Understanding the lived experience of people who detransition in the United Kingdom: an Interpretative phenomenological analysis

O'Donnell, Michael (2023). Understanding the lived experience of people who detransition in the United Kingdom: an Interpretative phenomenological analysis. University of Birmingham. Clin.Psy.D.

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Abstract

Introduction: Some people who undergo gender transition will pause, stop, or reverse the changes conceived during their gender transition, and this is known as gender detransition (Jorgenson, 2023). Research with people who detransition is in its infancy, however existing studies indicate that this population have multiple unmet social, psychological, and physical health needs (MacKinnon et al., 2023; MacKinnon et al., 2022a; Expósito-Campos et al., 2023), and little is known about how to meet the clinical needs of this group (Butler & Hutchinson, 2020). The aim of the current study is to explore how people make sense of their lived experience of detransitioning in the United Kingdom.

Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted online with six adults who had started and stopped at least one medical intervention for gender transition in the UK. Participants were recruited online through social media and the qualitative method of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith et al., 2022) was employed to analyse the data.

Results: Six group experiential themes (GETS) and 11 subthemes emerged from the data. These captured how participants made sense of their detransition experiences at various points in time across different contexts, ranging from the point of realising a desire to detransition, to adjusting to ambiguous feelings following detransition, to finding meaning and contentment in their current circumstances.

Conclusion: Participants in this research experienced a range of distressing psychosocial difficulties combined with barriers to healthcare services, to name a few. The findings are discussed along with clinical and research implications.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Clin.Psy.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Clin.Psy.D.

Supervisor(s):