Posted on 07/07/2009 8:57:48 AM PDT by DesertRenegade
A new report in this month's issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Human Sexuality finds that sexual orientation can be changed — and that psychological care for individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions is generally beneficial and that research has not found significant risk of harm.
The study, conducted by the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), examined more than 100 years of professional and scientific literature from 600-plus studies and reports from clinicians, researchers and former clients principally published in professional and peer-reviewed journals.
"This research is a significant milestone when it comes to the scientific debate over the issue of homosexuality," NARTH President Dr. Julie Hamilton said. "It also confirms what we have seen evidenced in hundreds of individuals who have benefited from the help of NARTH therapists.
"We believe that every person should have the right to independently determine their own course in life, and for many that involves seeking counseling options that affirm their personal beliefs."
The survey, titled What Research Shows: NARTH's Response to the American Psychological Association's Claims on Homosexuality, was assembled over 18 months by three of the leading academics and therapists in the field and under the direction of the NARTH Scientific Advisory Committee. It confirms the results of a 2007 longitudinal study conducted by researchers Stanton L. Jones and Mark Yarhouse that found that religiously mediated sexual orientation change is possible for some individuals and does not cause psychological harm on average.
The last finding is important, because it directly refutes unsubstantiated claims made by some factions of the American Psychological Association (APA) and several other professional mental health organizations that it is unethical for therapists to assist patients to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions.
"The APA's own Code of Ethics supports every client's rights to autonomy and self-determination in therapy and mandates that therapists either respect a client's practice of religion and sexual orientation or refer the client to a professional who will offer such respect," NARTH explains in the report. "Clients who are not distressed about their sexual orientation should not be directed to change by mental-health professionals. Conversely, clients who seek sexual reorientation deserve properly informed and competent psychological care from therapists who use interventions that have been scientifically demonstrated as helpful for achieving this goal."
Nicholas Cummings, a past APA president and author of Destructive Trends in Mental Health, concurred.
"This is a basic tenant of psychotherapy, that religion for most people is an anchor," he told CitizenLink. "To pull that out from under them is an egregious thing to do."
In finding that there is substantial evidence that sexual orientation may be changed through therapy, the study also found that treatment success for clients seeking to change unwanted homosexuality and develop their heterosexual potential has been documented in the professional and research literature since the late 19th century.
"We acknowledge that change in sexual orientation may be difficult to attain," NARTH says in the report. "As with other difficult challenges and behavioral patterns — such as low-self-esteem, abuse of alcohol, social phobias, eating disorders, or borderline personality disorder, as well as sexual compulsions and addictions — change through therapy does not come easily. Relapses to old forms of thinking and behaving are — as is the case with most forms of psychotherapy for most psychological conditions — not uncommon."
Nonetheless, the report continues, "we conclude that the documented benefits of reorientation therapy — and the lack of its documented general harmfulness —support its continued availability to clients who exercise their right of therapeutic autonomy and self-determination through ethically informed consent."
A third major finding of the study is that there is significantly greater medical, psychological and relational pathology in the homosexual population than the general population.
"Overall, many of these problematic behaviors and psychological dysfunctions are experienced among homosexuals at about three times the prevalence found in the general population — and sometimes much more," the report states. "Investigators using modern, state-of-the-art research methods have documented that many different pathological traits are more prevalent in homosexual than in heterosexual groups. We believe that no other group of comparable size in society experiences such intense and widespread pathology."
Among the scientific findings cited in the study:
• Despite knowing the AIDS risk, homosexuals repeatedly and pathologically continue to indulge in unsafe sex practices.
• Homosexuals represent the highest number of STD cases.
• Many homosexual sex practices are medically dangerous, with or without "protection."
• More than one-third of homosexual men and women are substance abusers.
• Forty percent of homosexual adolescents report suicidal histories.
• Homosexuals are more likely than heterosexuals to have mental-health concerns, such as eating disorders, personality disorders, paranoia, depression and anxiety.
• Homosexual relationships are more violent than heterosexual relationships.
• Societal bias and discrimination do not, in and of themselves, contribute to the majority of increased health risks for homosexuals.
Jeff Johnston, gender issue analyst for Focus on the Family, said these findings should have an impact on "those who claim to have the best interests of the gay community at heart."
"True social justice, compassion, concern and intellectual honesty," he explained, "dictate that men and women who want to pursue freedom from homosexuality – whether because of their faith or because of the health risks associated with homosexuality – should be afforded that opportunity by the mental health industry, including its associations and educational institutions."
Bugger them..... Oh, wait......
Uh-oh - the jig is up!!! (Or is saying that too gay???)
It was already clear that homosexuality isn’t genetic, since the adopted children of homosexuals are (IIRC) 70% more likely to be homosexual than the children of hetero parents.
That statistic (aside from the issues of abuse) is enough to warrant banning gay adoption, IMNSHO.
We’ll see how soon the MSM starts reporting any of the above...lol
Uh, oh.
Somebody’s going to re-education camp.
The entire goat population of Syria breathes a sigh of relief.
I don’t know anyone, that remembers the day they decided to become a heterosexual instead of a homosexual.
the homosexuals(not gay) will no doubt denounce this as they have done in the past .
I have said this all along that homosexuals do it because they like sex with the same sex and that is it.
Not about love because I love my kids, dog but feel no attraction to having sex with them.
It is all based on their sexual gratification and what turns them on.
One thing this study missed was the majority are like drama queens who feel that society owes them something when it does not.
They are most certainly paranoid and clearly need to seek mental help, the sad part is that some shrinks tell them that they are alright because they too are messed up and see other shrinks..
It should be the way it is and call it what it is.
a sexual perversion
Would you be pleased if your daughter married an ex-homosexual?
agreed but I will take further.
They want to be married,(small part of a big agenda) well if we base marraige on sexual pleasure (like MA, CT does) and that is what it is then all sorts of whacked out marraiges should be formed.
This is why they should not be married and marraige should be one man between one woman as it has been for generations and the birth of this country
Etc.
Seems to me that in many cases homosexuality is one symptom (amongst many) of severe emotional trauma. It is a coping mechanism. Ergo, for society to normalize homosexuality and declare it to be healthy, wholesome, normal, and natural does the homosexual no favors.
This is perhaps the saddest aspect of the entire homosexual conflict. Homosexuals delude themselves that they are happy when they are not, and society reinforces their delusion. In the mean time, the underlying trauma is ignored for the sake of normalizing homosexuality.
By the way, the APS denies that homosexuals are more likely than others to experience other psychological disorders.
Nobody is doing homosexuals any favors by telling them they are okay and normal.
Anyone who advocates allowing those with same-sex attraction to adopt children is advocating child abuse.
If I had a daughter I’m fairly positive I wouldn’t want her marrying an ex-gay. Besides - most homosexuals won’t want to change their orientation through therapy and giving the state or any other authority to compel people to submit to therapy reassigning their sexual orientation is not something I want to see since heterosexual orientation can presumably be changed as well. Absent a state interest sufficient to compel somebody to undergo this sort of therapy I can’t see most people saying that any establish rights granted to gays should be revoked as it is now “merely” a choice.
The homos are simply being used by the anti-family forces of the left.
Yes, homosexuality is a perversion. And no one should be surprised when other mental illnesses and perversions (pedophilia) occur in homos more often than in the general population.
The interesting thing to me is that the militant homosexuals already know this. That is why they want in the schools, why they want to be Boy Scouts and youth group leaders etc. They are trying desperately to “make” more new homosexuals. If they can get to the children while they are young and seduce them and molest them and convince them it is cool and all right to be queer they can swell their ranks. This study proves that. If you can teach someone not be gay you can surely teach them to be gay.
Normally developed people don’t need to “decide” their sexual orientation. It grows in them naturally until it is fully mature. And it is unerringly heterosexual.
But if some trauma arrested a child’s sexual development before it had a chance to differentiate, the child may be (pathologically) homosexual. That is a mental illness and can be treated.
Having studied art and having worked in the arts in a large city (where everyone in the arts was acquainted with hundreds of gays), I saw many men make this decision back in the 80s, when AIDS started decimating their social group (I am a straight woman). As many as could, got out. Some got married heterosexually and had children. One of those couples whom I knew fairly well is still married today and has grandchildren.
As the article says, orientation recovery isn't an on/off switch, and some people who try may have relapses, like with alcoholism or other disorders. But I saw the change happen, among both men and women. It had to start with a decision to try.
Your post totally nailed it. (No pun intended.)
At age 7, I knew there was something repulsive about him, especially the way he talked....and at that age I knew nothing about the existence of homosexuals or anything like that.
A few years later, I noticed the same speech pattern in Charles Nelson Riley on "Hollywood Squares" and my friends began using the word "queer" and it all started adding up, but it was always repulsive instinctively I guess.
Nobody is talking about forcing anyone to accept recovery therapy -- far from it. The force is coming from the gay lobby, insisting that homosexuality is irreversible, and therefore they deserve not only gay marriage and adoption, but also to indoctrinate children to accept their lifestyle as "normal."
Homosexual advocates here in Maryland have tried to introduce a school curriculum that not only promotes a positive view of homosexual behavior; it named certain church denominations as "bigoted." Even in one of the most liberal counties, it was shot down, but they try again every year to ram it through. The extremist gay-favoring school board will not allow equal time for the message that change is possible; and have repeatedly rejected requests by groups such as Exodus or Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays to also take part in the curriculum.
In other parts of the country, Christians or others who believe it is possible to recover from same-sex attraction have been the targets of discrimination and expulsion from PhD programs in Counseling when they could not guarantee to affirm patients with gay orientation, and tried to find a gay-affirming counselor for them. Instead, persons of conscience were harassed and/or dismissed from their doctoral programs after years of work and effort. Lawsuits are ongoing. The gay lobby wants to set orientation in stone, with obvious advantages for them politically, regardless of the truth or the desires of those who may be in it only because they lost their way, took a wrong turn or were abused in childhood and are compensating with unhealthful behavior.
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