Top psych group: You can’t pray gay away
Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 1:03 pm
- 18 Comments
Photo: iStockphoto
The world’s largest professional association for psychologists released a report last week criticizing attempts to turn gay people straight. The American Psychological Association (APA) found that such efforts — variously called reparative therapies, sexual orientation change plans or “ex-gay” movements — typically demonize the “homosexual lifestyle” and use religious programming to “change” a person’s sexual orientation. In Minnesota, there are at least three such organizations working to alter people’s sexual orientation.
The APA’s report, “Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation,” (pdf) found that change therapies, both religious and secular, failed to change clients’ sexual orientation — and in some cases caused further harm. It also concluded that religion is a strong factor in individuals’ difficulty with being gay or lesbian and that therapists should work to help people reconcile their sexual orientation and religion.
“Scientifically rigorous older studies in this area found that sexual orientation was unlikely to change due to efforts designed for this purpose,” said Judith M. Glassgold, PsyD, chair of the task force that released the report, in a statement. “Contrary to the claims of [sexual orientation change effort] practitioners and advocates, recent research studies do not provide evidence of sexual orientation change as the research methods are inadequate to determine the effectiveness of these interventions.”
Glassgold acknowledged in an interview with the Associated Press that religion can be a strong motivator for gays and lesbians to want to change their sexual orientation.
“There’s no evidence to say that change therapies work, but these vulnerable people are tempted to try them, and when they don’t work, they feel doubly terrified,” Glassgold said. “You should be honest with people and say, ‘This is not likely to change your sexual orientation, but we can help explore what options you have.’”
One ministry in Minneapolis which works with “ex-gays” acknowledges that some people cannot change — even if they want to. Dave Rasmussen, co-director of Simon Ministries, says their operation doesn’t do change therapy but merely exists to provide support for “married men who have unwanted same-sex attractions.” His wife runs a similar group for women.
“I don’t feel compelled to tell these men they need to change, and I am honest with them and say up front that some of their marriages may end in divorce and some will go into the lifestyle.”
“Our group time is for encouragement, understanding, prayer and to draw closer to God. Through intimacy with Him sometimes change does happen. I have seen it,” he said. “Sometimes it does not.”
Two other religiously affiliated “ex-gay” programs, Outpost Ministries in Robbinsdale and UpStream Ministries in St. Cloud, did not respond to a request for comment.
The former has an interesting past. Jeffrey Ford, Outpost Ministries’ director for most of the 1980s, has since renounced change therapy and spoken out about the harms associated with it. A therapist living in Minneapolis with his partner Kent, he recounts his struggles as Outpost’s director:
Even as a married man and director of an ex-gay ministry, I privately struggled with temptations. Unless you’ve been there, it is hard to explain how you can call yourself ex-gay and still have strong homosexual feelings. The denial is supported and encouraged by all those around you. You are taught that to be “tempted” has nothing to do with orientation. You take on Christ’s identity and can honestly say that, in Christ, I am whole and complete and heterosexual.
It became clear to me that I was living and perpetrating a lie. I knew that, for me, the road less traveled involved accepting that I was not a former homosexual and that I needed to resign my position with OUTPOST.
The APA report concluded that such therapies as those practiced by Outpost can be dangerous.
“[S]tudies … indicate that attempts to change sexual orientation may cause or exacerbate distress and poor mental health in some individuals, including depression and suicidal thoughts.”
Glassgold said that it is important that clients know that.
“[W]e recommend that psychologists be completely honest about the likelihood of sexual orientation change, and that they help clients explore their assumptions and goals with respect to both religion and sexuality.”
Follow Andy Birkey on Twitter18 Comments
Comment posted August 13, 2009 @ 2:04 pm
Surely Christians must be aware that they will have to answer directly to God for the pain and abuse and discrimination and dehumanization, not to mention murders, rapes and lynchings that they have perpetrated against their very own Gay & Lesbain offspring. And in God’s name, no less. These people know nothing of Christ or his salvation.
Comment posted August 13, 2009 @ 3:39 pm
Bill,
Depends on the Christian. Some don’t persecute people. On the other hand, the Modern Pharisee would be proud to stand before God and say they had persecuted gay people- in love, of course. The torturers of the inquisition killed people out of Christian love. Those who drowned women as a test of being witches did it out of love, I guess. Southern Baptists fought to preserve slavery and fought to preserve segregation, in love, I guess. They had their own Biblical references to support slavery and segregation, of course.
Comment posted August 13, 2009 @ 5:34 pm
So what will become of Mr. Michelle Bachmann? This is what he does.
Pingback posted August 14, 2009 @ 4:07 am
[...] will come as shocking news to some people but You can’t pray gay away. The world’s largest professional association for psychologists released a report last week [...]
Comment posted August 14, 2009 @ 10:25 am
The APA needs a psychologist, but not one of their members who would simply reinforce their delusions.
Comment posted August 14, 2009 @ 4:54 pm
John – as usual you prove the reason why we need more mental health care checkups for right wing conservatives. Let me guess the APA is “lib-ruhl” right?
Pingback posted August 14, 2009 @ 5:24 pm
[...] by The Chaplain on August 14, 2009 After you read this news story about a recent APA report, Top psych group: You can’t pray gay away,” read this story, “Focus on the Family drops ex-gay program, faces budget shortfall.” Is [...]
Comment posted August 14, 2009 @ 6:08 pm
Let’s say you have a child who has a lack of grace, balance, and coordination. You and your entire family, however, have always been famous dancers. So you force the child to dance. He is desperate to prove that he really can dance like he’s “supposed” to. You send him into intensive dance classes and you tell him that if he really WANTED to, he could dance. There’s some basic flaw in his spirit, you say, or his attitude, or maybe he is even being influenced by Satan. He just isn’t working hard enough. You even send him to therapists to try to clear whatever block it is that he has against dancing. You don’t accept that someone born into your family could have anything but the expected potential for dance. He would literally do anything he could to win your approval, but he never can. You keep pushing and pushing him and you let him know how disappointed you are in him. Even after he moves out of the house he can feel your disappointment whenever he visits.
How do you think this kid is going to turn out? How do you think he’ll feel about himself? Do you think he will be successful in life? Or self-destructive?
Think about it.
Pingback posted August 14, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
[...] Focus on the Family drops ex-gay program, faces budget shortfall Focus on the Family, James Dobson’s anti-LGBT empire and the largest organization in the religious right, announced earlier this week that it would be selling off its ex-gay therapy program called “Love Won Out.” The organization says it’s part of an effort to downsize in the wake of record profit losses of nearly $6 million. The news comes days after the nation’s largest psychological organization released a report condemning ex-gay therapies. [...]
Comment posted August 14, 2009 @ 11:38 pm
Finally, some sanity in this area. Psychologists have known for many years that sexual orientation is formed in the brain before birth, generally in the second trimester. It is a biological phenomenon which has nothing to do with upbringing or social environment.
Comment posted August 15, 2009 @ 9:55 am
Comment to Michael: What does “lib-ruhl_ have to do with the “price of beans in China”…or good mental health programs…or damaging mental health programs…or gays…or prostitutes…or racists….or child molesters….or just plain old common sense….or right wing conservatives (define please)….or war mongers…or bad government…or good government…or anything else in this “lost and perverted world of ours”???
Comment posted August 16, 2009 @ 3:25 am
Does anyone know whether insurance company payment policies had in this development?
Were health insurance dollars being used for these so-called treatments? And did the insurance company underwriting policies change when (a) it became obvious there was no benefit, and/or (b) the Bush Theocracy was removed from the administration of our government?
Comment posted August 16, 2009 @ 3:27 am
(correction):
Does anyone know whether a change in insurance company payment policies was involved in this development?
Were health insurance dollars being used for these so-called treatments? And did the insurance company underwriting policies change when (a) it became obvious there was no benefit, and/or (b) the Bush Theocracy was removed from the administration of our government?
Pingback posted August 16, 2009 @ 4:35 pm
[...] 2009 August 16 tags: APA, gay, sexual orientation, thearapy by taraSG Here’s part of an article from The Minnesota [...]
Comment posted August 18, 2009 @ 9:23 am
As usual shrinks don’t regonize we all live in a sinful fallen world — just moral relativism.
Comment posted August 18, 2009 @ 12:50 pm
The APA has made it clear – as if it weren’t already – that aversion/conversion or “reparative” therapy is invalid as a concept; the idea that homosexuals are suffering from a disorder that needs correction is absurd on its face. Therefore, the APA has taken us one step farther in the right direction, but we have a long, long way to go. For it is a sad fact that a large segment of society still regards gay men and women as second-class citizens – or worse. That is the salient point of my recently released biographical novel, Broken Saint. It is based on my forty-year friendship with a gay man, and chronilces his internal and external struggles as he battles for acceptance (of himself and by others). More information on the book is available at http://www.eloquentbooks.com/BrokenSaint.html.
Mark Zamen, author
Comment posted November 16, 2009 @ 5:51 am
I beg to disagree that it is a choice or all the other nonsense mouthed by fundamentalists. No wonder I embraced Paganism. My Gods and Goddesses do not hate–they created me as I am and I am good enough for Them. ‘Nuff said.
Comment posted July 20, 2011 @ 6:20 am
I don’t like broccoli. Maybe if I pray about it long enough, I can learn to like it.
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