What's a Parent's Role?

Take our Authoritative Parenting Test

Find a family therapist near me

Many parents have trouble when a child decides to transition to a different gender.

Children often do not get the support they need from family and community.

Mindfulness can help both parents and children accept change.

The entire family can benefit from compassion.

“What the hell are you doing?” my patient Dan screamed at his 4-year-old son, who was dressed in his wife’s floral apron and twirling a whisk.

“I’m cooking, Daddy,” Bobby responded as he started to cry.

“I felt like such a jerk,” Dan told me. “I know I’m not the poster child for gentle parenting, and I know I shouldn’t have yelled, but I can’t stand it when he wears his sister’s pink dresses and plays with her dolls. I dreamed of having a child who played football, the way I did, and my father did.” He paused. “He’ll grow out of this, won’t he?” Dan asked in a voice that was almost pleading.

For the past 30 years, I’ve worked with parents who have struggled with the gender choices that their children are making. Sometimes they berate themselves, other times they take out their rage on their children. Often, family........

© Psychology Today