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Jaco van Zyl vs. transgender people

Jaco van Zyl is a South African psychologist and anti-transgender activist based in Ireland. van Zyl is affiliated with anti-trans hate groups Genspect and Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.

Background

Jacobus “Jaco” van Zyl was born in August 1981. van Zyl earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA), then did postgraduate studies at UNISA in the M1 Clinical Masters Class of 2015 and the University of Limpopo, graduating in 2016.

van Zyl offered therapy in South Africa before relocating and establishing a private therapy business in Ireland. van Zyl is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland, and is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. van Zyl has worked at Oakwood Psychology and Psychotherapy Consultants in Limerick, Ireland.

Anti-trans activism

van Zyl is a member of anti-trans group Critical Therapy Antidote and is a co-host of the Critical Therapy Antidote Podcast.

In 2025, Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine announced that van Zyl would present at their Berlin conference on “Trans Identification and the Dread of the Sexual.”

References

Nel K, Govender S (2018). Transformative research methods: Grounded Theory. https://www.psyssa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Grounded-theory_Final-Nel-Govender.pdf

Selected anti-trans writing by van Zyl

van Zyl, Jaco (May 20, 2025). A Critical Response to the Irish Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy – Part 2. Critical Therapy Antidote https://criticaltherapyantidote.org/2025/05/20/a-critical-response-to-the-irish-journal-of-counselling-and-psychotherapy-part-2/

van Zyl, Jaco (October 17, 2025). Is Trans Identification Declining? And A Training Announcement. Genspect https://genspect.org/is-trans-identification-declining-and-a-training-announcement/

van Zyl, Jaco (August 8, 2024). The Irish MoU on Conversion Therapy: A Concession amidst Ideological Persistence? Genspect https://genspect.org/the-irish-mou-on-conversion-therapy-a-concession-amidst-ideological-persistence/

van Zyl, J. (2024). Formulating gender dysphoria as an affective-perceptual disturbance involving the body. Psychodynamic Practice, 31(2), 160–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/14753634.2024.2371655

van Zyl, J., Nel, K., & Govender, S. (2018). Gender identity issues in pastoral reparative therapy in the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK), South Africa. Gender and Behaviour, 16(1), 10668–10676. https://doi.org/10.4314/gab.v16i1

van Zyl, Jaco (June 9, 2023). Outgrow the Anti-Oedipal Mindset of Critical Social Justice. Critical Therapy Antidote https://criticaltherapyantidote.org/2023/06/09/outgrow-the-anti-oedipal-mindset-of-critical-social-justice/

Van Zyl, J., Nel, K., & Govender, S. (2017). Reparative sexual orientation therapy effects on gay sexual identities. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 27(2), 191–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2017.1303126

Media

Beyond Gender with Stella O’Malley and Jaco van Zyl (May 15, 2025). What Happens When a Generation Grows Up Without Reality – Jaco van Zyl (#13). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIPmy9CPaZI alt title How We Teach Children to Escape Rather Than Grow – Jaco van Zyl

Genspect (January 28, 2025). Vox Pop Conference Interview with – Jaco Van Zyl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rekA7vs1eSE

You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist with Stephanie Winn and Jaco van Zyl (December 16, 2024). 140. Gender Dysphoria as a Mind-Body Problem: A Psychoanalytic Perspective with Jaco van Zyl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBE5lLct9WM

Genspect (December 14, 2024). The Drive to Transition Is a Maladaptive Coping Mechanism – Jaco van Zyl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfBDSrAUO6g

Real Clear with Lucas Klein and Jaco van Zyl (June 14, 2024). 105: Psychoanalytic Understanding of Woke with Jaco van Zyl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH58u_95JVc

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Jaco van Zyl (August 27, 2023). Woke Narcissism & Complex Trauma | with Jaco van Zyl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDRInMwr8pI

the radical center with Leslie Elliott Boyce and Jaco van Zyl (July 14, 2023). Resentment Discourses, Perversion, and Sexual Morality, with Jaco van Zyl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faMkcku5tzI

the radical center with Leslie Elliott Boyce and Jaco van Zyl (June 4, 2023). Primitive Envy and Entitlement Ideologies, with Jaco Van Zyl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB52yryavo4

Be Not Afraid with Carob Marcelle and Jaco van Zyl (Apr 3, 2023). A Global Pandemic of Narcissism- With Jaco Van Zyl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ab5sfud59Y

Resources

Jaco van Zyl Psychology (jvanzylpsych.com) [archive]

Oakwood Psychology and Psychotherapy Consultants (oakwoodpsych.com)

Critical Therapy Antidote (criticaltherapyantidote.org)

  • Who We Are
  • criticaltherapyantidote.org/the-cta-team

Open Therapy Institute (opentherapyinstitute.org)

Beyond Trans (beyondtrans.org)

ScholarGPS (scholargps.com)

  • Jaco van Zyl
  • scholargps.com/scholars/35172725059092/jaco-van-zyl

Facebook (facebook.com/)

Quora (quora.com)

note: this site previously misstated van Zyl’s educational background. This site regrets the error.