Your Therapist Is Being Told To ‘Affirm’ Child Transgenderism

America’s most influential psychological association told The Daily Wire it still recommends children receive so-called gender affirming medical interventions, despite downplaying its support of child transgenderism in a letter to government officials investigating fraud in pediatric gender medicine.

The American Psychological Association (APA) confirmed in a written statement that it continues to “support treatments for minors seeking gender affirming care” in alignment with it’s 2024 policy statement, which endorses minors receiving harmful gender medical interventions, condemns state laws banning child sex-changes, and says “non-affirmation” of a child’s transgender identity can cause “significant harm.”

In a September 2025 letter to the Federal Trade Commission — which is actively investigating unfair and deceptive practices within the field of pediatric “gender affirming care” — the APA downplayed its support of “gender affirming care,” stating the primary role of a therapist treating children with gender dysphoria is assessment, not affirmation.

“It is important to stress that during the assessment and evaluation process, a diagnosis of gender dysphoria or the identification of a youth as gender-questioning is not an automatic or singular pathway to medical intervention or even social transitioning,” the letter reads.

This statement contradicts the idea that “non-affirmation” poses a direct harm to children, as included in the 2024 policy.

Kurt Miceli, the chief medical officer at Do No Harm, says the APA wants to “have it both ways.”

“The American Psychological Association continues its attempt at having it both ways,” Miceli told The Daily Wire. “In its 2024 Policy Statement, the APA explicitly endorses ‘medical gender‑affirming care,’ even urging insurers to cover these interventions for minors.”

The APA told The Daily Wire the “2024 policy statement and the FTC letter are consistent” and that “both documents reflect APA’s consistent commitment to evidence-based psychological care.”

The APA is the latest medical group to try to shed its reputation for radical transgender ideology. When President Donald Trump returned to office, his administration purged gender ideology from the government and launched investigations into practices within pediatric gender medicine. Since then, gender clinics across the country have closed their doors, while the American Society of Plastic Surgery has backed away from supporting sex-rejecting procedures for minors.

“The APA’s 2024 and 2025 statements cannot be reconciled,” Miceli told The Daily Wire. “It is an audacious contradiction for the APA to try to claim that their definition of ‘affirming care’ means anything other than sex-rejecting interventions.”

The Daily Wire asked the APA how it simultaneously viewed the “non-affirmation” of a child’s gender identity as causing “significant harm” while recommending a psychologist’s role is to assess, rather than affirm, a child’s gender confusion. The Daily Wire also asked for clarity on what clinical standards the APA recommends to help therapists determine when non-affirmation of gender identity is harmful versus when it’s an appropriate part of a clinical assessment.

The APA did not provide a straightforward answer to these questions, but said, “In APA’s professional framework, affirming care does not mean a predetermined outcome, automatic validation of any particular intervention, or bypassing clinical judgment.”

The Daily Wire asked the APA if a therapist should withhold using a child’s preferred pronouns — a form of “social transition” — until the child undergoes an extensive assessment.

“Affirmation and assessment work together,” the APA told The Daily Wire. “Supporting a child does not mean steering them toward any particular outcome, and neither a diagnosis nor a youth’s questions about gender automatically lead to social or medical transition.”

The APA also said it “cautions that equating gender‑affirming care solely with medical transition can stigmatize and limit access to essential mental health services.”

With more than 190,000 members nationwide, the APA has a far-reaching impact on the psychological field and the practice of therapy throughout the United States. The APA has received more than 20 million dollars in federal funding since 2020, according to a government transparency website.