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from Social Issues
New Journal Article Makes
the Case for Reorientation Therapy
By Linda A. Nicolosi
Conversion Therapy Revisited: Parameters and Rationale for Ethical Care," by
Christopher Rosik, Ph.D., The Journal of Pastoral
Care, Spring 2001, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 47-67.
During this time when pressure by gay activists continues against reorientation therapy, few
writers are bold enough to step up to the plate and make a case in its defense. Christopher Rosik has done
so in his well-documented and clearly written new article.
Dr. Rosik describes the mental-health associations' efforts to oppose reorientation therapy on
the basis that it is unethical. The article then outlines several reasons why clients would seek
such therapy, reviewing the data suggesting that change is possible and that psychotherapeutic
assistance is indeed ethical. It closes by outlining a framework within which such therapy could be conducted.
In fact, a few notable gay-activist writers have admitted--in passing--that reorientation therapy
can be ethical and should, in fact, not be prohibited. However, only a few have, in recent years,
made public statements in defense of the ethics of such therapy.
One problem underlying this widespread intellectual silence is institutional disinterest in
research projects that could provide supportive evidence for reorientation therapy. As Dr. Rosik
states, funding for such a project can rarely be found:
"institutions, which are designed to fund and conduct research, are simply not going
to sanction any study of homosexuality that can be construed as falling outside the
affirmative position. An academician who chooses to research homosexuality in this climate would
be committing vocational suicide by investigating hypotheses or publishing findings of a
non-affirming nature."
Another barrier is the unspoken rule that non-gay-affirming positions will generally not be
published, so the author of such a study may very well discover he is wasting his time:
Moreover, even were such research conducted, attempting to publish it in the vast
majority of highly regarded professional journals is a Herculean task. The publishing
organizations and their affiliated manuscript reviewers are typically committed to an affirmative
perspective and unlikely to be receptive to studies not in line with this.
This "unspoken rule" has created a situation in which it is often repeated that
little or no research exists to support conversion therapy. In fact, the American Psychological Association
blatantly states in its brochure, "Answers to Your Questions about Sexual Orientation and
Homosexuality," that homosexuality is not changeable. Dr. Rosik says that this claim that "there is little
contemporary research to support conversion therapy" is in fact "inaccurate and misleading."
In support of the claim that change in attractions is possible, Dr. Rosik cites the research of
Lisa Diamond, who found that almost 40% of the women she studied had made shifts in their
attractions between lesbianism and heterosexuality. Most of this change had occurred without psychotherapy;
in fact, 58% of 90 women in lesbian partnerships said they had made a conscious choice in
assuming their sexual orientation.
In discussing the likely causal factors relating to homosexuality, besides conscious choice (which
is more common in lesbianism), Dr. Rosik identifies childhood gender-identity disorder as a factor,
and cites the success reported by clinicians working with gender-disturbed children.
He also points to the research linking childhood sexual abuse with development of a
homosexual orientation in both men and women, and observes that these experiences could constitute "an
important developmental influence on sexual orientation for a significant portion of homosexual men
and women." In the studies he surveyed, sexually abused adolescent boys were up to seven times
more likely to self-identify as gay or bisexual than their non-abused peers. One recent study of 110
gay and bisexual men found that fully half the sample had a history of abuse, with an average
frequency of about 25 sexual contacts per child before the age of sixteen.
Should conversion therapy be banned because of the difficulty of achieving the therapeutic goal?
If so, Dr. Rosik says, then there should be a similar ban on therapy to promote weight loss; in such
a case, only affirmative counseling would be permissable.
Indeed, if psychology truly wishes to acknowledge (and celebrate) diversity and multiculturalism,
in cannot refuse to tolerate a viewpoint that sees heterosexuality as normative.
"Gay and lesbian persons deserve to be treated with the same respect and dignity afforded to
anyone in the human community," he says. "In a counseling setting, this translates into being given
the freedom to select the type of treatment and identify the treatment goals."
Updated: 2 September 2008
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