The War on Psychotherapy: When Sexual Politics, Gender Ideology, and Mental Health Collide
October 30, 2019 12:05 ET
It is a simple fact that some people who have same-sex sexual attractions experience those feelings as something unwanted. Some of those people, in turn, seek the help of counsellors or professional psychotherapists to resist or overcome those unwanted feelings -- what critics often call "conversion therapy."
Rather than respect the freedom and autonomy of those who choose not to embrace a "gay" identity, LGBT activists have chosen to perpetrate an elaborate hoax—on legislators, the media, and the American public. The victims of this hoax are drawn in by lurid tales of "aversive" treatments (like the use of electric shocks) in coercive environments (like "conversion therapy camps"). When challenged to document these horror stories, we then see the "bait and switch," with some activists insisting that "voluntary talk therapy is just as harmful."
The result has been the passage of laws in 18 states to prohibit sexual orientation change efforts with minors by licensed mental health providers, as well as a push to further expand the scope of such bans. In The War on Psychotherapy: When Sexual Politics, Gender Ideology, and Mental Health Collide, Christopher Doyle, a licensed psychotherapist, and leader in the #TherapyEquality movement with the National Task Force for Therapy Equality, describes in frightening detail this unprecedented attack upon core ethical and legal principles regarding psychotherapy, such as client autonomy, privacy, respect for religious convictions, and the free speech rights of therapists. He also presents decades of scientific research that demonstrates sexual attraction and gender identity are not fixed or innate, but are fluid and commonly change, with and without therapeutic intervention.
Christopher Doyle is the executive director of the Institute for Healthy Families, a non-profit, Judeo-Christian organization located in the Washington, D.C. metro area that specializes in counseling solutions for individuals, couples, families, therapists, and ministry leaders.
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It is a simple fact that some people who have same-sex sexual attractions experience those feelings as something unwanted. Some of those people, in turn, seek the help of counsellors or professional psychotherapists to resist or overcome those unwanted feelings -- what critics often call "conversion therapy." Rather than respect the freedom and autonomy of those who choose not to embrace a "gay" identity, LGBT activists have chosen to perpetrate an elaborate hoax—on legislators, the media, and the American public. The victims of this hoax are drawn in by lurid tales of "aversive" treatments (like the use of electric shocks) in coercive environments (like "conversion therapy camps"). When challenged to document these horror stories, we then see the "bait and switch," with some activists insisting that "voluntary talk therapy is just as harmful." The result has been the passage of laws in 18 states to prohibit sexual orientation change efforts with minors by licensed mental health providers, as well as a push to further expand the scope of such bans. In The War on Psychotherapy: When Sexual Politics, Gender Ideology, and Mental Health Collide, Christopher Doyle, a licensed psychotherapist, and leader in the #TherapyEquality movement with the National Task Force for Therapy Equality, describes in frightening detail this unprecedented attack upon core ethical and legal principles regarding psychotherapy, such as client autonomy, privacy, respect for religious convictions, and the free speech rights of therapists. He also presents decades of scientific research that demonstrates sexual attraction and gender identity are not fixed or innate, but are fluid and commonly change, with and without therapeutic intervention. Christopher Doyle is the executive director of the Institute for Healthy Families, a non-profit, Judeo-Christian organization located in the Washington, D.C. metro area that specializes in counseling solutions for individuals, couples, families, therapists, and ministry leaders. |
