Gay Therapy: How to fd the right Gay Therapist - Therapy Group of DC

Contents:

• IF YOU’RE GAY, SHOULD YOU SEE A GAY THERAPIST?
• 5 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
• SHOULD GAY MEN START THERAPY?
• GAY THERAPY, GAY THERAPISTS, GAY TREATMENT
• WHAT IT’S LIKE TO EXPERIENCE GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
• GAY THERAPY CENTER ONLE THERAPY REVIEW
• GAY THERAPY: HOW TO FD THE RIGHT GAY THERAPIST
• ISSU PSYCHOTHERAPY WH LBIAN AND GAY MEN: A SURVEY OF PSYCHOLOGISTS
• GAY CONVERSN THERAPY – REAL OR HOAX?
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT

IF YOU’RE GAY, SHOULD YOU SEE A GAY THERAPIST?

Although a person’s sexual or romantic orientatn or genr inty may not be a source of distrs, people who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, qutng, asexual, or any other orientatn or genr inty may fd that the social stigma of livg as a mory is a source of strs or anxiety. Acrdg to a 2007 survey, stunts who intified as lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr were almost ten tim as likely to have experienced bullyg and victimizatn at school and more than twice as likely to have nsired suici as their heterosexual, non-transgenr classmat wh the prev year. Early edns of the Diagnostic and Statistil Manual (DSM) intified homosexualy as a mental disorr, until clil rearch monstrated sexual or romantic attractn to someone of the same genr is a normal, healthy, posive form of human sexualy.

But provirs, ually unlicensed, n often disguise the terms they e to avoid beg terms clu:Sexual attractn fluidy exploratn therapy (SAFE-T)Elimatg, rcg, or creasg equency or tensy of unwanted same-sex attractn (SSA)Reparative therapySexual reorientatn effortsEx-gay mistryPromotg healthy sexualyAddrsg sexual addictns and disorrsSexualy unselgEnuragg relatnal and sexual wholensHealg sexual brokennsConversn therapy techniqu n lead to feelg “ls than” or “damaged, ” impactg self-teem. A number of medil and mental health anizatns have issued public statements rejectg the e of nversn therapy bee of many provirs who claim to be qualified to provi nversn therapy are often not licensed mental health practners or medil study found that LGBTQ (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or qutng) people who are rejected or discrimated agast are:8 tim more likely to report havg attempted suiciAlmost 6 tim more likely to report high levels of prsnMore than 3 tim as likely to e illegal dgs3 tim more likely to be at high risk of HIV and other STDsAcrdg to rearch, nearly 700, 000 LGBTQ adults the U. Over the years I’ve worked wh gay male clients, I’ve found some men rentful of me based on ems that are important wh our muny: my succs, what I look like, my wardrobe, or—more signifintly—their assumptns about who I am based on their own projectns.

Even if a straight therapist has had few or no gay clients, they still might offer precisely what you need, and a rponse along the l of, “I haven’t had that many experienc, and maybe you’ll help me unrstand more” is actually pretty ial; you’ll both be engaged the procs. But mastream psychologists say the therapy is effective, uhil and often harmful, exacerbatg anxiety and self-hatred among those treated for what is not a mental 2013, two s volvg the therapy to nvert gay people to heterosexuals h the urts, wh one seekg to sue unselors who offer the therapy and the other seekg to fend are five thgs you need to know about the therapy and the current psychologists say nversn therapy don't workA diagnosis of major prsn do not evoke much rponse, eher a stigmatizg or supportive, om a person's social work, a study dited. [7 Absolutely Evil Medil Experiments]More recently, people who have been through nversn therapy report talk therapy that emphasiz psdoscientific theori, such as the ia that an overbearg mother and a distant father make a child gay.

5 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY

His therapist blamed his parents for Arana's homosexualy, and urged him to distance himself om his female bt Lev, one of the men sug Jonah for ceptive practic, says that he qu nversn therapy after his therapist had him strip down and touch himself to "rennect wh his masculy, " acrdg to the New York 's happeng the urts?

It didn’t of the most proment advot of nversn therapy the 1940s and 50s was Edmund Bergler, who saw homosexualy as a perversn and believed he uld "cure" gay people wh a punishment-based, nontatnal therapy the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn stopped classifyg homosexualy as a mental disorr 1973, nversn therapi lost support. In 2003, famed psychiatrist Robert Spzer, who spearhead the removal of homosexualy om the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn's mental disorr list 1973, reported the journal Archiv of Sexual Behavr that terviews wh nversn therapy patients suggted that some people uld change their sexual paper was cendiary and highly cricized, given that relied on terviews wh patients stead of measurable benchmarks of same-sex sir. His latt mic vio for the sgle "Brown Rice" (off his new album, Servg Body) has been met wh a lot of attentn for s unflchg portrayal of mental health issu cludg body image, eatg disorrs, and substance abe among gay men plex relatnships.

I’ve learned that beg an artist and beg gay don’t mean I have to be treated like sh, not by energy vampir wh victim plex, not by pervy people wh power, not by un-empathic straight people, not by anyone at all, really!

SHOULD GAY MEN START THERAPY?

Don't get ught up checkg for the lndry list of gay mons: whether your patient is reckls (like Brady) or hyper-nscient, our emotnal re is still searchg, still vulnerable, still lost a hall of mirrors, and you should be attuned to that whether we're stgglg wh meth addictn or jt tryg to navigate a difficult relatnship. While there are some groups that try to "treat" homosexualy orr change , the gay therapy discsed this article refers to therapy signed to help someone al wh issu around their sexualy and not any way change . Beyond studi foced solely on reparative therapy, broar rearch clearly monstrat the signifint harm that societal prejudice and fay rejectn has on lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) people, particularly youth.

For example, rearch on the issue of fay acceptance of LGBTQ youth nducted at San Francis State Universy found that "pared wh LGBTQ young people who were not rejected or were only a ltle rejected by their parents and regivers bee of their gay or transgenr inty, highly rejected LGBTQ young people were:. "The College oppos the e of “nversn,” “reorientatn,” or “reparative” therapy for the treatment of LGBTQ persons."Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr Health Dispari: Executive Summary of a Policy Posn Paper From the Amerin College of Physicians. "Our AMA… oppos, the e of 'reparative' or 'nversn' therapy that is based upon the assumptn that homosexualy per se is a mental disorr or based upon the a prri assumptn that the patient should change his/her homosexual orientatn."H-160.991, Health Care Needs of the Homosexual Populatn.

In 1997 APA produced a fact sheet on homosexual and bisexual issu, which stat that “there is no published scientific evince supportg the efficy of “reparative therapy” as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientatn.”.

GAY THERAPY, GAY THERAPISTS, GAY TREATMENT

The potential risks of “reparative therapy” are great and clu prsn, anxiety, and self-stctive behavr, sce therapist alignment wh societal prejudic agast homosexualy may rerce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.

The possibily that the person might achieve happs and satisfyg terpersonal relatnships as a gay man or lbian are not prented, nor are alternative approach to alg wh the effects of societal stigmatizatn discsed... Therefore, APA oppos any psychiatric treatment, such as “reparative” or “nversn” therapy, that is based on the assumptn that homosexualy per se is a mental disorr or is based on the a prri assumptn that the patient should change his or her homosexual orientatn.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Amerin Psychologil Associatn reaffirms s posn that homosexualy per se is not a mental disorr and oppos portrayals of sexual mory youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientatn;. However, the crease media mpaigns, often upled wh ercive msag om fay and muny members, has created an environment which lbians and gay men often are prsured to seek reparative or nversn therapi, which nnot and will not change sexual orientatn. Servic that purport to "cure" people wh non-heterosexual sexual orientatn lack medil jtifitn and reprent a ser threat to the health and well-beg of affected people, the Pan Amerin Health Organizatn (PAHO) said a posn statement lnched on 17 May, 2012, the Internatnal Day agast Homophobia.

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO EXPERIENCE GAY CONVERSN THERAPY

“The most important fact about 'reparative therapy,' also sometim known as 'nversn' therapy, is that is based on an unrstandg of homosexualy that has been rejected by all the major health and mental health profsns. The Amerin Amy of Pediatrics, the Amerin Counselg Associatn, the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, the Amerin Psychologil Associatn, the Natnal Associatn of School Psychologists, and the Natnal Associatn of Social Workers, together reprentg more than 477,000 health and mental health profsnals, have all taken the posn that homosexualy is not a mental disorr and th there is no need for a 'cure.'”Jt the Facts About Sexual Orientatn and Youth: A Primer for Prcipals, Edutors, and School Personnel.

”The harms of nversn therapySan Francis State Universy found that “pared wh LGBTQ young people who were not rejected or were only a ltle rejected by their parents and regivers bee of their gay or transgenr inty, highly rejected LGBTQ young people were:.

GAY THERAPY CENTER ONLE THERAPY REVIEW

57, 000 youth (ag 13-17) across all stat will receive nversn therapy om relig or spirual advisors before they reach the age of UCLA Williams InstuteStatements by Natnal AssociatnsAmerin Psychologil Associatn:Affirms that same-sex sexual and romantic attractns, feelgs, and behavrs are normal and posive variatns of human sexualy regardls of sexual orientatn inty; reaffirms s posn that homosexualy per se is not a mental disorr and oppos portrayals of sexual mory youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientatn nclus that there is sufficient evince to support the e of psychologil terventns to change sexual orientatn; enurag mental health profsnals to avoid misreprentg the efficy of sexual orientatn change efforts by promotg or promisg change sexual orientatn when providg assistance to dividuals distrsed by their own or others’ sexual orientatn…Amerin Psychiatric Associatn:… In 1997 APA produced a fact sheet on homosexual and bisexual issu, which stat that “there is no published scientific evince supportg the efficy of “reparative therapy” as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientatn. ”The potential risks of “reparative therapy” are great and clu prsn, anxiety, and self-stctive behavr, sce therapist alignment wh societal prejudic agast homosexualy may rerce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.

The possibily that the person might achieve happs and satisfyg terpersonal relatnships as a gay man or lbian are not prented, nor are alternative approach to alg wh the effects of societal stigmatizatn discsed…Therefore, APA oppos any psychiatric treatment, such as “reparative” or “nversn” therapy, that is based on the assumptn that homosexualy per se is a mental disorr or is based on the a prri assumptn that the patient should change his or her homosexual of US anizatns that have nounced nversn therapy:.

Conversn therapy, also known as ‘reparative therapy’ or the ‘gay cure, ’ is an extremely harmful practice which assum that cisgenr heterosexualy is the only ‘natural’ way to be, and that beg gay, bisexual, or trans is a disorr. Sadly, is reflective of the trsic homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia of society, as well as the unfortable realy that unsellors and psychotherapists are not aquately traed genr, sex, and relatnship diversi (GSRD).

GAY THERAPY: HOW TO FD THE RIGHT GAY THERAPIST

Your therapist should have experience workg wh other gay men, women, and genr diverse people, and they should be faiar wh issu surroundg sexualy, genr exprsn, g out, mental illns, self-teem, and other issu that affect the LGBTQ muny. In 1975, the Amerin Psychologil Associatn (APA) took a strong stance regardg bias toward lbians and gay men, rolvg that "homosexualy per se impli no impairment judgment, reliabily or general social and votnal abili" (see Appendix A for the full text of the rolutn).

Regnizg that practice do not spontaneoly or quickly follow policy chang, the Commtee on Lbian and Gay Concerns (CLGC), sponsored jotly by the Board of Social and Ethil Rponsibily Psychology (BSERP) and the Board of Profsnal Affairs (BPA), formed a task force 1984 to vtigate the range of bias that may occur psychotherapy wh lbians and gay men. The missn of CLGC's Task Force on Bias Psychotherapy wh Lbians and Gay Men was to scribe the range of problems that gay male and lbian clients n face psychotherapy and to provi an empiril basis for the velopment of guil and suggtns for practice.

Although the task force cid to approach issu of sexual orientatn as a generic tegory, there are doubtls many ways which the genr of a gay male or lbian client and the genr of the therapist may be to affect the psychotherapy experience. The goal was to clu psychologists who, regardls of their own sexual orientatn, would be likely to have knowledge of the provisn of psychotheraptic servic to gay male and lbian clients, as well as gay male and lbian psychologists who may themselv have received psychotheraptic servic. To ensure a rponse rate aquate for analysis, we ed 1986 APA membership rolls to survey all members, fellows, and associat of Divisns 44 (Society for the Psychologil Study of Gay and Lbian Issu) and 35 (Psychology of Women), and a random sample of 4, 000 licensed members of APA (balanced by genr) who were not members of eher of those divisns.

ISSU PSYCHOTHERAPY WH LBIAN AND GAY MEN: A SURVEY OF PSYCHOLOGISTS

Task force members nsolidated the rults om the four separate work groups and anized all materials to three broad tegori: strategi of terventn, issu of special relevance to lbian and gay male populatns, and issu about therapists' expertise and trag. In some stanc, the biased and beneficial them reprent oppose sis of the same issueCfor example, ntrastg a therapist's lack of knowledge about social prejudice agast gay men and lbians wh a therapist's special sensivy to social prejudice. I have seen several gay patients and each se the person reported that even though their prev therapist said that he or she accepted their homosexualy; the therapist ntued to foc upon their beg gay as the problem rather than upon what the person sought help for such as relatnship problems, trouble handlg guilt about wh fay or work, general social anxiety, or other problems totally unrelated to beg gay.

GAY CONVERSN THERAPY – REAL OR HOAX?

A therapist disurag a client om havg or adoptg a lbian or gay orientatn, mak the renunciatn of one's homosexualy a ndn of treatment, or the absence of a requt by the client seeks to change the sexual orientatn of the client:. A therapist lacks unrstandg of the nature of lbian and gay male inty velopment, for example by nsirg a gay male or lbian inty possible only for adults, by viewg lbian or gay male inty solely terms of sexual behavr, or by terpretg a client's gay male or lbian inty as a Aphase that will be outgrown:. A therapist unrtimat the importance of timate relatnships for gay men and lbians, for example by failg to support the matenance of or enuragg dissolutn of a client's relatnship solely bee is a homosexual relatnship, or by failg to provi or remend upl or fay therapy when would be the most appropriate terventn:.

A lbian uple, seekg relatnship therapy, was advised that such therapy was not applible to their "type of relatnship, " that should not be nsired a permanent relatnship, and that they might nsir gog to gay bars to meet other people like themselv. A therapist prum a client is a poor or appropriate parent solely on the basis of a gay or lbian sexual orientatn, for example by tomatilly attributg a child's problems to his or her parent(s) beg lbian or gay whout evince that this is so, or by opposg child ctody to such parents on the grounds that their sexual orientatn self mak them unf:. I have heard om clients of aquate re om therapists who claim unrstandg of the problems that are faced but who, fact, are que naive about the problems and offer rather sophomoric solutns applible to heterosexual suatns.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

A therapist unrstands that homosexualy, and of self, is neher a form of psychopathology nor is necsarily evince of psychopathology or velopmental arrt, and regniz that gay men and lbians n live fulfillg liv:. Many ethnic mory gay and lbian clients have exprsed much tratn and feelgs of isolatn the gay muny and tend to [attribute to themselv feelgs that] is related to [their] beg gay rather than the racism they experience. A lleague (a heterosexual male) discsed wh me that when he was seeg a fay disturbed by the disclosure that their 17 year old son was gay, he rrected the parents' misrmatn, gave them accurate rmatn about sexual preference.

A gay man, a client of me, age 20, told me he particularly appreciated my willgns to gather rmatn about g out, cludg meetg wh mp reprentativ, which he was not yet ready to do, havg jt nclud therapy he was gay. Fifty eight percent of the psychologists surveyed knew of negative cints, cludg s which practners fed lbians or gay men as Asick and need of change, and stanc which a client's sexual orientatn distracted a therapist om treatg the person's central problem.

GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT

Important issu not addrsed this study clu AIDS; the potential visibily and plex disclosure issu of gay male and lbian clients durg therapy; genr differenc the therapy experienc of gay men and lbians; the possible relevance of the therapist's own sexual orientatn; specific issu for gay and lbian therapists (e.

Homosexualy, per se, impli no impairment judgment, stabily, reliabily, or general social or votnal pabili: Further, the Amerin Psychologil Associatn urg all mental health profsnals to take the lead removg the stigma of mental illns that has long been associated wh homosexual orientatns.