Episode 30 - Helping Young People Who Experience Gender Dysphoria with Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper, a pioneer in our understanding of youth gender transition. Dr. Edwards-Leeper is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in gender and Professor Emerita of the School of Graduate Psychology at Pacific University in Oregon. She works with gender diverse and transgender children, adolescents and adults. Dr. Edwards-Leeper was a member of the American Psychological Association Task Force that developed practice guidelines for working with trans individuals. She was the past Chair of the Child and Adolescent Committee for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and was involved in the WPATH Standards of Care (SOC) 8 revision. Dr. Edwards-Leeper is credited as a pioneer in the field of youth gender medicine in the United States, having served as the founding psychologist at the first pediatric gender clinic in the country, at Boston Children’s Hospital, which helped bring medical transition options for minors starting in the mid 2000s. We are especially grateful to Laura for her patience with us during a recording mishap.

• Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper’s webpage 
• Her piece in the Washington Post and interview for News Nation
• Our prior conversation with Dr. Erica Anderson is mentioned in this episode. 
• Should psych eval be necessary for trans healthcare? 
• https://www.medicalaccidentgroup.co.uk/news/do-you-regret-having-cosmetic-surgery/ 
• https://www.icij.org/investigations/implant-files/breast-implant-injuries-kept-hidden-as-new-health-threats-surface/
• https://www.oregon.gov/obo/Documents/minor-rights.pdf

• https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/support-national-centre-for-social-research-ehrc-bsa-great-britain-b2415501.html 
• Detransition needs further understanding, not controversy
• Gallup Polling on LGBTQ identity