| Authors | Drescher, J, Schwartz, A, Casoy, F, McIntosh, CA, Hurley, B, Ashley, K, Barber, M, Goldenberg, D, Herbert, SE, Lothwell, LE, Mattson, MR, McAfee, SG, Pula, J, Rosario, V, D. Tompkins, A |
| Absztrakt | Conversion therapies are any treatments, including individual talk therapy, behavioral (e.g.
aversive stimuli), group therapy or milieu (e.g. “retreats or inpatient treatments” relying on all of
the above methods) treatments, which attempt to change an individual’s sexual orientation from
homosexual to heterosexual. However these practices have been repudiated by major mental health
organizations because of increasing evidence that they are ineffective and may cause harm to
patients and their families who fail to change. At present, California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois,
Washington, DC, and the Canadian Province of Ontario have passed legislation banning
conversion therapy for minors and an increasing number of US States are considering similar bans.
In April 2015, the Obama administration also called for a ban on conversion therapies for minors.
The growing trend toward banning conversion therapies creates challenges for licensing boards
and ethics committees, most of which are unfamiliar with the issues raised by complaints against
conversion therapists. This paper reviews the history of conversion therapy practices as well as
clinical, ethical and research issues they raise. With this information, state licensing boards, ethics
committees and other regulatory bodies will be better able to adjudicate complaints from members
of the public who have been exposed to conversion therapies.
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