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Drawing on clinical material from sessions with three young trans patients, this re‐working of psychoanalysis seeks to open up new ways of analysing gender, in all its diversities. Gender is argued to function as a fetish, screen or trick, that covers over traumatic loss. This application of Lacan's theory of the gaze designates all gender expressions, whether cis or trans, as modes of creative action. Gender, as formed through societal limits and taboos, can also prove constricting in ways that trans and non‐binary people are productively challenging. Turning to Deleuze, Kafka and Butler problematizes oedipal structures, figuring potential resistances and escapes to the presumed naturalization and fixity of gender. The insistent pull of the drive is theorized by Freud as non‐binary, on the boundaries between psyche and soma and life and death; perhaps it is in relation to such a drive that any gender is precariously constituted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite an increased awareness of non-binary identity in the current social landscape, the experiences and needs of this heterogeneous community are poorly understood and represented in the research literature. Evidence indicates that social exclusion is not uncommon for individuals expressing a non-binary gender identity, with reflections in the literature that this may in turn have an impact on their psychological wellbeing. Aim: As non-binary individuals are increasingly presenting at UK gender identity clinics and requesting medical interventions, the aim of this study was to better understand their experiences and needs. Method: Two focus groups were run consisting of eight service users of a National Health Service (NHS) gender identity clinic in the United Kingdom. The transcripts of these focus groups were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Five themes were identified: Invisibility, Managing non-binary gender identity in a binary world, Individuality, Gender dysphoria and Seeking interventions. Discussion: Clinical implications are discussed, with the recommendation for an affirmative approach that offers space for the non-binary individual to articulate their desires and come to terms with their identity. This exploration must take into consideration the person's place within a social world that can be transphobic and limited in terms of potential medical interventions. Further research is needed to better understand this marginalised community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Difficulties with containing or processing emotions brought up in the countertransference response have long been understood as having the potential to cause a rupture in the therapeutic relationship, often with damaging results for the client. As increasing numbers of psychotherapists are becoming interested in mindfulness meditation, and as evidence is building to suggest that mindfulness meditation is an effective way of relating to one's thoughts and emotions in a non-judgemental and non-reactive fashion, the effect this may be having on the processing of countertransference material seems a worthy area of investigation. Method This study explores the countertransference experiences of five psychotherapists who practised mindfulness meditation, using semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using a grounded theory methodology. Results A tentative conceptual understanding of the data was developed, indicating that therapists who practised mindfulness meditation were relating to countertransferential responses with an observing stance, a compassionately curious attitude and a holding of emotion, which brings them into the present moment, resulting in the experience of a deeper therapeutic relationship. Discussion The implications for training and practice are discussed, through the potential of practising mindfulness to cultivate a therapeutic attitude towards countertransference responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neuro-developmental disorder characterized by the occurrence of motor and vocal tics: involuntary, repetitive, stereotyped behaviours that occur with a limited duration, often typically many times in a single day. Previous studies suggest that children and adolescents with TS may undergo compensatory, neuroplastic changes in brain structure and function that help them gain control over their tics. In the current study we used single-pulse and dual-site paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), in conjunction with a manual choice reaction time task that induces high levels of inter-manual conflict, to investigate this conjecture in a group of children and adolescents with TS, but without co-morbid Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We found that performance on the behavioural response-conflict task did not differ between the adolescents with TS and a group of age-matched typically developing individuals. By contrast, our study demonstrated that cortical excitability, as measured by TMS-induced motor-evoked potentials (MEPs), was significantly reduced in the TS group in the period immediately preceding a finger movement. This effect is interpreted as consistent with previous suggestions that the cortical hyper-excitability that may give rise to tics in TS is actively suppressed by cognitive control mechanisms. Finally, we found no reliable evidence for altered patterns of functional inter-hemispheric connectivity in TS. These results provide evidence for compensatory brain reorganization that may underlie the increased self-regulation mechanisms that have been hypothesized to bring about the control of tics during adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]