The Therapy Is Ineffective Or Unethical?

Upon the reveal of homosexuality in the bible, many young men confessed to their pastors that they were having homosexual feelings and from this, pastoral counseling exploded. Many pastors were relying on their psychology companions to aid in this movement, however, we begin to see an influx of literature on how to handle these sinners. During this time, pastors were trying to “cure” people of their homosexual thoughts through compassion and understanding. Ultimately, becoming heterosexual was the goal optimal goal. White unveils this novelty of Protestant sex-same behavior therapy.

Despite his belief that the human race is born with innate bisexual tendencies, Freud was assured in his belief that homosexuality was likely the cause of arrested psychosexual development, or in other words, a sexual immaturity. Freud once wrote “homosexuality… is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation”, a theory that led him to believe efforts to reverse homosexuality would ultimately be unsuccessful (Drescher, J). Like Freud, Alfred Kinsey was yet another psychiatrist who began to challenge the negative perception of homosexuality. Sexual Behavior, released in 1948, offered up a nonpartisan and blunt analysis of human sexual behaviors to a staggering degree. Their prominence and magnanimous understanding of sexuality was nevertheless pushed aside, with the new generation of psychoanalysts to look at homosexuality from a pathological position. Unsurprisingly, no psychoanalytic cure was to be found yet this new generation vouched for the idea that heterosexuality was the only biological norm. Even with the lack of any sound evidence, claims of curing homosexuality, through various physical and psychological techniques, was vastly accepted by the scientific community. The idea that homosexuality was a disorder that could be cured was toxic to 20th-century American psychiatry. Paranoia already incited by the post-World War II social conditions in the

Greenan & Tunnel (2003) posit that the societal marginalization exerted on same-sex couples, translates into internalization of an inferior status (as cited in Wetcher & Bigner, 2012). Herdt (1989) describes the process of coming out as the process of introducing an individual’s sexual orientation to broader circles of people, commencing with the self. The fear of coming out is often associated with fears of emotional rejection by family members, or internal belief of disappointing one’s parents. To cope with this fear, often gay men resort to concealment of their identity (Herdt, 1989; Ramirez & Brown, 2010). The social construct of belonging to a minority community, the avoidant attachment style and the threat of conflict within the family of origin system acts as the reagent that evokes Steve’s emotional distress which he regulates by withholding disclosure. Brain’s feeling of insecurity and wanting reassurance could be attributed to the vast discrepancy between the interactions he has experienced with his family of origin and current family system he shares with Steve.

Back before homosexuality was considered a sexuality, there were beliefs that being one was a sin. Until the nineteenth and twentieth century, it was then changed to a mental illness and put into the American Psychology Association (APA). Many individual underwent extensive forms of treatment in order to be considered “cured”, this was called reparative or conversion therapy, when often not the treatment was unsuccessful only resulting in feelings of shame and guilt toward their own sexual cognitions. Having electrodes strapped usually to the hands or genitalia or vomit inducing drugs pumped into their systems while slides of the

Conversion therapy goes by many names, such as reparative therapy, Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE), and ex-gay therapy, but all are geared towards the same end result: to eradicate homosexuality as a whole, even if it may be completely natural to the individual. Despite the common belief, homosexuality is not an illness. In fact, it was declassified as a mental illness from the ICD-10 in 1973. However, there are several organizations dedicated to the very purpose of treating it as one. While it may seem like an antiquated topic, the issue is still being debated and even encouraged to this day, despite its lacking ethical standing.

“People who have gone through conversion therapy face 8.9 times the rates of suicide ideation, face depression at 5.9 times the rate of their peers and are three times more likely to use illegal drugs and be at high risk for sexually transmitted infections.”(Stafford), even though it isn’t publically discussed to avoid controversies and public argument of the veil of abuse and homophobia throughout the United States for the LGBT community, the effects that these anti-gay therapy programs have on the youth and overall population of those in these camps is cold-hearted abuse and negligence that is plain out ignored no matter the situation. “In a poll by the Pew Research Center, roughly one-third of LGBT respondents said they had been physically threatened or attacked, while 40 percent said they had been rejected by a friend or family member because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”, many ex-patients are encountered with rejection and hesitance from the society around them, intensifying the feelings of rejection from before and during their time in the ex-gay therapy

Sexology emerged in the 1860s as a new science that took sexuality as its main focus of investigation. (Akroterion. 58, 79-96, Dec. 2013) Freud along with a few other early psychologists emerged a group that would argue their divergent attitude about sexuality. Their attitudes derived from the Greek art and literature; which would challenge the medical and psychiatric definitions of normal and abnormal sexuality. Even though sexology was being considered a marginal field that was operated outside the mainstream disciplines of psychiatry and biology it grew rapidly between the years 1860 and 1933. Freud,

Clinical trials are essential for medical progress. Although new treatments are discovered through trials, participating in research is different from receiving treatment. Yet, some human subjects fail to comprehend the purpose of phase 1 clinical trials and believe that they will benefit from participating in the study. This failure to recognize potential harms is called therapeutic misconception (TM). To reduce TM, focusing on communication is crucial. Understanding the perception that subjects within these trials have, can inform whether or not researchers should change how they communicate with subjects. This essay will illuminate three possible ways to mitigate the risks associated with TM and place responsibility for mitigating these risks on institutional review boards

Throughout history, there have been accounts of people being persecuted for many reasons; race, religion, political affiliations, and sexual orientation. In the United States, and many other nations across the globe, there have been hundreds of thousands of people victimized for being homosexual. Due to differing standpoints, homosexuality is seen as “immoral” or “sinful” or even “disgusting”. Up until 1973, homosexuality was also referred to as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. People could be openly criticized, mocked, and often killed for simply being gay. Because of these social and religious criticisms, many people have been forced to partake in “conversion” or “reparative” therapies in order to become

Most medical and mental health practitioners agree that efforts to change sexual orientation are ineffective and harmful. The APA stated that "no recent research (1999-2007) meets methodological standards that permit conclusions regarding efficiency or safety of conversion therapy"(...). Douglas C. Haldeman presented an odd case that presented both the ineffectiveness and also the indirect benefits of conversion therapy, where a gay man realized there was nothing he could do to change and finally accepted himself for who he was (p. 120, ). However, not all patients have the same results. There are critical health risks that have been associated with conversion therapy. Many patients have suffered from depression, anxiety, lowered self esteem, and sexual dysfunction. In extreme cases, some patients have even attempted suicide. Haldeman described another case of a man who had high hopes of being "cured" and being able to live a happy heterosexual life. After the therapy had failed him, he became depressed Aside from the therapy being harmful and ineffective, ethicists discourage conversion therapy on the basis that implies that there is cure for a

Mental health experts have said that “conversion therapy, in most cases, leads to suicidal tendencies, self harm, depression, and parental hate in minors” (“Should Gay ‘Conversion Therapy’”). None of those things have a happy ending at all. When people are forced through those kinds of things, it only makes the patient suffer, not change. The depression that sometimes develops is usually caused by the therapist making the patient feel broken or like they don’t belong in society. Many conversion therapists have been reported to belittle each patient and tell them that they would “never function with normal people in society” (“Homosexuality Cannot Be ‘Cured’”). In a “successful” conversion case, the patient four months later attempted suicide since they still had homosexual thoughts and that made them feel like they couldn’t be normal, live a happy life, or have a family. All of those things were told to them by their conversion therapist earlier. Most conversion therapy cases end in suffering or mental pain to the patient, but nothing is done to the therapist themselves. Opposers to conversion therapy, including medical and mental health officials, state that the therapy is useless and is “physically, emotionally, and spiritually

Conversion therapy was deemed “unethical” by both the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Psychological Association. The APA, world’s largest professional psychiatric organization and publisher of the DSM, confirmed that “the potential risks of conversion therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.” (Psychiatry.org) These claims were made evident to the public in the recent suicide of a transgender girl named Leelah Alcorn. Leelah, whose gender identity was rejected by her heavily religious parents, noted conversion therapy sessions as a catalyst in her mental decline, which ultimately lead to her untimely death (Fox).

One very broadcasted story from the 1970s was that of psychologist George Rekers and his patient, five-year-old Kirk Murphy. The young boy had exhibited stereotypically feminine behavior, such as a preference for girls’ toys, and was receiving treatments to prevent him from becoming gay in the future. Rekers instructed Murphy’s parents to reward him for exhibiting “masculine” behavior and to punish him when he displayed “feminine” behavior. The punishments would often include ignoring or spanking him. Murphy’s story was later cited by Rekers as a success story, and Rekers and other proponents of these practices used this story to deceive other parents and entrap clients into believing these methods are safe and effective. However, contradictory to Rekers’s statements, Murphy was gay in adulthood and the severe psychological trauma he suffered can be attributed to Rekers’s “treatments”. Murphy attempted suicide at the age of 17, and took his own life at the age of

Despite someone’s own convictions about homosexuality, it is important to remind that rather than imposing personal beliefs, a Christian therapist is there to assist and help these teenagers to choose what the best is for them by presenting all the possible alternatives for their future.

Prior to the twenty-first century, homosexuality was viewed as a mental disorder that required treatment. Both counseling and aversion therapy were exercised in attempts to “cure” individuals of their sexuality. The brutal process consisted of shock therapies, lobotomies, castrations, and drugs (Scot, 2013). A device that was commonly used was the Farrall Instrument, which functioned by showing an individual of the same sex and delivering a shock until a button was pressed to deliver another slide. The slides of the opposite sex did not deliver a shock; therefore, an association with those of the same sex would become negative and the patient receiving the treatment would become heterosexual. These practices were enacted until 1973 when the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder (Scot, 2013). From that point on, homosexuality increasingly grew in acceptance and still continues to do so in modern society. A variety of places that celebrate members of the LGBT community have been established to help welcome them into society, along with an improvement of the attitudes of others and their treatments towards the communities’ members. However, homophobia and the segregation of LGBT individuals still persists in modern society to prevent their integration into civilization.