“Det var ju mycket jag fick ut av det, mycket mer än vad jag trodde”: En tematisk analys av deltagares upplevelser av en transbekräftande intervention

Sammanfattning: Trans and gender diverse people report significantly poorer health than cisgender people. This could be understood as an effect of minority stress. One way of enhancing their wellbeing is through transgender affirming cognitive-behavioural therapy, and this study investigated participant experiences of such an intervention. The intervention was therapist led, individual, internet based and directed towards transgender people in Sweden. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed through a reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis resulted in two main themes: I’m in this for us! and What’s in it for me? The first theme reflected experiences of motivation to participation, therapist approach and treatment structure. The second theme delved into experiences of components of the intervention. The results indicated that despite low expectations participants generally perceived the intervention as helpful and relevant. However, some participants found aspects of the intervention overly clinical and pathologising, making it difficult for them to relate to and embrace. The findings, based on participant experiences of what was (and wasn’t) helpful aligns with suggestions from the transgender affirming theoretical framework. This highlights the importance of maintaining a distinct foundation of participant’s needs and minority stress theory in interventions.