Scientific Meeting: Developmental Narratives of Gay Men

Psychoanalytic developmental narratives embedded within heterosexually normative assumptions do not account for a maturational line leading to a normal, adolescent gay identity. Although it is impossible to delineate a single maturational line leading to a gay identity, there are developmental themes that recur in the narratives of adult gay men who recall their adolescent years. Some of the themes which emerge in psychotherapy with adult, gay male patients include the invisibility of gay adolescents; the relationship between same-sex attractions and a feeling of otherness; peer relationships between gay adolescents and their heterosexual cohort; the emergence of a gay male adolescent’s sexuality; and being in “the closet.”

Jack Drescher, MD, is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City.

Dr. Drescher is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and a Faculty Member at Columbia’s Division of Gender, Sexuality, and Health. He is a Senior Psychoanalytic Consultant at Columbia’s Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research and Adjunct Professor at New York University’s Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. He is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the William Alanson White Institute.

Dr. Drescher served as Section Editor of the Gender Dysphoria Chapter in the DSM-5 Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) process (2022 publication). He served on APA’s DSM-5 Workgroup on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders and served on the World Health Organization’s Working Group on the Classification of Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health that revised sex and gender diagnoses in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). He served on the Honorary Scientific Committee revising the 2nd edition of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM-2).

Dr. Drescher’s professional honors include the Sigourney Award (2023), the American Psychiatric Association’s John Fryer Award (2018), the Federation of State Medical Boards’ Award for Excellence in Editorial Writing (2017), Albert M. Biele Visiting Professor in Psychiatry, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University (2016), Sheppard-Pratt’s Harry Stack Sullivan Award Lecturer (2013), an APA Special Presidential Commendation (2009), an APA Distinguished Psychiatrist Lecturer (2009), APA’s Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents (2006), and the James Paulsen Service Award from the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists (2004).

Dr. Drescher is Author of Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Gay Man (Routledge) and Emeritus Editor of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health. He has edited and co-edited more than a score of books dealing with gender, sexuality and the health and mental health of LGBT communities. He has authored and co-authored numerous professional articles and book chapters as well. His publications have been translated into Italian, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Finnish and German.

Dr. Drescher is an expert media spokesperson on issues related to gender and sexuality and has appeared on ABC: World News Tonight, Good Morning America, 20/20, and Nightline; CBS: Sunday Morning; PBS: In The Life; CTV: AM Canada; CNN: Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper 360, Paula Zahn; Fox: The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News; MSNBC: The Most; NPR: On Point, Here and Now, To the Point. BBC: Radio 4.

Dr. Drescher’s expert views have also been sought and quoted by The Associated Press, Reuters, Time, Newsweek, People, Esquire, Agence France-Presse, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Miami Herald, and numerous local media outlets, including the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, and The Village Voice. He is an occasional contributor to The Huffington Post, FoxNews.com and PsychologyToday.com.