My Gay Therapy Session

[kskiska]

To find out how "reparative therapy" works, I pretended to be gay. My licensed Christian therapist explained to me why homosexuality is a mental disorder, what the "Wizard of Oz principle" is, and why kids who can't "hit the ball or fire the gun" are more likely to be gay

By Mark Benjamin

Barry Levy, a Christian counselor and licensed clinical social worker, is explaining to me what causes homosexuality. "Take the young boy who is more sensitive, more delicate, who doesn't like rough-and-tumble, who is artistic," he says. "He can't hit the ball, fire the gun or shoot an arrow. There is a high correlation between poor eye-hand coordination and same-sex attraction."

(snip)

I was referred to Levy by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, which claims on its Web site that homosexuality can be treated and prevented. "While the Bible clearly states that homosexuality runs contrary to God's plan for relationships, those who struggle with homosexual feelings are still God's children, in need of His forgiveness and healing," the group states. Conservative Christians say curing gays comes from loving them. "Compassion -- not bigotry -- compels us to support the healing of homosexuals," says the Family Research Council.

Levy practices what is called "reparative" or "conversion" therapy, which allegedly helps homosexuals become heterosexuals. The theory that homosexuality is a mental disorder that needs to be cured is the moral underpinning of the Christian right's crusade against gay marriage, sodomy laws, gay adoption and sex ed curriculums in schools. While all major modern mental health professions say conversion therapy is baseless and potentially dangerous, I wanted to experience for myself what is going on behind counselors' closed doors.

When I arrived in Levy's office, I was asked to fill out roughly 15 pages of questions about myself and my family. Mostly the questions centered on how I got along with my folks. In a section about my problems, I wrote "possible homosexuality." The fact is, I'm straight, I'm married to a woman, and I have a 3-year-old daughter and a son due in October. I wrote on the form that that I was married with a kid. But I lied and said I was also living a secret life, that I harbored homosexual urges.

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2005/07/19/gaytherapy/index.html

[wli]

1. this stuff has been thoroughly discredited

The zealot bigots were trying to cure homosexuality by castration, lobotomy, electroshock therapy, and megadoses of psychiatric drugs, forced labor, and the threats of imprisonment and execution for over 1000 years and got nowhere. The notion that a few counseling sessions will do better is a bigotry-inspired delusion.

[evlbstrd]

2. Poor eye-hand coordination,

and yet artistic? OK, then.

[drhilarius]

3. Actually, last time I checked...

my being artistic helped a great deal with the heterosexuality.

[evlbstrd]

4. Galleries are great places to meet the desired gender.

[AndyTiedye]

5. This "Counselor" Should Not Be Allowed To Keep His License

Barry Levy, a Christian counselor and licensed (?!!) clinical social worker, is explaining to me what causes homosexuality. "Take the young
boy who is more sensitive, more delicate, who doesn't like rough-and-tumble, who is artistic," he says. "He can't hit the ball, fire the gun or shoot an arrow. There is a high correlation between poor eye-hand coordination and same-sex attraction."

Thanks to "experts" like this, thousands of the most vulnerable kids
get subjected to even more abuse "to prevent them from becoming gay".
Bullys justify their bullying by claiming the smaller, weaker kid is gay,
and the bullys' Fundie parents campaign against anti-bullying
programs as being "pro-gay".:grr::grr:

Surely no "counselor" who is promulgating such backwards and harmful
"therapy" should be allowed to retain any kind of government license.
This is dangerous quackery. Perhaps those who live in MD might want
to let the licensing authorities know.

[bobbieinok]

6. young man at conservative 'christian' college was perceived to be

possibly gay by his dorm advisor.......he was sent to what I assume was a 'christian' counselor.......young man told me he was told to sign up for weightlifting PE classes and hang around with 'masculine' male students....

young man's comment to me 'wow, just what I want......do they really understand what they're telling me to do?'

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[sadiesworld]

7. *snarf*

[dsc]

8. Simply amazing

though I think Salon should have sent an actually gay person instead of someone lying about being gay. This was the therapist can say that the reason his quackery didn't work is that he was tricked.

[Maat]

9. Dang, I don't have time to get the day pass working.

Just curious, what 'therapies' did they try on this guy?