Understanding the Journey of Parents of Transgender Children

PsyD students Dana Vitrano (4th year) and Nimi Jayaraman (2nd year), along with AUNE Professor Kathi Borden presented their paper at the meeting of the New England Psychological Association in Worcester, MA on November 10th. The title of the paper was, Parents’ Experiences of a Child Coming Out as Transgender or Gender Nonconforming. Transgender children do best when their parents are accepting and supportive. Yet parents have to go through their own process of adaptation to the knowledge of their child’s gender identity. We believe that by helping parents through this process, those parents will be in a better position to support their children. Understanding parents’ experiences is key to this process.