About Pamela
I am Pamela Garfield-Jaeger, LCSW. I have spent my career sitting with families in the small, careful work of therapy. The Truthful Therapist is what happened when I decided the same care I brought to the office had to extend to the public conversation, too.
Clinician first, public figure second, always in that order.
Three movements
The clinician, the author, and the public voice are the same person doing the same job from three different chairs.
01
The clinician
I am a licensed clinical social worker with a quarter-century of practice across community mental health, schools, hospitals, and private offices. I have sat with children, adolescents, parents, and families through the hardest moments of their lives, and the ordinary ones, too. The work taught me what therapy is, and what it is not.
02
The author
I wrote A Practical Response to Gender Distress because families kept asking for a careful, non-ideological map, and there wasn't one. I wrote Froggy Girl because children deserve good stories and beautiful artwork that reflects truth and self-acceptance. Both books exist to put something useful in a parent's hands when the institutions can't.
03
The public voice
When clinical norms began to shift in ways I could not defend, I started writing under the name The Truthful Therapist. I speak to press, to parent groups, and to clinicians who feel alone in their own offices. The goal is not to be loud. It is to be useful, and to be accurate.
Credentials
The longer story
I trained as a clinical social worker because social work, at its best, refuses to look at a child without also looking at the family, the school, and the street. I have practiced in community mental health, in pediatric hospitals, in public schools, and in private offices. Each setting taught me something the next one needed me to know.
Therapy was gradually changing for the worse, but my eyes were opened after I returned from four years of medical leave. Things had radically changed. Therapists were no longer focusing on helping patients improve, but on affirming every feeling. Systemic oppression became a large focus, and there was a big shift from internal locus of control to external locus of control. Plus, therapists no longer valued families the same way, and parents were suddenly seen as the enemy.
The Truthful Therapist began as a few essays and videos I could not stop. It is now a small public practice: books, a newsletter, a course library, consultations, and conversations with parents and clinicians who feel alone in their own offices. The audience changed. The job did not.
Clinical approach
These are not slogans. They are the rules I keep, in the office, on the page, and on the record.
01
Care begins with a truthful history, not with a label, and not with a script. What I cannot describe, I cannot treat.
02
Parents are not obstacles to be managed around. They are the longest-running experts on the child, and they have every right to ask questions until the answer makes sense.
03
I trust young people to do hard things with support. Protection that prevents practice is its own kind of harm.
04
The work is personal, not political. Each person is treated as an individual, not a category or a cause.
05
Clinician first, public figure second. Nothing I say in public should contradict what I would say across a desk.
On the record
Legislative appearances in California, Kansas, Colorado, Minnesota, and elsewhere, speaking for families and ethical practice.
What people say
“I would like to thank you for everything you've done in speaking out against the trans movement. And more specifically, you helped me when my youngest took a turn down that path. She's fine now, by the way. Back to her girly self and cringes at the content she was consuming at the time. Your selfless guidance was thoughtful and really helped this mom through that nightmare, even though I was lucky and caught it early on. Cannot thank you enough.”
“Hi I'm a social work student. I aim to be an LCSW. Thank you so much for being brave enough to call out the industry and the harm it has done to children. They fail to realize this isn't about being 'anti-trans,' it's about being pro-health, pro-truth, and pro-child.”
“As a fellow therapist, I just want to say thank you for sharing and challenging the ideologies we're currently forced to buy into. I always felt like I didn't belong in our community. Thank you for changing that for me.”
“Hello! I saw you on Fox News. I'm in school at Liberty University becoming a therapist. And I just can't thank you enough because you give me hope that I can be a therapist despite the woke climate.”
“I am so glad I ran across your account several years ago! I think you have had such a pivotal and positive fight for these children and the parents who love them. I sincerely believe that your courage and commitment to speak up for common sense and support for classic, proven therapy models has helped the patients with their lawsuits. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
“Just found out my sister who's 26 has started testosterone and my mom and dad finally picked up your book I got them months ago, desperate to understand and find resources. I have read it already and it's incredible. Thank you so much for writing it and providing resources!! It [the book] is now in real time helping my parents arm themselves in this very spiritual battle against this evil.”
Press & booking
Bios, headshots, topics, questions, and brand assets, pre-approved and ready to drop into your program.
For event organizers
Three bios, six talks, formats, AV requirements, and past engagements.
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For podcast hosts
Tagline, bios, ten suggested questions, and a ready show-notes blurb.
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For designers & press
Wordmark rules, the full color palette, typography, and voice notes.
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Where to next
Get the free guide, or write to me directly.
