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The current Research Digest focuses on recently published research relating to gender dysphoria, gender questioning, gender diverse and transgender children and adolescents. This subject was previously covered in the Journal of Child Psychotherapy (JCP) Research Digest in 2018. It made up part of a specialist issue of the journal entitled ‘Working with gender identity in the consulting room’ (volume 44:3). The issue included papers by Di Ceglie, Bonfatto & Crasnow, Stewart, Wright, Ray, Tsoukala, and Brady, as well as clinical commentaries by Keenan, Rustin and Withers. Since the special edition, further clinical papers relating to gender dysphoria, gender questioning, gender diverse and transgender children and adolescents have been published in the JCP, by clinicians such as Parkes & Carlile, (2019), M. Evans (2023, 2024, 2025), Cohen , Pearce (2026) and S. Evans (2026). It is a subject area which has continued to be the focus of much thought, exploration and debate, both clinically and socially.
Within the UK, in 2024, the Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People (The Cass Review) was published. The Cass Review was commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement in autumn 2020 to make recommendations about the services provided by the NHS to children and young people who are questioning their gender identity or experiencing gender incongruence (The National Archives, 2025). ‘The Review concluded that there was not enough evidence to justify the UK National Health Service’s (NHS) continued routine use of Gender Affirmative Medical Treatments (GAMT) for children and adolescents experiencing gender-related distress. Instead, The Review recommended psychosocial and therapeutic interventions’ (Hutchinson, 2025, p.1). While many welcomed the review into gender identity services for children and young people in the UK, the Cass Review has received mixed responses. The information and reporting of views, around gender dysphoria, gender