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from Ethical Issues
New APA Task Force
Lacks Reparative/Reorientation Therapists
By Mike Hatfield
NARTH recommended several qualified professionals for this committee, but all were rejected in favor of gay-affirmative psychologists.
May 23, 2007 - After inviting nominations from clinicians, the American Psychological Association's President Sharon Stephens Brehm, Ph.D. recently appointed six individuals to serve on the newly-created Task Force on Appropriate Responses to Sexual Orientation.
The task force was initiated by the APA's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Concerns Office. According to NARTH President Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D., "The gay-affirmative make up of this task force offers a compelling reason for ex-gay organizations across the U.S. to protest at the annual APA Convention this August in San Francisco."
NARTH responded to the call for nominations by recommending the following individuals to serve on this task force:
Stanton Louis Jones, Ph.D., is Provost and Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. He is co-author of Homosexuality: The Use Of Scientific Research In The Church's Moral Debate.
NARTH President-Elect A. Dean Byrd, Ph.D., MBA, MPH, heads the Thrasher Research Fund and is affiliated with the University of Utah School of Medicine, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Byrd is considered one of the foremost experts on same-sex attraction and reparative/reorientation therapy. Dr. Byrd has published numerous articles on SSA and change, as well as gender and parenting issues.
Mark A. Yarhouse, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology, Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Dr. Yarhouse is co-author of Homosexuality: The Use Of Scientific Research In The Church's Moral Debate and has published many peer-reviewed articles on homosexuality and treatment for SSA.
NARTH President Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D. Dr. Nicolosi has been involved in researching sexual orientation and treating individuals with unwanted SSA for more than 25 years. He is a California-licensed psychologist, founder of NARTH and author of Reparatove Therapy of Male Homosexuality, Healing Homosexuality: Case Stories Of Reparative Therapy and A Parent's Guide To Preventing Homosexuality. Dr. Nicolosi is a pioneer of reparative therapy and is one of the world's foremost experts on the successful treatment of same-sex attractions.
All of these highly-qualified candidates were rejected by APA President Brehm. Instead, Dr. Brehm appointed the following individuals:
Chair: Judith M. Glassgold, PsyD. She sits on the board of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy and is past president of Division 44.
Members:
Jack Drescher, Ph.D., well-known as a gay-activist psychiatrist, serves on the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy and is one of the foremost opponents of reparative therapy.
A. Lee Beckstead, Ph.D., is a counseling psychologist who works on helping gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from traditional religious backgrounds. He is a staff associate at the University of Utah's Counseling Center and although he believes reorientation therapy can sometimes be helpful, he has expressed strong skepticism.
Beverly Greene, Ph.D., ABPP, was the founding co-editor of the APA Division 44 series, Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues.
Robin Lin Miller, Ph.D., is a community psychologist and associate professor at Michigan State University. From 1990-1995, she worked for the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York City and has written for gay publications.
Roger L. Worthington, Ph.D., is the interim Chief Diversity Officer at the University of Missouri-Columbia. In 2001 he was awarded the "2001 Catalyst Award," from the LGBT Resource Center , University of Missouri , Columbia , for "Speaking up and out and often regarding LGBT issues." He co-authored "Becoming an LGBT-Affirmative Career Advisor: Guidelines for Faculty, Staff, and Administrators" for the National Consortium of Directors of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Resources in Higher Education.
In looking over this list, NARTH President Joseph Nicolosi, noted:
My impression, looking over this list, is amusement - and then anger. First, the amusement: the APA never stops talking about its passion for 'diversity.' Where is the worldview diversity on this list?
Next, the anger. We offered a strong list of candidates. All were rejected.
Judging from these members' backgrounds, I do not believe this task force will be fair in its analysis of appropriate therapies. By rejecting any real reorientation therapist for the task force and stacking it with so many gay-affirmative opponents of sexual reorientation, the committee has already pre-determined what it will find.
I predict that this task force will recommend ruling that reparative therapy is unethical and harmful to individuals and should be banned by the APA.
Such a conclusion will inevitably violate patient autonomy and self-determination, and will silence intellectual diversity.
We will fight this effort with all of our resources.
Additional Reading: When Activism Masquerades as Science: Potential Consequences of Recent APA Resolutions;
Thought Reform And The Psychology of Homosexual Advocacy;
NARTH President Challenges Activist Psychiatrist on Scientific Misrepresentation;
The Innate-Immutable Argument Finds No Basis in Science;
The Trojan Couch.
Updated: 27 February 2008
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