Ethical WPATH Letter Writing

Do you want to write letters for transgender clients to access surgery, but feel uncomfortable about being a 'gatekeeper'?

Get practical guidance that is ethically aligned for trans-affirming practitioners providing WPATH assessments and letter writing. 

Meet your obligations while accounting for the historical, political, and ethical considerations of doing this work.

By accounting for the complexities of this work, we can provide respectful, client-centred assessments, with a sense of personal-professional ethical alignment.

What We Will Cover

• Core historical and ethical considerations for ethical practitioner positioning
• Detailed breakdown of assessment items according to WPATH Standards of Care version 8
• Detailed breakdown of what to include in a WPATH letter
• 'Complex' case considerations, including what is not complex.
• Essential practical considerations to harm reduction and client-centred care

Essential Resources

• Assessment Checklist and Notes Template
• Letter Template
• WPATH Specific Consent Form template and Client Info Pack
• Example Letters for adolescents and adults

Details:

Date: December 18th, 12-2pm (Aus Eastern Standard Time)

Location: Online (Zoom)

Recorded: Available for 60 days

About The Trainer

Hi, I'm Ari Heart (they/them).

I am a psychotherapist, educator, parent, trans non-binary person, and co-founder of Trans Wellbeing.

I have been supporting trans people and their families to navigate the various stages of their journeys for many years.

My personal experience as a non-binary trans person informs the depth of care I bring to this work, but it is the many thousands of hours of conversations with trans people and their families that has built much of the purpose and content of our training and programs. 

This work is deeply personal for me, as someone who's been on the other side of this process and who now writes letters for others seeking gender affirming medical care.

I've felt, seen, and heard about many different approaches for conducting WPATH assessments and writing letters. This experience can be affirming and easy, or it can be dehumanising, disempowering, and stressful. 

I also know what it is like to grapple with our own role in this process, as mental health practitioners. 

Rather than turn away from the difficult questions about the ethics of this work, let's lean in and grapple with these questions so that we can find our own way through - a way that we feel at peace with.