Counseling Services

GENDER ISSUES

Gender is, perhaps, the most fundamental part of our identity. And just as any other aspect of our selves, it can be damaged and distorted… but it can also be healed and redeemed.

Our gender is much more than our physical features. Our gender inescapably shapes who we are, down to our heart and soul. Yet many of us, perhaps without being able to name it, feel disconnected from, or insecure about, what it truly means to be truly masculine or genuinely feminine. That there are differences between the sexes is obvious to anyone, and yet it’s not often that we talk about it head on. Beyond the funny or superficial conversations, deep inside of every one of us are serious questions about what it means to authentically be a woman or a man, respectively.

Problems in this area can happen in a variety of ways, and since gender is a developmental issue, gender issues can begin at a young age. Sometimes parents simply do not treat their children distinctly as boys or girls – thus, encouraging a confused identity. Some children have been deeply wounded because it was not safe to be, for example, a boy with an emasculating mother, or a girl with an abrasive father. Sexual abuse can, also, result in brokenness in our gender identity as well (to only name a few possible examples). The fallout of this can run from simply feeling alienated from same-sex peers, to passivity in men or manipulation in woman, to same-sex attraction (i.e. homosexuality). While we, at Grace Clinic, are sensitive to the fact that certain definitions of gender or gender roles have been used to marginalize woman, we believe that to simply leave the question of gender unanswered does an equal amount of harm and leaves people disconnected from, and in conflict with, their true, gendered, selves.

If you struggle with issues relating to your gender, please give Grace Clinic a call and we will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Quote:
"True masculinity… is… his essential quality of leading softened by the longing to yield to the tender needs of others. Thus does a broken man, a caricatured embodiment of God’s design, become a true men. True femininity… is… her essential quality of yielding strengthened by the ability to point toward the noblest goals. Thus does a broken woman, a caricatured embodiment of God’s design, become a true woman."

- Jeffrey Satinover, M.D.

Counseling Services

GENDER ISSUES

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