James Esses has written an excellent piece in the Spectator in a genre I call ‘shocking but not surprising’ about his time as a volunteer at the counselling service, Childline. Esses claims that, after five years , his contract was terminated for ideological reasons. Here is an extract:
Over time, I began to notice a change in the presentation of children coming through to speak to me. Increasing numbers of children were telling me that they were ‘trans’; that they felt trapped in the wrong body. These children were also becoming younger and younger.
Some of the foundational principles of counselling include exploration, neutrality and not going into the conversation with a pre-determined outcome. However, I noticed that gender ideology was becoming more prevalent within Childline. I believed this was in breach of the core therapeutic ethics of the charity.