The Texas GOP recently adopted a party wide platform that includes support for voluntary psychological therapy targeted at converting homosexuals to heterosexuals. This is happening on the heels of a Judge in San Antonio, TX stating that it is unlawful for the state to rule against same sex marriage. Texas Republicans are simply stating that they will not pass any laws that will restrict a person from seeking reparative or conversion therapy. Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, recently equated homosexuals to alcoholics by comparing the genetic coding an alcoholic has to the genetic coding a homosexual has. The important thing to remember is that homosexuality is not a disease and it cannot be cured. There are many different views a person could take on this subject; Political, Religious, and Ethical. I’m not going to take a political or religious stance. However, I will discuss this topic from an ethical standpoint as a Licensed Professional Counselor Intern (LPC-I) in the state of Texas.
Ethical limitations of Reparative Therapy
First, reparative therapy is not a mainstream psychological treatment. There are no professional standards or guidelines that therapists must follow in order to practice reparative therapy. As with any therapeutic approach, there needs to be peer reviewed research studies. In order for a research study to be valid and reliable, other therapists need to be able to repeat those tests and get the exact same results. There has been one study that suggests that it was able to convert homosexuals to heterosexuals, however, even the psychiatrist that performed this study admitted that there was no way to measure his results. He relied solely on interviews with the patients. Robert Spitzer later wrote, “I believe I owe the gay community an apology for my study making unproven claims of the efficacy of reparative therapy.”
Dangers of Reparative Therapy
If a person is seeking Reparative Therapy, he or she is seeking treatment to “cure” their homosexual feelings and desires. As stated before, homosexuality is not a disease and cannot be cured. When a person seeks reparative therapy and has expectations to never feel attracted to a person of the same sex again, he or she can become severely disappointed with themselves. Feelings of failure, hopelessness, shame, are just a few things that can lead a person to severe depression. Reparative therapy implies there is something wrong with being attracted to the same sex. It’s important to know and accept that a person is born as a homosexual; therefore, there is no way to make a gay person straight. Just like there is no way to make a straight person gay. Learning to accept yourself and/or those around you that are homosexual can lead to a more authentic life.
Alternatives to Reparative Therapy
The only alternative to Reparative Therapy is traditional talk therapy. If a person is struggling with being a homosexual, it’s best that he or she seek counseling from a licensed therapist that practices one of the many available therapeutic approaches that have been proven and are not damaging to clients. Traditional talk therapy can be cathartic for clients. Once a homosexual client learns to accept him or herself, then he or she can begin to feel confident living as a homosexual person. The hope is that a client who was initially interested in reparative therapy will eventually love themselves enough that he or she will no longer feel the need to change.
If you are interested in learning more about the stance that Texas Legislatures are taking on Reparative Therapy, you can find many articles online. Texas Republican’s stance can be found here, while Texas Democrat’s recent stance can be found here. These are both local articles, but you can find varying point of views from national news outlets as well.
Guest Blogger:
This week’s guest blog post is by Savannah Stoute, LPC-Intern (Supervised by Leslie Larson, LPC-S). Savannah enjoys working with teens and adults that are experiencing grief and loss as well as the LGBTQ Community. You can learn more about Savannah and her work as a therapist by visiting our Therapists page.
