APA rejects “ex-gay” therapy
Posted by Candace Chellew-Hodge
First, the good news – the American Psychological Association has repudiated so-called “ex-gay” therapies that purport to change gay people into straight people.
“Contrary to claims of sexual orientation change advocates and practitioners, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation,” said Judith M. Glassgold, PsyD, chair of the task force. “Scientifically rigorous older studies in this area found that sexual orientation was unlikely to change due to efforts designed for this purpose. Contrary to the claims of SOCE practitioners and advocates, recent research studies do not provide evidence of sexual orientation change as the research methods are inadequate to determine the effectiveness of these interventions.” Glassgold added: “At most, certain studies suggested that some individuals learned how to ignore or not act on their homosexual attractions.
The APA is to be applauded for this statement. They came to this conclusion after reviewing all the evidence from “ex-gay” therapies over the years and found none of the research convincing – something the LGBT community has been saying for years. Thanks for catching up, APA!
The bad news is, however, that the APA has caved a bit to the “ex-gay” proponents by providing a way for therapists to ethically lead gays and lesbians away from acting on their homosexuality if the client sees it as a conflict with their religious beliefs:
As part of its report, the task force identified that some clients seeking to change their sexual orientation may be in distress because of a conflict between their sexual orientation and religious beliefs. The task force recommended that licensed mental health care providers treating such clients help them “explore possible life paths that address the reality of their sexual orientation, reduce the stigma associated with homosexuality, respect the client’s religious beliefs, and consider possibilities for a religiously and spiritually meaningful and rewarding life.”
“In other words,” Glassgold said, “we recommend that psychologists be completely honest about the likelihood of sexual orientation change, and that they help clients explore their assumptions and goals with respect to both religion and sexuality.”
So, the APA is telling their people – be upfront that therapy won’t change your sexual orientation – but go right ahead and help your client to repress it in the name of their God.
In case it’s not clear from that last paragraph that the APA is affirming this, Glassgold clarified this new policy in the Wall Street Journal:
“We’re not trying to encourage people to become ‘ex-gay,’” said Judith Glassgold, who chaired the APA’s task force on the issue. “But we have to acknowledge that, for some people, religious identity is such an important part of their lives, it may transcend everything else.”
That’s very disappointing. Instead, the APA should educate itself on how sexuality and spirituality can be reconciled instead of one or the other being dropped or denied. This is not an “either/or” situation but can be a “both/and” situation. There are plenty of gay and lesbian people who have reconciled their sexuality and spirituality and we’re not all flaming religious liberals.
In fact, some of the leading gay Christian groups are flaming evangelicals as belied in their titles like “The Evangelical Network” and “Evangelicals Concerned Western Region.”
Here’s a note to the APA – change is possible – you can change this horrible policy by educating yourself on how to move gays and lesbians to reconcile spirituality and sexuality instead of leading them down a primrose path to repression in the name of God.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
It seems to me to be a fair middle ground for where we are now. This line, “help clients explore their assumptions and goals with respect to both religion and sexuality.” is perhaps the most compassionate way to deal with someone who is staunchly anti-gay and discovers they’re gay. I know in my journey, having someone tell me at a certain point, “… Read Moreyou must embrace your homosexuality” could have been dangerous. Having someone say, “this is not going to change, here are your options, and let’s talk about the assumptions you hold about both your faith and sexuality in general . . . ” that might be the most compassionate thing to do with someone who is terrified and hurting. Remember, suicides are high among Christian gay folk, especially teens. Just saying, “Give it up, start dating your own sex,” is not going to help.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Here is an analogy that I included in my own blogpost on the APA report:
Al was an old-timer in my Lutheran congregation in Lake Woebegone country of central Minnesota who had been raised Catholic but became Lutheran when he married Lois. He had received his elementary education in a Stearns County parochial school taught by nuns in full habit way back in the dust bowl days of the thirties.
“Whack”, he said as he jerked the ruler in his left hand. “Whack”, he said again, demonstrating how the nuns would slap him on his left hand when they would catch him scribing his abc’s with the wrong hand. “I would do my best with my right hand,” he said, “but I couldn’t help it, I always went back to my natural left hand.” With a laugh, Al wrote his name in chunky block letters with his right hand before signing in flowing strokes with his left hand.
Thanks for your blogpost.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Amen, Obie. We are who we are, no matter what.
August 6th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Christian and other religious myths are the root of much violence in the world, including gay suicide. We need to address the root of the problem – arbitrary doctrine design to create us-them separation and solidify the tithing base to support the spiritual-industrial complex. The sooner the religious world wakes up to the suffering they are causing through their own malicious superstitious beliefs, the better off we will all be. (IMHO…)
August 7th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Towards the end of the article, you say,
“There are plenty of gay and lesbian people who have reconciled their sexuality and spirituality and we’re not all flaming religious liberals.
“In fact, some of the leading gay Christian groups are flaming evangelicals as belied in their titles like ‘The Evangelical Network’ and ‘Evangelicals Concerned Western Region.’
I am stumbling over the use of the word “flaming” – are you saying that The Evangelical Network and Evangelicals Concerned Western Region are not recommended as safe for LGBT people and allies? From my reading of their sites, they appear to be supportive of GLBT people attempting to reconcile their spirituality and sexuality …
Thanks.
August 8th, 2009 at 7:16 am
Valerie, don’t misunderstand me, I was merely being sarcastic. Most anti-gay Christians talk about how gays and lesbians must abandon a more orthodox or evangelical faith to reconcile their spirituality and sexuality. I was merely pointing out that this is not the case, that one can remain evangelical or “flaming” evangelical as I sarcastically put it, and still be gay.
It was really more of a compliment to these organizations than a slam. I love both T-E-N and ECWR – they’re incredibly wonderful organizations doing tremendous work.
Candace
August 24th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I have to agree with a comment ted made
The sooner the religious world wakes up to the suffering they are causing through their own malicious superstitious beliefs, the better off we will all be.
i think this holds true for a lot of things, not just sexuality/spirituality
back to the topic at hand however. Drawing from personal experience i hold that it is not possible in the long run to deny who you are, at the beginning, when i first noticed my homosexual attractions i was resolved to fight it in the name of my religion, and i personally believe that that is a good thing, one should never take just give in to something they “believe” is wrong but as time went on my situation became more stifling, and i realized that it was a part of me, and that if i wanted to, all i could end up leaving was the part of me that WAS a choice, my faith, but i could never stop being gay, it was a part of me as sure as my brown eyes.
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I don’t think this is really about “caving” to the SOCE, but rather a limitation imposed by the profession itself. One of the ethical standards therapists have to agree to follow is to avoid imposing their beliefs on their clients. Therapists have to guide a client as best as they can within the framework of the client’s own worldview. That means that a therapist could lose his or her license for trying to change a client’s religious beliefs regarding homosexuality. (A therapist could, however, ask if a client is open to considering “other perspectives” on homosexuality or any other topic).
The best a licenced therapist can do is to say something like “are you open to the possibility that there may be a different perspective on homosexuality?”
July 11th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Interesting, intelligent thoughts and comments. This leaves this mainly closeted Bye hopefull!