APA president Gerald Koocher’s statement about therapy and homosexuality
This is not a statement specifically regarding the SIT guidelines but rather in response to a Q&A meeting at the APA 2006 convention. Let me clear, Dr. Koocher is not endorsing the SIT guidelines. However, this statement is so consistent with them, that I wanted to post it here. This was received 8/15/06 via email from Rhea Farberman, APA Public Affairs Office.
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August 15, 2006
Statement by Dr. Gerald P. Koocher Concerning Therapeutic Interventions To Deal With Unwanted Same-Sex Attraction
During the Town Hall Meeting that took place at APA’s 2006 convention, I was asked about the role of patient choice in therapeutic interventions to diminish same-sex attractions.
This is an extremely complex issue. And discussion of it must balance patient choice with the therapist’s ethical obligation to obtain informed consent for any therapy process.
The issue centers on patient choice and the role of the therapist in supporting that choice with fully informed consent—be it sexual orientation or any other behavior or emotion.
In a full multifaceted therapeutic relationship, the therapist has every duty to respond to patient choice and to help patients achieve their goals. I affirmed during the Town Hall discussion, and I will always affirm, the crucial importance of providing our services with careful attention to patients’ wishes.
BUT—and this is absolutely essential, especially when dealing with sexual orientation—the therapeutic responsibility, in strict accordance with APA guidelines, MUST also include the following considerations:
One: The therapist has an obligation to carefully explore how patients arrive at the choices they want to make. Therapists must determine whether patients understand that their motives may arise purely from the social pressures of a homophobic environment. No type or amount of individual therapy will modify societal prejudices.
Two, informed consent: Patients must understand the potential consequences of any treatment, including those intended to modify sexual orientation. Patients must understand that such treatments lack a validated scientific foundation and may prove psychologically harmful.
Finally, I would add that our patients ought to know from the very start that we as their therapists do not consider homosexuality a mental disorder. In fact, the data show that gay and lesbian people do not differ from heterosexuals in their psychological health. By that I mean that they have no greater instance of mental disorders than do heterosexuals.
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Dr. Koocher is the President of the American Psychological Association.
As a doctor of clinical psychology, this was a fantastic letter exemplifying and underscoring the scientific fact that gay/lesbian individuals can and do lead psychologically healthy lives. It provides the prospective patient seeking a change of orientation the facts. That we do live in a discriminatory environment in the United States, that you can lead a happy and healthy life as a gay or lesbian person, and that reparative therapies have not proven to be beneficial, successful and are potentially harmful.
If the patient wants to proceed after knowing these things…it is their choice, although I am not sure what ethical practitioner would engage in such a process.
Very little is “proven” in therapy of any sort. We have written our guidelines in such a way that we recognize how little is known. Thus, we stick very close to what clients’ value.