from Theological Issues

August 16, 2005 - In late July, Salon.com published a four-part series detailing the alleged failures of reorientation therapy and ministry outreaches to individuals struggling with same-sex attractions.

The four-part series was written by Mark Benjamin, a Washington, DC correspondent for Salon. In it, Benjamin details his faking being gay with a Christian reparative therapist , Barry Levy, and interviews several individuals who gave up trying to overcome their same-sex attractions.

The four-part series includes: Part 1: Turning Off Gays; Part 2: My Gay Therapy Session; Part 3: Getting Straight With God; and Part 4: True Confessions.

The main theme of this series is that reorientation/reparative therapy is psychologically harmful to the individual and frequently fails to help an individual overcome his same-sex attractions. The series emphasizes failures rather than successes and recycles the argument that the American Psychiatric Association and other mental health associations have stated that homosexuality "is not a mental disorder. Being gay by itself is not a problem, they point out; rather, the negative mental health consequences of discrimination have been well established and cited as a factor in higher suicide rates among gays," said Benjamin.

NARTH President Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D. responded to this claim: "That opinion is a political and not a scientific position. These major mental health associations have been hijacked by small political interest groups."

In Part 2, Benjamin poses as a closeted gay male who is married and has children to see how a Christian counselor will help him. His counselor is Barry Levy, a Rockville, Maryland therapist who was referred to Benjamin by Focus on the Family.

He quotes Levy as saying that doing reparative therapy is a lonely business. "There are not a lot of us who do this work. It is politically incorrect," says Levy. "And it is difficult." Levy also admitted that not everyone gets cured. "I wish I could tell you that it is, but it is not."

In Part 3, Benjamin interviews Rev. J. Grace Harley, a woman who lived as a man to marry a woman. She is a former cocaine addict who overcame her addiction and lesbianism by converting to Christianity. Benjamin also describes interviewing six gay men who had spent months in conversion programs. Reparative therapy had only made them depressed, according to Benjamin. But "All of them recovered by coming out of the closet."

Part 4 of the series portrays reorientation therapy as contributing to suicidal thoughts among gay males. Benjamin quotes Dr. Jack Drescher, chair of the American Psychiatric Association's Committee on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues, who observed: "We are finding that the numbers of people claiming to be harmed by reparative therapy are increasing. I don't know about the suicides because it is hard to determine why somebody killed themselves afterward. But the harm is increasing."

Benjamin quoted Dr. Nicolosi who stated that individual who are unhappy with efforts to change their sexual orientation are no different than other patients who are unsatisfied by other medical treatments. "That can happen in any treatment. You name any kind of procedure or treatment, and you are going to find people that are really dissatisfied with it."

Nicolosi continued: "They [critics] say we are doing harm. There is not one case against me. There is not one legal of ethical case against me. Where are all these people who have been harmed? There should be a small busload."

NARTH Leader Responds To Salon Series

NARTH member Dr. Marc Dillworth is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Bradenton, Florida. He recently sent a letter of concern to Salon over this four-part series. He stated:

Dear Salon,

      Your article on reparative therapy was unbalanced and unfair. There are many people who have been helped by reparative therapy, for unwanted same sex attractions. You do them a great disservice by publishing this political propaganda. People have a right to treatment if they want it. And the fact is, reparative therapy works. You did not mention some of the major studies that prove this. For example, Robert Spitzer's study, who is a prominent psychiatrist, not from the so-called, Christian right wing.
      Your constant mention of the APA, American Psycho-logical/Psychiatric Associate to validate the pro-gay agenda has a major flaw. Both APAs are pro-homosexual. The APA has sold out to the gay political movement. Therefore the APA's comments on the topic of homosexuality are not scientific but political. The APA does not allow for a free scientific discussion and study of homosexuality.

Updated: 8 February 2008

Join us at the next NARTH Training Institute and Convention in beautiful Denver, Colorado on November 7, 8, and 9, 2008.

Click here for a schedule of events or to register!