S’agenrer avec la trans-psychiatrie : de Dorchen Richter à Paul B. Preciado

Abstract

GoalsIn this article we establish the history of transpsychiatry from the debate with Sigmund Freud to the present day. The objective of this epistemology is to show how gender choice, or a-gendering, has always been part of psychiatrists’ clinical practice with trans patients. MethodsWe use archival sources and the history of psychiatry since 1830 in order to establish the stages of clinical work around gender: firstly, by finding in German and American sources the first consultations and the innovative techniques that made treatment possible; secondly, by situating the different discourses against binary categorization; and finally, by situating the speech and action of trans people in the production of new experiential knowledge. ResultsThe results demonstrate how the notion of gender within clinical psychiatry has moved from binary categorization to a participatory transpsychiatry that includes trans people and professional psychiatrists. Going from Dorchen Richet to Paul B. Preciado, the results of surgical and hormonal techniques are compared with the modifications of institutions, associations, and psychiatric journals. DiscussionThe discussion between psychiatrists and trans people is highlighted here through the themes of identity, subjective speech, and clinical support protocols. ConclusionTranspsychiatry is the recognition of both transgendering and the transformation of gender, as a clinical entity, by psychiatry.