Transsexualism is not a new phenomenon, nonetheless there have been times when the demand for Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) was so great that it outstripped supply. In the 1960’s and the 1970’s, there occurred such a surge of people who wanted to undergo SRS that the psychiatric and medical professions scrambled to find eligibility criteria for those wanting to transition. Women were barely classified because their numbers were so small. Almost all psychoanalytic theories at the time regarded transsexualism as pathological and few were the number of  clinical papers.

This has remained the case until recently, when more clinical papers are appearing. Coincidentally there is now another surge of people wanting to transition. This time, however, it is children, and at least half of them are girls.

They all claim to be in the wrong body.

This presentation will trace the tension between a transgender person’s need to transition and the way that need has been met by society and by the medical profession as a whole.

Katina Ellis is a Jungian Analyst living in Canberra. She has an LGBTIQ friendly practice and she has been working with transgender people since 2010.

 Date: 11th May 2018
Time: 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Venue: Mitchell Theatre Level 1 Sydney Mechanics' School
of Arts, 280 Pitt St, Sydney
Cost: Members $15 Non-Members $25 Non-Member
Concession $20

*Psychotherapists and other practitioners can obtain credit for Professional Development hours recognised by PACFA and ACA for this presentation.