ABSTRACT
Children with gender identity disorder seem to present consistent areas in which concrete thinking prevails. In this chapter, the author gives a brief example of concrete thinking from an assessment interview of an adolescent with gender identity disorder. The sense of dislocation and dissonance described by Jan Morris is what children with gender identity disorders may experience in their lives. To enable the child/adolescent and the family to tolerate uncertainty in the area of gender identity development is an important therapeutic aim. Therapeutic help is necessary to assist development and reduce the severity of these associated emotional and behavioural difficulties. Therapeutic work with the adolescent and the family, together with social intervention, should aim to sustain hope that, in spite of difficulties and distress, progress towards a solution can be made. Close collaboration among different professionals such as psychiatrists, psychotherapists, social workers, psychologists, and paediatricians is always very important and this applies equally in the management of intersex disorder.
