Psychologists repudiate gay-to-straight therapy

by Rabbit 23 Replies latest social current

  • Rabbit
    Rabbit

    I'm guessing the WTS and some others won't be capable of understanding this article ?

    Damn the torpedoes people -- FULL speed ahead !!

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090806/ap_on_re_us/us_psychologists_gays/print

    Yahoo! News

    Psychologists repudiate gay-to-straight therapy

    By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer David Crary, Ap National Writer 1 hr 3 mins ago

    NEW YORK – The American Psychological Association declared Wednesday that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments.

    Instead, the APA urged therapists to consider multiple options — that could range from celibacy to switching churches — for helping clients whose sexual orientation and religious faith conflict.

    In a resolution adopted on a 125-to-4 vote by the APA's governing council, and in a comprehensive report based on two years of research, the 150,000-member association put itself firmly on record in opposition of so-called " reparative therapy " which seeks to change sexual orientation.

    No solid evidence exists that such change is likely, says the report, and some research suggests that efforts to produce change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies.

    The APA had criticized reparative therapy in the past, but a six-member task force added weight to this position by examining 83 studies on sexual orientation change conducted since 1960. Its comprehensive report was endorsed by the APA's governing council in Toronto, where the association's annual meeting is being held this weekend.

    The report breaks new ground in its detailed and nuanced assessment of how therapists should deal with gay clients struggling to remain loyal to a religious faith that disapproves of homosexuality.

    Judith Glassgold, a Highland Park, N.J., psychologist who chaired the task force, said she hoped the document could help calm the polarized debate between religious conservatives who believe in the possibility of changing sexual orientation and the many mental health professionals who reject that option.

    "Both sides have to educate themselves better," Glassgold said in an interview. "The religious psychotherapists have to open up their eyes to the potential positive aspects of being gay or lesbian. Secular therapists have to recognize that some people will choose their faith over their sexuality."

    In dealing with gay clients from conservative faiths, says the report, therapists should be "very cautious" about suggesting treatments aimed at altering their same-sex attractions.

    "Practitioners can assist clients through therapies that do not attempt to change sexual orientation, but rather involve acceptance, support and identity exploration and development without imposing a specific identity outcome," the report says.

    "We have to challenge people to be creative," said Glassgold.

    She suggested that devout clients could focus on overarching aspects of religion such as hope and forgiveness in order to transcend negative beliefs about homosexuality, and either remain part of their original faith within its limits — for example, by embracing celibacy — or find a faith that welcomes gays.

    "There's no evidence to say that change therapies work, but these vulnerable people are tempted to try them, and when they don't work, they feel doubly terrified," Glassgold said. "You should be honest with people and say, 'This is not likely to change your sexual orientation, but we can help explore what options you have.'"

    One of the largest organizations promoting the possibility of changing sexual orientation is Exodus International , a network of ministries whose core message is "Freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ."

    Its president, Alan Chambers , describes himself as someone who "overcame unwanted same-sex attraction." He and other evangelicals met with APA representatives after the task force formed in 2007, and he expressed satisfaction with parts of the report that emerged.

    "It's a positive step — simply respecting someone's faith is a huge leap in the right direction," Chambers said. "But I'd go further. Don't deny the possibility that someone's feelings might change."

    An evangelical psychologist, Mark Yarhouse of Regent University, praised the APA report for urging a creative approach to gay clients' religious beliefs but — like Chambers — disagreed with its skepticism about changing sexual orientation.

    Yarhouse and a colleague, Professor Stanton Jones of Wheaton College, will be releasing findings at the APA meeting Friday from their six-year study of people who went through Exodus programs. More than half of 61 subjects either converted to heterosexuality or "disidentified" with homosexuality while embracing chastity, their study said.

    To Jones and Yarhouse, their findings prove change is possible for some people, and on average the attempt to change will not be harmful.

    The APA task force took as a starting point the belief that homosexuality is a normal variant of human sexuality, not a disorder, and that it nonetheless remains stigmatized in ways that can have negative consequences.

    The report said the subgroup of gays interested in changing their sexual orientation has evolved over the decades and now is comprised mostly of well-educated white men whose religion is an important part of their lives and who participate in conservative faiths that frown on homosexuality.

    "Religious faith and psychology do not have to be seen as being opposed to each other," the report says, endorsing approaches "that integrate concepts from the psychology of religion and the modern psychology of sexual orientation."

    Perry Halkitis, a New York University psychologist who chairs the APA committee dealing with gay and lesbian issues, praised the report for its balance.

    "Anyone who makes decisions based on good science will be satisfied," he said. "As a clinician, you have to deal with the whole person, and for some people, faith is a very important aspect of who they are."

    The report also addressed the issue of whether adolescents should be subjected to therapy aimed at altering their sexual orientation. Any such approach should "maximize self-determination" and be undertaken only with the youth's consent, the report said.

    Wayne Besen , a gay-rights activist who has sought to discredit the so-called "ex-gay" movement, welcomed the APA findings.

    "Ex-gay therapy is a profound travesty that has led to pointless tragedies, and we are pleased that the APA has addressed this psychological scourge," Besen said.

    ___

    On the Net:

    http://www.apa.org/

    Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Rabbit
    Rabbit

    tap-tap-tap...is this thing on ?

  • ohiocowboy
    ohiocowboy

    Shortly after my parents had me go through a series of Electro Shock Therapy-(ECT), I tried going to the Gay To Straight therapy. It just didn't work. It wasn't natural for me. I wished I was Straight, and even still wish I had been, but it just didn't work. The guilt that they put one through is almost unbearable. Had I continued to go, no doubt I would have killed myself. The sessions were one-on-one and in groups. For any that went through it that actually turned Straight, I wish I knew how they did it. Another thing that I had a hard time dealing with during the times I went was the religious aspect. I was in turmoil with being a JW-actually NOT being a JW anymore, compounded with me being gay, and the therapy preaching different religious aspects from my upbringing.

  • Steve_C
    Steve_C

    Most witnesses will stop reading after the first word in the headline: Psychologists. To them, this word indicates that someone has received higher education, and therefore has exposed his/her mind to Worldly Satanic Influences™. Trustworthy information comes only from untainted WTS publications

  • shamus100
    shamus100

    Have you ever seen those nutcases that run gay to straight camps?

    Nutbags.

    Most people don't need a story to figure these people out. And for dubs, they could care less... soon the end will come and they will be playing with king cobras.

  • Scully
    Scully

    You can't just pray the gay away? Imagine that.

  • Elsewhere
    Elsewhere

    Gay-to-Straight therapy is just as absurd as Straight-to-Gay therapy.

    The dick wants what it wants.

  • cantleave
    cantleave

    I have had 40 years of WTS brainwashing, but one thing I never agreed with them about was that you can change your sexual orientation. A friend of mine from childhood was gay and it was obvious from a very early age. He carried on pretending right up to his early 20's, getting baptised, pioneering doing all he could for the truth, but we all knew and surprise surprise !he left the truth and found a partner. His parents seemed to blame themselves for not being able to adjust him.

    God so many screwed up lives because of a stupid book written by ignorant men thousands of years ago, being interpretted but a bunch of despotic old gits today.

  • rebel8
    rebel8

    Good, good, good. I always thought that was sick. If patients wanted to go to those classes where they 'teach you to be straight', I tried hard to talk them out of it and work on accepting themselves. Didn't always work.

  • George Yurich
    George Yurich

    Well naturally psychologists repudiate gay-to-straight therapy because psychologists are insane and psychotic and are in league with Satan just like fruit cakes(homosexuals) are in league with Satan for choosing to be fruit cakes.

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