from Clinical/Therapeutic Issues
The September 2004 issue of The Counseling Psychologist features an extensive series of articles on the relationship between religion and homosexual behavior from a variety of perspectives. In this journal, nine articles present research and observations. Below are selected comments which provide an overview:
"Shidlo and Schroeder (2002) interviewed 202 individuals; 176 perceived themselves as conversion therapy failures and 26 as therapy successes....Participants in the study described many harms from conversion therapy..." (Page 652)
"In contrast to Shidlo and Schroeder, Spitzer (2003) recruited 200 individuals who specifically reported some change from a homosexual to heterosexual orientation that lasted at least 5 years." (Page 652)
"Rather than continuing the debates between opposing agendas, more analyses are needed to understand and value the points of convergence and divergence for clients who believe in or reject the ideology of conversion therapy." (Page 653)
"All participants (50 Mormons) high-lighted four societal environments that compelled them to want to be heterosexual and not be LGB: (a) religious society, (b) family, (c) peers, and (d) "straight" society...all participants described a fifth environmental factor: hearing about or experiencing the "gay lifestyle" as sinful, promiscuous, addictive, diseased, empty, and disadvantaged. The majority of the proponent sample emphasized a sixth motivation to change: experiencing "a soul's sense of dissonance," which meant, for them, that acting on homosexual feelings was incongruent with their eternal, heterosexual souls." (Page 662)
"All participants underwent at least one form of professional therapy that used reparative therapy principles and religious interventions that attributed homosexuality to sexualizing emotional same-sex needs resulting from gender inferiority, unhealthy parental relationships, abuse, or a combination thereof." (Page 667)
"Many participants used Evergreen as a weekly support group..." (Page 668)
"Both proponent and opponent participants described positive experiences with conversion therapy, which was an unexpected finding..." (Page 668)
"...all participants from the opponent sample stated that although they had felt supported by conversion therapists in the short term, harmful effects were more prevalent and intense in the long term." (Page 670)
"None within the proponent sample discussed any harms, with the exception of experiencing sexual behaviors with other Evergreen group members." (Page 671)
"Almost all proponent participants felt pride in being SSA but continued to view "the gay lifestyle" and LGB identity as unacceptable." (Page 678)
"All participants from both samples reported not experiencing a substantial increase of generalized opposite-sex attraction. Yet, several from both samples talked about experiencing new sexual feelings." (Page 679)
"All proponent participants noted that a heterosexual arousal was not as important as the emotional intimacy they felt with their spouses." (Page 680)
"Many from the proponent sample reported a significant decrease of same-sex attractions." (Page 680)
"All participants described variations in intensity and frequency of attractions throughout their development; however, their sense of being fundamentally more attracted to same-sex than to opposite-sex individuals was constant." (Page 681)
"Because of these shifts, many from both samples stated that their homosexuality had become a non-issue in their lives." (Page 681)
"The findings of this investigation did not confirm claims that conversion therapy "will set you free" from being homosexual. Participants, even those who identified as heterosexual, reported no generalized or substantial increase in heterosexual arousal and did not deny their tendency to be aroused by the same sex." (Page 681)
"Overall, outcomes involved attitudinal shifts regarding what identity they could apply to themselves and depended on how participants dealt with antigay and heterosexist biases within the reparative therapy ideology and society. As a result, what changed was participants' definitions of self, relationships, identity, sexuality, and spirituality but not their sexual orientation." (Page 682)
"The results of this or any qualitative study are not indented to generalize to the larger population of individuals who have undergone conversion therapies." (Page 683)
"Because the benefits gained by participants in conversion therapies can be gained through alternate therapies and the potential exists for conversion therapy to cause significant harms, it is therefore unnecessary and unethical to continue offering such treatments. For these reasons, we denounce the practice of conversion therapy and its underlying theories and ideology." (Page 686)
"We've watched a lot of guys go through this. It's not working. Now what else can we do?" (Page 686)
"However, the topic of sexual-identity conflicts cannot be framed as it has been - that is, a war between opposing camps, with reparative therapists on one side and LGB-affirmative therapists on the other. Ultimately, the client is the one who will be caught in the crossfire. Space must be created to embrace the many ways in which individuals adapt and live out their sexuality and spirituality within their social contexts." (Page 687)
"Rather than debates and divisions, those in conflict need dialogues and connections between reparative and LGB-affirmative therapists, ex-gays and out gays, and conservative religion and LGB individuals to find caring and effective solutions." (Page 688)
"For these reasons, religious affiliation can serve as a central, organizing aspect of identity that the individual cannot relinquish, even at the price of sexual orientation. Psychology is in no position to negate this affiliation; however its basis may be viewed." (Page 694)
"The potential losses of family, community, belief system, and core identity are so great that for some who choose conversion therapy, changing or managing sexual orientation is a steep price, but one they choose to pay." (Page 694)
"Honoring religious experience as a legitimate aspect of identity is the duty of all who work with conflicted clients." (Page 695)
"So, too, should gay-affirmative practitioners refrain from overtly or subtly devaluing those who espouse conservative religious identities." (Page 695)
"One must not assume that all who have sought conversion therapy have sustained long-term damage, although it is clear that many who undergo conversion therapies suffer psychological, social, and even physiological harms..." (Page 696)
"His (the author's) practice is primarily with gay men, many of whom have undergone some form of conversion therapy...he respects religious practice and supports clients in making their own decisions about the prioritizing of religion in their lives...not all who have trod the difficult path of conversion therapy are meant to abandon their faith of origin and live as openly gay persons." (Page 697)
"The first task of the practitioner working with conflicted same-sex attracted clients is to carefully assess the motivation behind a request for help in changing sexual orientation or behaviorally managing homoerotic feelings. Above all, the reflexive tendency to agree with or discourage such a change should be avoided." (Page 697)
"There is an extensive literature debating the efficacy of conversion therapy...It is not known what percentage of people who undergo conversion therapy are harmed by their experiences, but preliminary data suggest that a majority of conversion therapy clients report some negative consequences from their failures in these treatments." (Page 702)
"The individual who has been misled about the normative life experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, as many in conversion therapy apparently are, needs corrective experiences." (Page 704)
"...there is no reason to infer any basis for lack of happiness, productivity, or family/relationship status based on factors intrinsic to sexual orientation." (Page 704)
"I am a Christian. I am a gay man. I always thought I couldn't be both. I am both. This was the beginning of Michael's integration of two previously disparate elements of identity..." (Page 705)
"...a therapeutic approach that enables the individual to separate feeling and impulse from behavior may be indicated. Such approaches are often referred to as adaptation therapy or sexual identity management, and they are cognitive-behavioral strategies that enable the individual to monitor and neutralize homoerotic feelings. Such a strategy has recently been described in detail (Yarhouse, 1998)" (Page 707)
"It did mean denying the existence of such feelings, however. Previously caught n a cycle of denial, pressure, impulse dyscontrol, and guilt, it was important that John directly acknowledge his homoerotic feelings. They do not vanish simply because they are not acted on; to the contrary, they seem to gain added potential for mischief if suppressed." (Page 707)
"It is not adequate, or desirable, for an individual simply to refrain from expressing homoerotic feelings. The individual must decide if he or she will express them in some form - typically, autoerotically - or if this is too disruptive. Other nonsexual alternatives involve support groups for heterosexually married gay men and a broad array of social and interest groups that welcome men of any sexual orientation." (Page 707)
"...heterosexual marriage is not a realistic choice for all men or for their wives. For the former, it requires considerable dedication to family, skill at compartmentalizing sexual impulses, and some heteroeroticism. Their wives require an ability not to see themselves as failed women because of their husbands' attraction to other men as well as a tolerance for ambiguity in the extreme." (Page 798)
"Of particular concern are students trained in religious institutions or those with religious backgrounds who are trained in mainstream institutions...APA's accreditation policy provides for an exemption so that some religiously affiliated training institutions can discriminate on the basis of sexual affiliation." (Page 711)
"Some believe that it is easier to find a new religious affiliation than to change or repress one's sexual orientation; thus, they will attempt overtly or subtly to guide the client in this direction. This may be an inappropriate choice for the individual as well as a disruptive element in the therapeutic environment. Similarly, some religious counselors may be at risk for ignoring the client's realities because of a scripturally induced rigidity about the way in which people should live their lives." (Page 713)
"It seems as though the gulf between the LGB community and mainstream society is narrowing markedly." (Page 713)
"Psychology's responsibility is not to contravene its own database or its own policies by supporting treatments founded in the conception of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people as mentally ill or incapable of fulfilling, productive lives. Nor, however, should psychology deny individuals the right to therapeutic support in making the accommodations necessary to living lives that are consonant with their personal values." (Page 713)
"In general, GLB people who are very religious re more likely to feel negatively about their sexuality..." (Page 718)
"...it seems that one's religious orientation, in and of itself, matters relatively little in predicting propensity to seek conversion therapy when considered along with one's internalized homonegativity. The negative messages one internalizes about being attracted to someone of the same sex are critical components of considering conversion therapy." (Page 734)
"Early phases of identity development are characterized by confusion and bewilderment, anger, and guilt. These intense feelings come from living in a heterosexist and homophobic world that stigmatizes lesbians and gays. People who are unable to move through these phases smoothly and efficiently may be likely to seek conversion therapy." (Page 735)
"...their data indicate that none of the participants provided evidence that they were able to change their core sexual arousal patterns (no matter how hard they tried) and that sexual orientation did not change..." (Page 743)
"Even some proponents of sexual reorientation treatments have recently acknowledged that their target of change is sexual identity and that sexual rientations are relatively immutable (Yarhouse)" (Page 744)
"These assumptions by some (that reorientation therapy is desirable)...are so ingrained in the movement to establish sexual reorientation treatments that I believe efforts to depolarize the debate about sexual reorientation are likely to fail...(reorientation therapy) results in the oppression of SSA individuals." (Page 746)
"I think it is admirable that the authors of this major contribution attempted to remain objective or impartial...Yet, an impartial stance in the debate regarding sexual reorientation treatment risks underemphasizing its potential for harm. This potential for harm has been a long-standing concern of LGB-affirmative professionals and it has been documented in the literature for many years." (Page 746)
"Thus, it is critical to acknowledge the fundamental differences between one's religious freedom to pursue and/or practice ex-gay ministries and the ethical/professional issues related to incorporating the practice into psychological treatment. Leaders of ex-gay ministries obviously have the religious freedom to practice from their own theological perspectives, but they should not be presenting themselves as psychological treatment professionals."(Page 746)
"Because the benefits gained by participants could have been experienced in therapies other than conversion therapies and that the potential exists for significant harms, it is therefore unnecessary and unethical to continue offering such treatments." (Page 747)
"In light of the outstanding scholarship presented in this major contribution, it is my hope that the APA will take a stronger stand on this issue and ban the psychological practice of sexual reorientation treatments while supporting development and research for new approaches to serve the needs of religiously conflicted SSA individuals." (Page 747)
"Conservative religious Christians, while giving passing acknowledgment to Christian traditions other than their own, typically proceed as if the only alternative to their theology is loss of faith...perhaps a specific version of faith may be lost, but the loss is not one of Christian faith...Simply stated, Christian conservative orthodox thinking considers any viewpoints other than strict adherence to orthodoxy as a crisis of faith and allegiance. This crisis is predominantly created by religious orthodoxy and is part of a larger effort to constrain and suppress theological diversity within these traditions...the voices of Christianity are multiple and varied." (Page 751)
"Virtually every denomination, including conservative religious denominations, has a counterpart organization in the LGB community whose purpose is to reconcile that particular faith tradition with a positive sense of LGB identity." (Page 751)
"LGB communities have been working for decades to integrate spiritual life and sexuality, while conservative religious traditions have simply condemned this search because it does not conform to notions of orthodoxy..." (Page 751)
"Such disapproval can and does create psychological distress for those with divergent views, particularly when accompanied by militant social and political activism to assure second-class status for LGB individuals and deliberate measures to create misery and distress for those deemed second class." (Page 752)
"Throckmorton, Yarhouse, Burkett have asserted that psychologists ought to respect client requests for conversion therapy, as genuine respect for principles of diversity requires. There are serious problems with this position. Given the experience of psychology and other mental health professions over the past 25 years regarding the controversies over repressed memory, it is hard to understand how this argument could be seriously asserted today." (Page 754)
"When clients request that psychologists perform activities of uncertain or questionable appropriateness, then the requirements for careful discussion and judgment become more complex. Client choice properly functions as an aspect of informed consent and not as a substitute for ethical decision making and practice standards." (Page 755)
"A client's request for conversion therapy is a questionable request. It is questionable in terms of ethics, efficacy, and possible harm among other concerns. It is nonsense to assert that in requests for conversion therapy, respect for diversity requires that psychologists abdicate these complex duties and considerations. I also believe it is dangerous for the client, the psychologist, and the profession." (Page 755)
"At their core, conversion therapies seek to legitimize the use of psychological techniques and behavioral science to enforce compliance with religious orthodoxy. The dilemma resists solution because it cannot be solved. Either psychology is co-opted into abdicating its ethical principles, professional practice standards, and scientific base, or it soundly rejects the enforcement of religious orthodoxy as a legitimate goal of psychological practice." (Page 755)
"The American Psychological Association has developed a tradition of operating with a 'big tent' philosophy, welcoming into its fold all psychologists For the most part, this philosophy has served the association well...I suggest, however, that there are natural limits to this philosophy and that conversion therapies are an example." (Page 756)
"...conservative faith-based proponents offer an essentially tautological position - that their viewpoint must be accepted as one of a diverse range of options within psychology in accordance with the psychological principle of diversity. The point being overlooked is that respect for diversity does not require a scientifically based discipline to accept as scientific a position that is not derived from scientific principles." (Page 757)
"The progression, then, seems to be to use a diversity argument to gain acceptance of nonscientific thought as scientific so that diversity of both ideas and people can then be attacked from within psychology. Conversion therapy, then, is a kind of intellectual virus as it operates within psychology, attempting to trick a host into gaining entry so that it can attack it from within using its own mechanisms." (Page 757)
"What is at stake here is who will control science, specifically psychological science. What I am suggesting is that only those who operate via scientific principles have a legitimate place in the tent, and those who aspire to manipulate and mimic science do not." (Page 758)
"I also suggest that professional psychology is already well on the road to compromising itself in a damaging manner in this regard, as exemplified by the APA Accreditation Committee policy, which allows religiously affiliated training programs to discriminate in their training programs on the basis of sexual orientation." (Page 758)
"Avoiding polarization is a worthy goal but not at any price. The risks in the conversion therapy controversy are high, and psychology's integrity as an independent profession and as science is at stake." (Page 758)
"I am somewhat pessimistic about the chances that this research will influence providers of conversion therapy, who are entrenched in a heterosexist worldview, to change their behaviors." (Page 774)
"With strongly held religious or political values, neutrality is not a possibility, nor do we believe it is desirable or ethical. There can be no unbiased stance regarding oppression." (Page 780)
"...it is imperative that psychologists also avoid simplistic and/or dualistic thinking about religious perspectives." (Page 780)
"Given that conversion therapies rest on faulty scientific claims and risk serious harm to clients, we contend again that such therapies are unethical, and we agree with Worthington and Gonsiorek that the American Psychological Association should be encouraged to follow the lead of the National Association of Social Workers and other professional organizations in taking a stand against conversion therapies." (Page 782)
"There is value in the profession calling into question various therapeutic practices and seeking social justice for many oppressed people. However, there is also value in imploring the profession to examine broader models for therapists to practice and understand the complexities of multiple social identities so they may help clients negotiate the challenges of living with such complexities." (Page 768)