Trans Youth Discussed on Dr. Phil
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009By Monica F. Helms
First of all, I have to say up front that I am not a fan of Dr. Phil. Never have been. He comes off as being a pompous, arrogant know-it-all most of the time. Yet, on January 14, 2009, he impressed me on how well he presented his show called, “Little Boy Lost,” a sequel to the show he had called, “Gender Confused Kids,” which aired October 24, 2008. From all of what I read and heard, that first show was not taken very well by the transgender community. This new show quickly made up for that.
On this show, Dr. Phil had Glenn Stanton, researcher for Focus on the Family and psychologist Dr. Joseph Nicolosi from the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH,) both saying it’s the parent’s job to guide their child away from what they call a “phase.” On the other side of the debate was psychiatrist Dr. Dan Siegel and psychotherapist/sexologist Dr. Michele Angello, a good friend of mine. They say children are born this way and parents should support their children in their decision to transition to the opposite sex.