62.

Change of name and civil status has been granted in several Eoropean countries--Britain and Switzerland.

The Treatment of Transvestism

Various kinds of treatment have been attempted in cases of transvestism, though none of them can claim to be really successful.

Psychotherapy: In sexual deviations, as in other fields of medicine, there is considerable controversy as to the usefullness of psychotherapy. Some authors criticize it, while others enthusiastically advocate this approach. For instance, Ostow advises an "intensive, prolonged, classic psychoanalysis" in the treatment of Transvestism. Peabody believes that, "Up to the present time, the ana- lytical approach or psychotherapy with emphasis on dynamic understanding and guidance offer the best results."

There can hardly be any doubt that almost every trans- vestite has various difficulties in his interpersonal re- lations requiring some kind of psychotherapy. The results of such treatment should not be overestimated and its possibilities and limitations should be clearly realized. Nonetheless, it seems that in quite a few cases some en- couraging results were achieved by a superficial psycho- therapy, an understanding and permissive attitude and some environmental manipulations. There are even report- ed cases of a complete cure through psychotherapy.

On the whole, psychotherapy seems to have some chance of success in mild and uncomplicated cases of genuine transvestism, provided the patient really desires to be cured. However, only very few transvestites have such a desire. Almost as a rule, a transvestite merely "wants advice on how to keep working, without breaking down, and without getting into trouble. If he ever comes to a phy- sician on his own initiative, it is usually with the sole aim of obtaining a certificate to the effect that the wearing of clothes of the opposite sex is indispensable for his mental health.....