Science that shows that gay conversion therapy is wholly debunked

Only one study concluded that sexual orientation change efforts could succeed—although only in a minority of its participants, and the study has several limitations: its entire sample self-identified as religious and it is based on self-reports, which can be biased and unreliable.

However, after reviewing the research, we concluded that there is no credible evidence that sexual orientation can be changed through therapeutic intervention. The data were analyzed using the constant comparative method and participant verification, thereby developing a grounded theory.

Most of the studies lacked control groups, and none used nationally representative probability samples. Thirteen of those studies included primary research. In short, there is clear evidence that conversion therapy does not work, and some significant evidence that it is also harmful to LGBTQ+ people.

The remaining 34 studies do not make an empirical determination about whether CT can alter sexual orientation but may offer useful observations to help guide practitioners who treat LGB patients. Perspectives were gathered of 50 Mormon individuals who had undergone counseling to change their sexual orientation.

In contrast, there is ample evidence that societal prejudice causes significant medical, psychological and other harms to LGBTQ+ people. Some subjects who claimed movement from gay to straight are actually more accurately described as bisexual, but were not initially coded as such.

The author believes more was accomplished when there was no direct expectation that change in sexual orientation be the specific goal. Data were obtained through a comprehensive online survey from both quantitative items and open-ended written responses.

Of the 9 different methods surveyed, private and religious change methods compared with therapist-led or group-based efforts were the most common, started earlier, exercised for longer periods, and reported to be the most damaging and least effective. Click here to view our methodology.

Many researchers sympathetic to conversion therapy do not actually assess changes in sexual orientation or arousal patterns, but in behavior, which is not a true gauge of orientation. Thirteen of those studies included primary research. Visit Source Website. Overview: We identified 47 peer-reviewed studies that that met our criteria for adding to knowledge about whether conversion therapy CT can alter sexual orientation without causing harm.

People identifying as LGBTQ+ who have undergone conversion practice – commonly known as conversion therapy – are more likely to experience poor mental health, according to a study published. In those cases, sexual reorientation happened as a result of organic change as a part of a successful therapy for mutually agreed emotional problems.

Gay conversion therapy, as it is known, supposedly helps gay people overcome same-sex attractions. However, that movement was not unidirectional. Developmental factors associated with attempts at sexual orientation change included higher levels of early religious orthodoxy for all and less supportive families and communities for men only.

Overview: We identified 47 peer-reviewed studies that that met our criteria for adding to knowledge about whether conversion therapy (CT) can alter sexual orientation without causing harm. Many of these studies sample exclusively religious populations, and so their conclusions generally reflect more about religious self-identifications than any indication that sexual orientation can genuinely change.

When sexual orientation change was identified as a goal, reported effectiveness was lower for almost all of the methods. Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this overview report. But mainstream psychologists say the therapy is ineffective, unethical and often.

Taken together, the overwhelming consensus among psychologists and psychiatrists who have studied conversion therapy or treated patients who are struggling with their sexual orientation is that therapeutic intervention cannot change sexual orientation, a position echoed by all major professional organizations in the field, including the American Psychological Association whose substantial report is available here.

Based on these descriptions, this study provides the foundation for a broader-based treatment approach besides one focused solely on changing sexual orientation or adopting a lesbian, gay, or bisexual identity , which is designed to produce individualized congruent solutions for religiously conflicted, same-sex-attracted clients.

Reversions occurred in response to stressful events of various sorts—at times compromising an intact and extensive nuclear family and leading to catastrophic results. Additionally, a direct examination of the research may help visitors to this site assess for themselves how persuasive claims are that sexual orientation can be changed.

Among women, those who identified as lesbian and who reported higher Kinsey attraction scores were more likely to have sought change. Some researchers found success in depressing same-sex arousal—often with the use of severe techniques—but often that did not translate into increased heterosexual arousal or ability to sustain a satisfying opposite-sex sexual relationship.

In contrast to the men, the author found it virtually impossible to achieve significant movement toward heterosexuality with homosexual women. As a part of this general practice, the author encountered a number of Orthodox patients with homosexual attractions who desired to change their orientation.

Abstract: The author is an Orthodox Jewish psychiatrist who, at the time of this presentation, had spent thirty-six years in the general practice of psychiatry, primarily among the broad spectrum of Orthodox Jewish patients. The author describes several long-term cases in which he treated Orthodox Jewish patients who wished to be rid of their homosexual feelings and attractions.

Such limitations do not mean there is no useful research on conversion therapy. All of the studies we identified rely on self-reports, and those who wish to change their sexual orientation enough to seek therapeutic intervention may be inclined toward a bias in assessing or reporting their own attractions.