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To: scripter
Dr. Robert L. Spitzer played a pivotal role in the 1973 decision by the APA to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. Spitzer used to believe homosexuals couldn't change but after studying the results of therapy he now believes homosexuals can change:

"I thought that homosexual behavior could be resisted--but that no one could really change their sexual orientation. I now believe that's untrue--some people can and do change." Spitzer completely changed his mind whether or not some homosexuals can change. And then Spitzer concluded with:

"the mental health professionals should stop moving in the direction of banning therapy that has, as a goal, a change in sexual orientation. Many patients, provided with informed consent about the possibility that they will be disappointed if the therapy does not succeed, can make a rational choice to work toward developing their heterosexual potential and minimizing their unwanted homosexual attractions."
Source: Spitzer made the above comments at an annual APA meeting, May 9, 2001. The study was reported in the May 9, 2001 issues of The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today and it was also released to many local newspapers via the AP. ABC, CBS, FOX and MSNBC all reported the study.
45 posted on 02/14/2004 12:37:49 AM PST by scripter (Thousands have left the homosexual lifestyle)
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To: scripter; little jeremiah; lentulusgracchus

Dr. Robert L. Spitzer played a pivotal role in the 1973 decision by the APA to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. Spitzer used to believe homosexuals couldn't change but after studying the results of therapy he now believes homosexuals can change


Spitzer Study Just Published: Evidence Found for Effectiveness of Reorientation Therapy

"The results of a study conducted by Dr. Robert L. Spitzer have just been published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 32, No. 5, October 2003, pp. 403-417.

Spitzer's findings challenge the widely-held assumption that a homosexual orientation is "who one is" -- an intrinsic part of a person's identity that can never be changed.

The study has attracted particularly attention because its author, a prominent psychiatrist, is viewed as a historic champion of gay activism. Spitzer played a pivotal role in 1973 in removing homosexuality from the psychiatric manual of mental disorders...

Although examples of "complete" change in orientation were not common, the majority of participants did report change from a predominantly or exclusively homosexual orientation before therapy to a predominantly or exclusively heterosexual orientation in the past year as a result of reparative therapy.

These results would seem to contradict the position statements of the major mental health organizations in the United States, which claim there is no scientific basis for believing psychotherapy effective in addressing same-sex attraction. Yet Spitzer reports evidence of change in both sexes, although female participants reported significantly more change than did male participants..."


Getting your facts straight: Jon Dougherty says PC crowd bucks new homosexual study

It never fails. When a researcher finds evidence of something that goes against the current grain of politically correct thought, that researcher and his data are trashed like yesterday's issue of Salon.com.

According to Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, the professor of psychiatry at Columbia University who has just authored a new study on gay-straight behavior, at least "some" people who used to be homosexuals have been able to "convert" themselves into heterosexuals.

Spitzer said he isn't able to estimate what percentage of homosexuals can change their sexual orientation, but he did say that his research "shows [at least that] some people can change from gay to straight, and we ought to acknowledge that."

Having been on his end of the anti-PC bandwagon, I pity Spitzer. He's broken a cardinal rule: Questioning conventional PC wisdom in public and from a position of knowledge and authority while clouding a traditionally PC issue with annoying facts is strictly verboten.

His treatment at the hands of the PC police will be worse that it already has been after the results of his study are published -- and they will be published somewhere, I guarantee it. He'll be vilified and pilloried by the press, his colleagues, and the various gay groups out there who see his study as a threat to their existence, if not their way of life -- though nowhere in his study does he call for a ban on homosexuality.


Spitzer Forced to Cancel Appearance to Discuss His Ex-‘Gay’ Study

"Citing concern for his family, Dr. Robert Spitzer, author of a just-released study about people overcoming homosexuality, canceled his appearance at a press conference on Monday. Dr. Spitzer had caused an uproar last week with his survey of 200 former homosexuals. An architect of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) 1973 decision to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders, Spitzer said he had reassessed the issue and now believes that some people can change their desires from homosexual to heterosexual.

He had planned to appear at a press conference at the National Press Club, hosted by Anthony Falzarano of Parents and Friends Ministries, a support group for families with loved ones who struggle with homosexuality. But Falzarano, himself a former homosexual, instead read a statement by Dr. Spitzer announcing his regret and citing the vitriolic tone that critics have taken toward him since the study’s release. Falzarano released copies of several e-mails sent to Spitzer and to Columbia University, where Spitzer is a professor of psychiatry. One of them, sent by James Minter, Columbia's Associate Director of Undergraduate Admission, read, in part:

You are an embarrassment to the University and a disgrace to science. Your “findings” are, in a word, despicable. If you are in need of a gay-related topic on which to do some constructive research, why not address the pathological homophobia of the bigots and reactionaries who will embrace your latest pronouncements? Better yet, why not address the crippling self-hatred and internalized homophobia of the desperate men and women who will find your hogwash a misguided reason to prolong their anguish, rather than to come out of the closet and into the light?


108 posted on 03/04/2004 7:27:08 AM PST by EdReform (Support Free Republic - All donations are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support!)
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To: scripter
Spitzer Study Just Published: Evidence Found for Effectiveness of Reorientation Therapy

The results of a study conducted by Dr. Robert L. Spitzer have just been published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 32, No. 5, October 2003, pp. 403-417.

Spitzer's findings challenge the widely-held assumption that a homosexual orientation is "who one is" -- an intrinsic part of a person's identity that can never be changed.

The study has attracted particularly attention because its author, a prominent psychiatrist, is viewed as a historic champion of gay activism. Spitzer played a pivotal role in 1973 in removing homosexuality from the psychiatric manual of mental disorders...

Although examples of "complete" change in orientation were not common, the majority of participants did report change from a predominantly or exclusively homosexual orientation before therapy to a predominantly or exclusively heterosexual orientation in the past year as a result of reparative therapy.

These results would seem to contradict the position statements of the major mental health organizations in the United States, which claim there is no scientific basis for believing psychotherapy effective in addressing same-sex attraction. Yet Spitzer reports evidence of change in both sexes, although female participants reported significantly more change than did male participants...

Is reorientation therapy harmful? For the participants in our study, Spitzer notes, there was no evidence of harm. "To the contrary," he says, "they reported that it was helpful in a variety of ways beyond changing sexual orientation itself." And because his study found considerable benefit and no harm, Spitzer said, the American Psychiatric Association should stop applying a double standard in its discouragement of reorientation therapy, while actively encouraging gay-affirmative therapy to confirm and solidify a gay identity.

Furthermore, Spitzer wrote in his conclusion, "the mental health professionals should stop moving in the direction of banning therapy that has, as a goal, a change in sexual orientation. Many patients, provided with informed consent about the possibility that they will be disappointed if the therapy does not succeed, can make a rational choice to work toward developing their heterosexual potential and minimizing their unwanted homosexual attractions."

Is reorientation therapy chosen only by clients who are driven by guilt--that is, what's popularly known as "homophobia"? To the contrary, Spitzer concludes. In fact, "the ability to make such a choice should be considered fundamental to client autonomy and self-determination."


172 posted on 03/28/2004 8:57:30 PM PST by EdReform (Support Free Republic - All donations are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support!)
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