APA Disses "Ex-Gay Therapy" in No Uncertain Terms
Just a few days ago the American Psychological Association (APA) adopted a resolution saying, basically, that claims for the success of "ex-gay therapy"* have no scientific merit.
Quoting from the APA press release‡
TORONTO—The American Psychological Association adopted a resolution Wednesday stating that mental health professionals should avoid telling clients that they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or other treatments.
The "Resolution on Appropriate Affirmative Responses to Sexual Orientation Distress and Change Efforts" also advises that parents, guardians, young people and their families avoid sexual orientation treatments that portray homosexuality as a mental illness or developmental disorder and instead seek psychotherapy, social support and educational services "that provide accurate information on sexual orientation and sexuality, increase family and school support and reduce rejection of sexual minority youth."
This finding was the result of scrutiny by an APA task force (formed in 2007) of the scientific literature:
The task force examined the peer-reviewed journal articles in English from 1960 to 2007, which included 83 studies. Most of the studies were conducted before 1978, and only a few had been conducted in the last 10 years. The group also reviewed the recent literature on the psychology of sexual orientation.
"Unfortunately, much of the research in the area of sexual orientation change contains serious design flaws," Glassgold said. "Few studies could be considered methodologically sound and none systematically evaluated potential harms."
Predictably, some groups who practice and support "ex-gay therapy" are upset about this finding and have rushed into the fray with their own tut-tutting press releases. In particular, this sentence from the group "Exodus" caught my eye (quoted at Good As You, "Don't impose on us, says group who calls homosexuality dangerous to America's national health", 6 August 2009–I don't care to link to the "Exodus" website):
"The role of religion and the importance of faith cannot be understated when it comes to the ongoing dialogue over sexual and gender identity," said [Exodus president Alan Chambers].
Now, in case my intention is not immediately clear, I wish solely to make mock of this amusing Freudian slip on the part of Mr. Chambers. Of course, the usual cliche would be to say that "the importance of faith cannot be overstated", meaning that, try as one might, one is not able to wear out the welcome of something so important by saying it over and over and over and over (as Exodus is wont to do anyway).
This "cannot be understated" formula is far more amusing, saying, as it does, that the role of religion and faith in this context are so insignificant and unimportant that one is not able to estimate their tiny contribution in sufficiently small amounts. (One presumes he meant "…must not be understated".)
For once I find myself agreeing with what Mr. Chambers has said in this sentence.
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* If you're like me, a term like "ex-gay therapy" is ambiguous; in this instance it refers to the efforts of some groups and therapists, generally self-described as "christian", to try leading people away from the "gay lifestyle" and into what they see as a heterosexual, christian-concordant lifestyle. NB: they rarely, if ever claim to make gay people straight, instead announcing a successful "cure" if the gay patient managed to avoid sex with men for awhile, i.e., "leaving the lifestyle". Obviously there's way too much baggage there to open up and examine in this tiny footnote.
‡ "INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE THAT SEXUAL ORIENTATION CHANGE EFFORTS WORK, SAYS APA : Practitioners Should Avoid Telling Clients They Can Change from Gay to Straight",
APA Press Release, 5 August 2009 [source].
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I welcome comments -- even dissent -- but I will delete without notice irrelevant, rude, psychotic, or incomprehensible comments, particularly those that I deem homophobic, unless they are amusing. The same goes for commercial comments and trackbacks. Sorry, but it's my blog and my decisions are final.
on Monday, 10 August 2009 at 00.22
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Didn't this same association assert about 10 years ago that homosexuality is neither psychopathy nor aberrant behavior? It strikes me this latest statement is the logical conclusion to draw from the previous one, then and there. So why all the time in between?
The "understated" gaffe isn't the only evidence we're not dealing with an English major here (or maybe even a high school graduate). This kind of pronoun abuse annoys me no end: "Don't impose on us, says group who calls . . ." It might be people who, but it should be group that.
Re: the group's behavior modification efforts. Sixty years ago, North Koreans called that sort of thing brainwashing, and religious and political conservatives, all ostentatiously anti-communist, condemned it as evil. My, how times have changed.