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Abstract
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In the light of inconsistent and partly uncertain evidence the standards for best practice in transgender health care in adolescence are still a focus of international debate. In current treatment guidelines as set up by medical professional societes, however, there is broad agreement in that appropriate healthcare in this field has to address these uncertainties in clinical practice just the way as in other complex conditions in pediatric medicine, when the evidence base is uncertain. Thus, practice guidelines are needed that are based on both the best available evidence and the broadest available clinical expert consent. Furthermore, guidelines should define how to address highest ethical challenges of both patient autonomy and safeguarding of minors and should be particularly sensitive to aspects of participation and discrimination of this patient group representing a vulnerable minority. The new consensus based German S2k-guideline has been set up and authorized by 26 medical and psychotheraputic societies as well as two patient advocacy organizations. Based on the rigorous and transparent methodological framework defined by the German Association of the Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF), the best available evidence was reviewed for extracting clinical recommendations. The broadest possible expert consensus was sought through the involvement of all relevant professional societies in externally moderated consensus conferences. In this poster, the methodologic structure of the German S2k-guideline is summarized as well as the chapter on psychotherapeutic interventions for adolescents with gender dysphoric distress. Prior guidelines to date agree in that mental health support is very important for this clinical target group, however, meaningful psychotherapeutic interventions have not been further defined so far in terms of their goals and focus. In this, the new guideline provides a more profound level of practical guidance for mental health professionals.
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