About Me

Standards of Care, Version 8 (open access)

The overall goal of the guidelines, called “Standards of Care'', is to provide clinical guidance for health professionals to assist transgender and gender diverse people with safe and effective pathways to achieve lasting personal comfort with their gendered selves, and to maximize their overall health, psychological well-being, and self-fulfillment.

Coleman, E., Radix, A. E., Bouman, W. P., Brown, G. R., De Vries, A. L. C., Deutsch, M. B., … Allen L. R., ... & Arcelus, J. (2022). Standards of care for the health of transgender and gender diverse people, version 8. International Journal of Transgender Health, 23(sup1), S1–S259. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2022.2100644

We explore the ethical dimensions of transgender healthcare, our manuscript applies the principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice to inform and guide clinical decisions. It underscores the necessity of a nuanced, principled approach in addressing the unique challenges faced by transgender individuals in healthcare settings.

Allen, L. R., Adams, N., Ashley, F., Dodd, C., Ehrensaft, D., Fraser, L., Garcia, M., Giordano, S., Green, J., Johnson, T., Penny, J., Rachlin, K., & Veale, J. (2024). Principlism and contemporary ethical considerations for providers of transgender health care. International Journal of Transgender Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2024.2303462

In this article, my co-author and I argue that in recent decades psychologists’ professional commitments appear to have expanded to include social justice and political advocacy components; consequently, the applicability of psychologists’ guiding ethical principles must also expand. We use drug prohibition as an example to critically examine the boundaries between psychologists’ personal and professional ethics. We conclude that the endorsement of categorical prohibitionist drug policies by psychologist is in direct conflict with the profession’s guiding ethical principles.

Allen, L. R., & Dodd, C. G. (2018). Psychologists’ responsibility to society: Public policy and the ethics of political action. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 38(1), 42–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/teo0000077 [Open Access, Pre-Publication, Version]

This the publication resulting from my dissertation. We assessed youth in this study at least twice. Once before gender-affirming hormones and then once at least 3 months later. The average length of treatment before the second assessment was 11 months. It is the first study to demonstrate decreased suicidality and increased well-being among adolescents following gender-affirming hormones.

Allen, L. R., Watson, L. B., Egan, A. M., & Moser, C. N. (2019). Suicidality and well-being among transgender youth after gender-affirming hormones. Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, 7(3), 302-311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cpp0000288 [Open Access, Pre-Publication, Version]

There has been a rise in the number of children and adolescents presenting with gender incongruence. Many are requesting gender-affirming medical interventions before they have the legal authority to give consent. Because only the caregivers can provide permission for gender-affirming medical treatment for minors, therapists who see these youths need an approach mindful of the distress inherent to the lived experience of transgender minors and respectful of the fear and hesitation most guardians of trans youth experience. Due to the partial or fully irreversible nature of medical treatment for transgender minors, parents tend to be cautious. Sometimes well-meaning parents functionally “filibuster” their adolescent’s transition which may cause a harmful delay in necessary treatment. In this article, my co-author and I provide a case study to demonstrate creative strategies clinicians can apply to help families through the transition process.

Although, transgender minors may bring the family to initial therapeutic encounter, they are not “holding” family dysfunction. Often, their distress is due to their dysphoria which is outside their control. At the same time, the family system may experience increased levels of stress resulting from an inability to support a transgender child within a cisnormative world. Successful work with these families will create a new homeostasis. Therapists must earn the trust of both the youth and parents.

Healy, R. W., & Allen, L. R. (2019). Family therapy with transgender minors: A case study. Clinical Social Work Journal, 48(4). 402-411. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10615-019-00704-4 [Open Access, Pre-Publication, Version]