What is Conversion Therapy?

Conversion therapy refers to a broad set of practices that attempt to “cure” or “repair” a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Conversion therapy is legal in most countries and in most US states (see Statistics below).

What other names might it have?

Conversion therapy has numerous other names, sometimes in apparent attempts to circumvent bans or to distance themselves from negative associations. Reparative Therapy is one of the most common allied therapies. Its founder, Joseph Nicolosi, sought to distance himself from the term “conversion therapy” (Joseph Nicolosi Website) and claimed that “people were naturally heterosexual but that childhood trauma, possibly exacerbated by a domineering mother and a detached father, might lead to homosexuality.” (NY Times 2017 Obituary) Nicolosi’s son, Joseph Nicolosi, Jr., has attempted to further distance himself from conversion therapy, claiming that his practice of “Reintegrative Therapy” focuses not on changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, but on “resolv[ing] trauma and addictions using evidence-based treatment approaches. Changes in sexuality are the byproduct.” (Reintegrative Therapy Website) Politicians often use these evolving therapeutic terms, likely to avoid the stigma of conversion therapy while still supporting it in spirit. For instance, the 2014 Texas Republican Party Platform referred to the “legitimacy and efficacy” of Reparative Therapy, while their 2022 Platform mentions “Reintegrative Therapy” instead. A number of other terms also exist, such as sexual reorientation therapy and ex-gay ministry. (See a partial list in this WebMD article.) Some medical organizations have renamed this broad set of practices Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE).

What might it include?

Conversion therapy and its allied practices may include:

• Talk therapy, often trying to root same-sex attraction in experiences of past trauma, parental abuse or neglect, or personal insecurities
• Behavioral therapies, often including the repetition of affirmations that reinforce heteronormative and gender normative beliefs
• Group therapy, which may include cataloguing past sexual impulses and experiences to a group of peers and practitioners
• Aversion therapy, where same-sex attraction in response to images, for instance, would be paired with negative stimuli, such as repulsive imagery, electrical shocks, or drugs causing nausea, vomiting, or paralysis
• Symbolic gestures to deal with suspected root trauma, such as having a boy beat an effigy of his mother
• Hypnotherapy
• Isolation, including isolating people from friends, family, the Internet, and their possessions, outside of dictated or pre-approved activities
• Teaching stereotypical gender-normative behaviors, such as having boys play football or having girls put on makeup
• Same-sex bonding experiences, such as holding or touch therapy, where a male counselor might tightly hold a male youth to feel another man’s strength in an allegedly platonic or paternal context
• Medical treatments, possibly including hormones, medications, steroids, or even electroconvulsive therapy or surgery
• Faith-based approaches emphasizing the evil and sin of LGBTQ thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviors, and possibly including the use of anti-LGBTQ slurs or prayers, beating, shackling, food deprivation, or exorcism

What is the scientific consensus?

The practice of conversion therapy and allied practices is soundly condemned by over a dozen major medical and psychological/psychiatric organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association. Cornell University, in its review of extant studies, said, “after reviewing the research, we concluded that there is no credible evidence that sexual orientation can be changed through therapeutic intervention…There is also powerful evidence that trying to change a person’s sexual orientation can be extremely harmful. 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.” (Cornell 2016)