YOUTH GENDER DISTRESS

EVIDENCE, ETIOLOGIES, ETHICS, AND PSYCHOTHERAPY
SEPTEMBER 11 - 14, 2025
|
BERLIN, GERMANY
Berlin Conference, Germany, Desktop version
Berlin Conference, Germany, Mobile version

SEGM 2025 Berlin Conference: Opening Remarks by Roberto D'Angelo

SEGM 2025 Berlin Conference: Welcoming Address by Dr. Klaus Reinhardt 

Our Berlin conference brought together researchers, clinicians, and academics from more than 20 countries, representing a range of specialties and viewpoints. With over 40 speakers, the event facilitated thoughtful discussion and debate on how to understand and support gender-dysphoric young people.

The Youth Gender Distress conference has been endorsed by the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP).

Agenda

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EVIDENCE,  THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

9:00
Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:30
A Brief History of Pediatric Gender Medicine (Zhenya Abbruzzese)
10:00
The Dutch Protocol for Juvenile Transsexuals (Michael Biggs)
10:30
Coffee Break
10:45
Social Transition (Alison Clayton)
11:15
Evidence Reviews for Puberty Blockers, Hormones, and Surgeries (Ray Zhang and Chan Moruzi)
11:45
Known Unknowns: Anticipating Long-Term Risks of Cross-Sex Hormones in a Young Patient Population (Jovanna Dahlgren)
12:15
Lunch
13:15
Understanding the Intersection of Autism and Trans Identification (John Blythe)
13:45
Detransition in Adulthood (Kaisa Kettula)
14:15
Panel: Gaps in the Research on Youth Gender Dysphoria
15:15
Coffee Break
15:30
Panel: Senior Clinicians Reflect on Current Treatment of Gender-Dysphoric Youth (Ken Zucker, Stephen Levine, Susan Bradley)
16:30
Remarks from the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (Maja Radobuljac)

ETIOLOGIES,  FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

9:00
Combining Social Identity and Cognitive Behavioural Theories to Understanding Stigmatization of Identity (Paul Salkovskis)
9:30
Listening Without Memory or Desire in the Age of Identity: The Ethics of Not Knowing in Work with Gender-Questioning Adolescents
10:00
Psychodynamic Considerations on the Etiology of Gender-Related Identity Conflicts (Alexander Korte)
10:30
Coffee Break
10:45
Empirical Findings and Psychodynamic Reflections on Personality, Functioning, Identity Development, and Trauma in Gender-Dysphoric Adolescents (Andre Leonhardt)
11:15
Taking on a Diagnostic Label (Lucy Johnstone)
11:45
How Online Communities Shape Attitudes and Beliefs (Sarah Mittermaier)
12:15
Lunch
13:15
Sociogenic Epidemics (Riittakerttu Kaltiala)
13:45
Gender Dysphoria and Same-Sex Attraction
14:45
Trans Identification and the Dread of the Sexual (Jaco van Zyl)
15:15
Coffee Break
15:30
What Clinicians Need to Know About Autogynephilia (Michael Bailey)
16:00
Panel: What Is Gender Identity? What Is Gender Dysphoria?

ETHICS,  SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

9:00
Cognitive Bias and the Response to the Cass Report (Sallie Baxendale)
9:30
Panel: Addressing Misinformation: Dominant and Subjugated Narratives About Sex and Gender in Society
11:15
Coffee Break
11:30
How Assessments Benefit Clients and Removing Them Undermines Ethical Care (Stefan de Villiers)
12:00
Analysis of Contemporary Human-Rights Discourse in Pediatric Gender Medicine (Linda Hart)
12:30
Lunch
13:30
Can Ethics ‘Save’ Pediatric Gender-Affirming Care, Now That We Agree the Evidence Is Weak? (Jilles Smids)
14:00
Ethical Healthcare vs. ‘Buyer Beware’: The Misuse of Autonomy in Pediatric Gender Medicine (Moti Gorin)
14:30
Panel: Ethical Considerations in Pediatric Gender Medicine
15:45
Coffee Break
16:00
A Critical Realist Look at ‘Gender Healthcare’ (David Pilgrim)
16:30
Keynote Address (Kathleen Stock)

PSYCHOTHERAPY,  SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

9:00
Gender Constancy and Neurodiversity in Childhood (Katie Alcock)
9:30
Assessing the Antecedents of a New Gender Identity (Stephen Levine)
10:30
Coffee Break
10:45
Exploring Gendered Embodiment in Systemic & Family Psychotherapy (Anastassis Spiliadis)
11:15
Beyond Affirmation: Learning from Tavistock GIDS (Marcus Evans)
11:45
Family Consultation Model (Sue Evans)
12:15
Lunch
13:15
Insights from a Specialist Psychotherapy Service for Mixed Gender Identity Presentations (Az Hakeem)
13:45
Trans Is Not the New Gay (Roberto D’Angelo)
14:15
Psychic Retreat in Addiction, Autogynephilia, and Trans Identification (Joe Burgo)
14:45
Coffee Break
15:00
Transition-Related Grief: Insights from Clinical Practice (Paul Garcia-Ryan)
15:30
Panel: Reflections on Clinical Practice
16:30
Panel: The Case for a New Diagnosis
17:15
Reflections from the Audience

Previous SEGM Conferences

2024 Psychotherapeutic Approaches | Athens, Greece

The Questioning Gender: Psychotherapeutic Approaches to Youth Gender Dysphoria Conference brought together researchers and clinicians from 19 countries to explore youth gender distress through the lens of adolescent development, co-occurring mental health conditions, and evidence-based practice.

Explore highlights from the 2024 Questioning Gender Conference

2023 International Perspectives | New York City, USA

The International Perspectives on Evidence-Based Treatment for Gender Dysphoric Youth conference featured more than 30 experts from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Together, these renowned speakers explored the deep divide over how best to support children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria.

Explore highlights from the 2023 International Perspectives Conference

Other Events

2025 Collaboration with European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry | Strasbourg, France

In the summer of 2025, SEGM helped organize five symposia at the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry's conference in Strasbourg, France, in collaboration with the ESCAP Policy Division.

Explore highlights from the 2025 ESCAP conference

2024 Collaboration with L’Observatoire La Petite Sirene | Paris, France

SEGM co-sponsored a June 2024 conference in Paris with L’Observatoire La Petite Sirene on the subject of The child at the centre of anthropological change: Can the child still grow up?

Explore highlights from the 2024 OPS conference

2023 Collaboration with Tampere University | Tampere, Finland

In June 2023, in partnership with Riittakerttu Kaltiala, Professor of Adolescent Psychiatry and Faculty of Medicine and Health Science Technology, SEGM helped to organize a conference at Tampere University in Finland on the subject of psychotherapeutic approaches to youth gender dysphoria.

Explore highlights from the 2023 Tampere conference