symptoms of gender dysphoria and life functioning at preintervention, 4 months after starting the intervention, postintervention, 1-year and 2-year follow-up using the psychiatric interviews according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-5).She showed no symptoms of gender dysphoria at postintervention and did not experience any relapse in the 1-year and 2-year follow-up. She could resolve her gender identity conflicts, improve life functioning, and continue her life as a female.Overall, spiritual psychotherapy can offer a potential new therapeutic approach to treat the clients with gender dysphoria.

Keywords:

Case study , Gender Dysphoria , Spiritual Therapies