The current research project was aimed to explore in adult patients suffering from Gender Identity Disorder (GID) the theme related to the specific nature of the States of Mind with Regard to Attachment and the influence of the Dismissing Attachment Internal Working Model on the relative resistance to the psychological investigation of the patients’clinical and existential experiences.

All patients suffering from GID, who came to the Functional Area of Psychology of the Department of Neuroscience of Federico II University Hospital requesting treatment to provide psychological assistance for problems connected to Gender Dysphoria, among 2005 and 2007, were registered in sequential order. The following tests were administered to all patients: 1) MMPI-2; 2) Adult Attachment Interview. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 12.0.

The results confirm the increase, among people with this disorder, of Insecure Conditions of the Mind, especially of the Dismissing type, and of Unresolved Status of the Mind with respect to Traumas or Losses. Moreover, dismissing subjects tend to reflect a relative resistance to psychotherapeutic treatment.

On the basis of the preliminary results of our research, we discuss how psychological intervention could have a dual objective: 1) Improving the possibility of access to a more satisfying emotional-relational life. 2) Allowing an adequate working-through of complex traumatic events, which appear to pepper the life experiences of individuals with this condition and which often seem not have been adequately worked through.