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Lisa Marchiano vs. transgender people

Lisa Marchiano is an American psychotherapist and a global ringleader in anti-transgender extremism. Marchiano’s efforts focus on promoting controversial concepts like “rapid onset gender dysphoria” and “detransition.”

Marchiano is involved with anti-trans hate group Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine (SEGM) and is likely the fey figure behind anti-trans website Youth Trans Critical Professionals (YTCP).

Do not under any circumstances go to Marchiano for any counseling of any kind. If you are a minor forced to see Marchiano, do everything in your power to end the sessions and find a supportive local therapist instead.

Background

Lisa Ann Mullins was born on December 14, 1965, earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1988 and master’s degrees from Columbia University, then New York University (1998).

In 2000 Marchiano married gynecologist Dominic Adam Marchiano, Sr. (born August 15, 1968). They have two adult children: Vassar student Gioia Marchiano (born 2002) and Kenyon student Paolo Marchiano (born 2003).

Lisa Marchiano has used many aliases:

  • “Lisa Bell”
  • “youthtranscritprofessionals”
  • “skepticaltherapist”
  • “timetodream14”

Marchiano is author of Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself (2021) and The Vital Spark: Reclaim Your Outlaw Energies and Find Your Feminine Fire (2024).

Anti-transender activism

Biologist Julia Serano reviewed evidence that Marchiano posted as “skepticaltherapist” before setting up YTCP. In an early comment on that site, the poster states, “I am a psychotherapist with 20 years experience.” Serano wrote:

In my Origins timeline, I also speculated (see entry March 14, 2016) that skepticaltherapist became one of the co-founders of YTCP on the basis that 1) she mysteriously disappeared from the scene just as YTCP came into existence, 2) the very first post on YTCP mentions social contagion, and 3) two days later (see entry March 16, 2016) TransgenderTrend interviewed YTCP and the latter discussed social contagion in a manner very similar to skepticaltherapist, including a prominent mention of the social media website Tumblr (which will come up again). I also observed that YTCP’s web domain shared the same registrar and registrant organization as 4thwavenow (see entry March 14, 2016), suggesting that they may have been working together in some capacity.

Anti-trans activist Lisa Littman credited Marchiano by name in the acknowledgments for writings that promote “rapid onset gender dysphoria,” a disputed disease developed in part by Marchiano.

In 2023 it was revealed that Marchiano was heavily involved behind the scenes in attacking trans people and their supporters.

In 2023 Marchiano co-authored the anti-trans book When Kids Say They’re Trans: A Guide for Parents with Stella O’Malley and Sasha Ayad.

References

Serano, Julia (March 24, 2023). Did Lisa Marchiano Invent “Transgender Social Contagion” and “No Transition Before Age 25”? Medium https://juliaserano.medium.com/did-lisa-marchiano-invent-transgender-social-contagion-and-no-transition-before-age-25-c74f26e2f0f9

Serano, Julia (March 24, 2023). More evidence that Lisa Marchiano invented “transgender social contagion.” Blogspot http://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2023/03/more-evidence-that-lisa-marchiano.html

Jones, Zinnia (2023). Lisa M. Marchiano, LCSW. Gender Analysis https://genderanalysis.net/entity/lisa-marchiano/

Reed, Erin (January 13, 2023). Unpacking ‘gender exploratory therapy,’ a new form of conversion therapy. Xtra https://xtramagazine.com/health/gender-exploratory-therapy-243833

Staff (2019). Obituary: Mary Caroline Mullins (Fields). https://www.fluehr.com/obituary-detail.php?obitid=3553/

Keener, Alessa Giampaolo (October 16, 2017). Sorry, Lisa, Kids Don’t Become Trans* By Surfing the Internet. Everyday Learning https://everyday-learning.org/sorry-lisa-kids-dont-become-trans-by-surfing-the-internet/

By Marchiano and supporters

D’Angelo R, Marchiano L, Gorin S (2022). Response to Book Review Essay “Trying to Pass off Transphobia as Psychoanalysis and Cruelty as ‘Clinical Logic.’” by Avgi Saketopolou. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly 91:177-190. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332828.2022.2124080

Marchiano, Lisa (April 20, 2021). Motherhood: a hero’s journey. Dumbo Feather https://www.dumbofeather.com/articles/motherhood-a-heros-journey/

Marchiano L (2021). Gender detransition: a case study. The Journal of Analytical Psychology Volume66, Issue4 September 2021 Pages 813-832 https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.12711

D’Angelo R, “Syrulnik E,” Ayad S, Marchiano S, Kenny DT, Clarke P (2021). One Size Does Not Fit All: In Support of Psychotherapy for Gender Dysphoria. Arch Sex Behav 50, 7–16 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01844-2

Marchiano L (2021). Transgender Children: The Making of a Modern Hysteria. Psychological Perspectives, 64:3,  pp 346-359 https://doi.org/10.1080/00332925.2021.1959220

Marchiano, Lisa (May 10, 2018). The project of a lifetime: A therapist’s letter to a trans-identified teen -https://4thwavenow.com/2018/05/10/the-project-of-a-lifetime-a-therapists-letter-to-a-trans-identified-teen/ [archive]

Marchiano L (2017). Outbreak: On Transgender Teens and Psychic Epidemics. Psychological Perspectives Volume 60, 2017 – Issue 3: Gender Diversity https://doi.org/10.1080/00332925.2017.1350804

Murphy, Meghan (June 22, 2017). Lisa Marchiano on the trouble with transing kids. Feminist Current https://www.feministcurrent.com/2017/06/22/lisa-marchiano-trouble-transing-kids/

Marchiano, Lisa (October 27, 2016). Guidance for Parents of Teens with Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria. The Jung Soul https://web.archive.org/web/20161105162350/http://thejungsoul.com/guidance-for-parents-of-teens-with-rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria/ [archive]

Media

Detrans Awareness Day (February 17, 2022). Lisa Marchiano addressed the issues she sees in her practice with Detransitioners. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftEtyrcrv-k

Stella O’Malley and Sasha Ayad (December 16, 2021). Finding A Therapist for Your Gender-questioning Teen: A Conversation w/ Lisa Marchiano. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VakiSoc7hDQ

Benjamin Boyce (February 14, 2019). Teen Transition & the Search for Meaning with Lisa Marchiano. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl9m-6fU16M

Resources

Trans Data Library (transdatalibrary.org)

Gender Analysis (genderanalysis.net)

Youth Trans Critical Professionals (youthtranscriticalprofessionals.org) [taken private in 2023] [archive]

The Jung Soul (thejungsoul.com) [archive]

True North Therapy (true-north-therapy.com) [archive]

  • true-north-therapy.com/about.html

Motherhood Transformation (motherhoodtransformation.com) [archive]

Lisa Marchiano (lisamarchiano.com)

Lisa Marchiano Therapy (lisamarchianotherapy.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

This Jungian Life (thisjungianlife.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Quillette (quillette.com)