title: The Growing Regulation of Conversion Therapy.
abstract: Conversion therapies are any treatments, including individual talk therapy, behavioral (e.g. aversive stimuli), group therapy or milieu (e.g. "retreats or inpatient treatments" relying on all of the above methods) treatments, which attempt to change an individual's sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. However these practices have been repudiated by major mental health organizations because of increasing evidence that they are ineffective and may cause harm to patients and their families who fail to change. At present, California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, Washington, DC, and the Canadian Province of Ontario have passed legislation banning conversion therapy for minors and an increasing number of US States are considering similar bans. In April 2015, the Obama administration also called for a ban on conversion therapies for minors. The growing trend toward banning conversion therapies creates challenges for licensing boards and ethics committees, most of which are unfamiliar with the issues raised by complaints against conversion therapists. This paper reviews the history of conversion therapy practices as well as clinical, ethical and research issues they raise. With this information, state licensing boards, ethics committees and other regulatory bodies will be better able to adjudicate complaints from members of the public who have been exposed to conversion therapies.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, New York Medical College, and Adjunct Professor, New York University.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Drescher
authors.affiliation: Supervisor of Psychotherapy, William Alanson White Institute, New York.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Medical Director of Admissions, Rockland Psychiatric Center-Office of Mental Health, and Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Flávio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Casoy
authors.affiliation: Head, Adult Gender Identity Clinic, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and Assistant Professor, University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: McIntosh
authors.affiliation: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar, David Geffen School of Medicine of the University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hurley
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor of Psychiatry-Clinician/Educator Track, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.affiliation: Clinical Director, Rockland Psychiatric Center-Office of Mental Health, and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Faculty, New York Psychoanalytic Institute.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.affiliation: Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Morehouse School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Herbert
authors.affiliation: Medical Director, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic, Harlem Hospital, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University Department of Psychiatry.
authors.forename: Lorraine E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Lothwell
authors.affiliation: Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College.
authors.forename: Marlin R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mattson
authors.affiliation: Interim Chair and Residency Training Director, Psychiatry, Maimonides Medical Center, and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, New York Medical College.
authors.forename: Scot G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: McAfee
authors.affiliation: Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pula
authors.affiliation: Associate Clinical Professor, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Vernon
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rosario
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: D Andrew
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Tompkins
keywords: LGBT; conversion therapy; ethics; gay; homosexuality; legislative bans; lesbian; licensing; psychiatry; psychotherapy; reparative therapy; sexual orientation; sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE); state policies