from Ethical Issues

The article includes interviews with NARTH President Dr. Joseph Nicolosi and Linda Nicolosi, co-authors of A Parent's Guide To Preventing Homosexuality.

In the interview, Dr. Nicolosi states that NARTH "sees the male homosexual condition as rooted in a failure to bond with the father, and the homosexual attraction a conflict between the desire to connect with the masculine and a fear of connecting. It's what we call anticipatory shame. ... The boy who grows up homosexual was often born with an unusually sensitive temperament."

According to Dr. Nicolosi, NARTH helps clients develop intimacy but not sexual intimacy. "What we do is get them to feel their feelings that precede homosexual feelings, and what precedes their homosexual desire is a feeling of masculine inadequacy about themselves."

Critics of NARTH claim that NARTH's position is not based on sound science. Ron Schlitter, deputy director of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) states: "The science is not there to support reparative therapy, and when you dig a little deeper, you realize that there's a lot of ideology or politics involved with this idea that change not only is possible, but that sexual orientation or homosexual orientation in particular is some kind of choice."

Linda Nicolosi responds: "I think both sides in this issue need to frankly admit that matters of sexuality are fundamentally ethical-philosophical issues; thus, there can never be a purely 'scientific' answer that will settle the question, 'Is homosexuality a mental illness?' Both sides need to learn to tolerate each other as legitimate expressions of intellectual diversity within the mental health profession."

Dr. Nicolosi adds: "The political agenda has eclipsed the fundamental right of individuals to seek treatment that they want. This kind of therapy should be available for individuals who want to explore their heterosexual potential and who want to diminish something that's dissatisfying to them."

The full text of this article is available here: Reparative Therapy--What's Broken?

Updated: 8 February 2008

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