Gay men and women in Britain are being offered controversial treatments to reverse their homosexuality, despite there being no proof that such therapies are effective and fears that they are actually harmful.
A survey of more than 1 300 therapists, psychoanalysts and psychiatrists throughout the country found more than 200 practitioners had attempted to change at least one patient’s sexual orientation, while 55 said they were still offering the therapy.
Some counsellors said they were motivated to help people change their sexuality because of their own moral and religious views, while others said they thought it might help those under pressure from discrimination.
Michael King, a psychiatrist at University College London who led the study, said: ”There is a significant minority of counsellors offering these treatments and they are ignorant and misguided. There is no evidence they change anyone’s sexual orientation and undoubtedly they cause harm.”
”There are many men and women who are distressed about discovering they are gay, and some will go to counsellors, or be told to go by their parents, and say they can’t cope and can they be changed,” he added. ”Some of these therapists might have the best motives, but what they should be doing is helping these people adjust and to cope. They need to know it’s society’s problem, not theirs.”
King’s team sent questionnaires to 1 848 practitioners selected at random from the membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the British Psychological Society, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy. Each was asked whether they would offer to help someone change their sexual orientation, and whether they had ever done so.
Of the 1 328 forms that were correctly filled in and returned, 222 practitioners gave details of at least one patient they had tried to treat. There has been no decline in the number of patients being treated in recent years, according to the study in the BMC Psychiatry journal.
Most counsellors said they would try to help patients come to terms with their sexuality if they felt it was problematic, but a small number were openly discriminatory. One counsellor who is a member of the British Psychological Society said: ”Although homosexual feelings are usual in people, their physical expression, and being a person’s only way of having sexual relations is problematic. The physical act for male homosexuals is physically damaging and is the main reason in this country for Aids/HIV. It is also perverse.”
The research coincides with the launch of a website, www.treatmentshomosexuality.org.uk, set up by the Wellcome Trust to raise awareness of the issue, by gathering histories from people who have offered or been given treatment to change their sexual orientation.
Derek Munn at the gay and lesbian equality organisation Stonewall said: ”So-called gay cure therapies are wholly discredited. The conclusions of this research are a welcome reminder that what lesbian and gay people need is equal treatment by society, not misguided treatment by a minority of health professionals.” – guardian.co.uk