Liv Raisner Went Undercover With an Anti-Trans Quack Therapist
Gender exploratory therapy is the newest face of conversion therapy. A trans investigator went undercover to share an inside look at the tactics used by its manipulative providers.
by Evan Urquhart
After reading an article by Erin Reed describing the manipulative and underhanded conversion tactics of gender exploratory therapy, Liv Raisner wanted to do something, to expose the practices of these unethical practitioners. Drawing on previous experience exposing crisis pregnancy centers with the use of hidden cameras, Liv turned the tactic on a gender exploratory therapist. Posted on social media, the videos that followed provide a unique peek behind the curtain of the newest face for anti-trans conversion therapy. What follows has been a lightly condensed and edited.
Assigned Media: I want to start by laying out the basics: What is gender exploration therapy? How is it described by its proponents, and how would you describe it?
Liv Raisner: Gender exploration therapy sounds nice. It sounds like a genuine approach, to “explore” one’s identity, when in fact the Gender Exploration Therapy Association has an agenda, which is to dissuade patients, clients, from going ahead with any type of transition. The idea behind the word “explore” is that one is meant to explore all the other options that might lead to gender dysphoria, other than a genuine reckoning with one’s gender identity.
So, while gender exploration therapists describe it as legitimate therapy, it actually is at odds with evidence based gender-affirming care medicine.
AM: I was fascinated by the videos posted to twitter by Mayday Health showing clips from a session you had with a gender exploration therapist. How did those clips come about and why did you and Mayday want to share them with the public?
LR: Well, this idea came about last year. I did a similar investigation, an undercover investigation, into five crisis pregnancy centers in Indiana. I posed as a pregnant woman, went with my friend who posed as my husband, to record the kind of disinformation that these centers pass on to pregnant people, with the goal of dissuading pregnant people from getting an abortion. I learned all types of tactics during that investigation, including that it is legal to record a session in a state with a one-way consent state law.
I got my own gender-affirming surgery last year, and fresh off of the crisis pregnancy center investigation I thought, well, we now have the tools to investigate a different type of provider with an agenda that’s masquerading as medical advice. And so, we want to take that approach with gender exploration therapy.
AM: How did you find the particular therapist you spoke with, and what was it like making that appointment? Was it easy to do? How did you describe yourself and your reasons for seeking therapy?
LR: Through Erin Reed’s reporting I learned that the Gender Exploration Therapy Association rebranded recently into an organization called Therapy First. So, I took a look at all the therapists that were listed on that site, I whittled down the therapists in states with one-way recording laws, I emailed a bunch of them, and this therapist is one that happened to get back to me in a timely manner. I told him the truth, over email, I said I’d love to see you for a session, I’d like to discuss gender issues. And so it was pretty easy and pretty efficient to set up the appointment.
AM: Tell me about what it was like in the sessions. What were you asked, and how did it feel to be there?
LR: I had gone undercover before, so I wasn’t very scared. I was focused on making sure the camera equipment was working and that the red blinking light from my camera was being appropriately hidden by a piece of duct tape. Once I was in a session I wanted to just understand what gender exploration therapy is. I had read about it, I had heard about it, but you don’t really know until you’re in a session yourself. And, I wanted to approach it with curiosity as well.
I found the session to be manipulative. At the very start, this therapist assured me that I would get to make my own decision, he was not there to persuade me one way or another. And then he immediately launched into a story about someone he, allegedly, had seen, who was unhappy with their transition. And, that’s where the manipulation comes.
I saw my own gender affirming therapist, before my own surgery. I know what that’s supposed to be. Therapy is supposed to be a safe space where a therapist approaches you with curiosity. It’s not a place to bring up anecdotal evidence of people going through what you’re going through who weren’t happy with the decision they made.
AM: I noticed in the clips how the therapist often seemed to be lecturing you, almost trying to persuade you not to transition. I know, when I’ve been in therapy, it wasn’t really like that, the therapist’s role was more to ask searching and/or clarifying questions. Did he spend more time lecturing you than you would expect from a therapist?
LR: Yeah. Anyone who’s been to therapy knows–a therapist is doing a lot of question asking. They’re not doing a lot of lecturing. His agenda was clearer than I thought it would be. He asked me questions about my life, which any therapist would do, he asked me who I lived with, was I in a relationship, questions that are appropriate, I think, for a first time intake session, but then used my answers to those questions, later in the session, to insinuate that I was isolated. I told him that I had recently gone through a breakup and he later insinuated that that might be something to explore further, that I might be feeling depression.
I think what this therapist is doing, which is really what Therapy First is trying to do, is link depression with gender dysphoria, and invite the premise that any sort of desires or wish to present differently than the sex you were assigned at birth could be due to underlying issues like depression or childhood trauma.
AM: And, there’s no evidence that that’s the case, right? As I understand it, there’s no particular reason to believe that gender dysphoria is a manifestation of depression or trauma, or that it goes away if those things are treated.
LR: No. I mean, I’m not a therapist, I’m not a doctor, but every major medical organization in the United States, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics all say that gender-affirming care can be necessary and life saving, for people who need it.
AM: One of the things that I think is a misperception that people can have is that gender-affirming therapists don’t ask searching questions, don’t challenge their clients and encourage them to explore doubts or explore questions or explore the possibility that they might regret their decisions. So, talk a little bit about how, in a safe, affirming environment, there is still plenty of room for those types of questions.
LR: That’s such a good point. Medical transition of any type is a big decision and it is important to talk through that decision with a professional. The catch is that the professional shouldn’t have a political agenda. They should really be an expert in helping you clarify your own desires, thoughts, ideas.
I saw my own gender therapist for several months before my own surgery, and I’m so glad I did. She asked me questions that made me interrogate myself and, ultimately, made me feel all the more confident that getting top surgery was what I wanted to do.
AM: Going back to your videos, was there any point where you felt the gender exploration therapist’s manipulations working on you? Did you ever doubt yourself or even just think he brought up a good point you’d never thought about before?
LR: You know, I was so equipped with the facts and knowing exactly who this person was, what organization he represented that his tactics didn’t work on me. But, the alarming thing is that, if I hadn’t known, and I had just been paired with him for a therapy session, he really might have successfully made me this truth I know about myself. And, I’m 31 years old, and I feel like that could be true. Imagine if you’re 16, trying to work through something.
I think everyone, adolescents especially, deserve a safe place to talk through their thoughts and feelings and have a therapist who doesn’t try to persuade, one way or another, that’s not what a therapist is meant to do, but a therapist who can listen to some thoughts and feelings that you might not ever have articulated to anyone else before.
AM: How did the sessions end? Have you communicated at all with him subsequently?
LR: I went to two sessions, I saw him twice, and at the end of the second session I thanked him for his time. I am thankful that he said all that on the record! Because now we can show people how dangerous and manipulative this therapy really is. He has not reached back out, and I have not reached back out to him.
AM: What do you hope trans people will take away from this? How can the trans community benefit from looking behind the curtain of this type of therapy?
LR: It’s important to know that this organization exists, and that not every therapist is going to have your best interests in mind. I would hope that trans people, after seeing this video, will take some time to discern whether the person that they’re meeting with is really a therapist or might have a political agenda. I want people to know that gender exploration therapy is conversion therapy. Therapy is not supposed to have an agenda. It’s supposed to be a safe space, and everyone deserves that.
Unfortunately this practice is growing, it’s cropping up all over the country. In Florida, with the DeSantis administration, gender-affirming care is banned, but gender exploration treatment is encouraged by their health and human services.
I think that everyone should be armed with the facts and the information they need and should know that there is a robust network of actual, true gender-affirming therapists out there who have availability and would be more than happy to see anyone. And–shameless plug–if you want a list of gender affirming therapists, you can go to Mayday.health for a list of resources.
Evan Urquhart is the founder of Assigned Media and an incoming member of the 2024-2025 Knight Science Journalism fellowship class at MIT.