Dismantling the Gates: Informed Consent Models of Care

A substantial barrier to care for many trans and nonbinary people has been standards of care that put therapists in a position of “gatekeeping” for those pursuing hormones, surgery, or even name changes. More providers are adopting an informed consent model, that empowers trans and nonbinary individuals and opens up the therapist/client relationship. This webinar is designed to help therapists and social services professionals understand informed consent models of care and how it can work for them and their clients.

1:10 Agenda overview
2:20 Who is FORGE?
3:52 Framing informed consent/standards of care
6:46 History of care for trans folks
14:58 Why do we have standards of care or informed consent?

16:25 Shifting toward informed consent models
21:43 How standards of care worked in the past
27:31 What is informed consent?
33:27 Importance of autonomy
36:28 Limited scope for standards of care and informed consent

43:52 Implications in today’s world
48:37 Impact on the therapeutic relationship
52:31 Building strong therapeutic relationships
55:23 Autonomy in action
59:53 Questions: supporting trans clients in today’s political climate

Recorded March 2nd, 2023.