Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyPosts Tagged As: NARTH
May 14th, 2007
Dr. Warren Throckmorton has also posted about Paul Cameron’s disturbing views expressed in Cameron’s article, “Gays in Nazi Germany.” Dr. Throckmorton concludes:
Suffice to say that Dr. Cameron is not simply ideologically opposed to homosexuality, he is fixated on “solutions” that I find abhorrent. I call on fellow social conservatives who still refer to the Camerons’ work to take a hard look at these posts and reflect on whether someone with such extreme animosity could possibly approach social science data with sufficient objectivity to be trusted.
When Ex-Gay Watch pointed out that Exodus was using Cameron’s research, Exodus finally responded by removing those web pages from their web site. On the other hand, NARTH has so far failed to act.
I wonder how many of these individuals, organizations and publishers agree with Paul Cameron’s Solution for those who live “parasitic lives”?
E-mail me or leave a comment if you find someone who is using Cameron’s “science” and I’ll add them to the list.
Let me know if you find any others.
March 31st, 2007
Ex-gay impresario Richard Cohen’s embarrassing performance on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show continues to reverberate through the ex-gay movement. Ex-Gay Watch reports that PFOX and NARTH are quietly scrubbing their web sites of all mention of him. It’s as if he never existed. Nope. Nothing to see here.
Richard Cohen had been president of PFOX, but was forced out after his previous embarrassment on CNN. Now PFOX and NARTH are pretending like they never heard of him. Which is odd really, considering that he never tried to hide his form of therapy from anyone. In 2000, he wrote a whole book about it — complete with photographs — with Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s endorsement featured on the front cover. NARTH even sold it in their bookstore. How can anyone pretend this is new information?
Richard Cohen Shifts Gears
Richard Cohen Is “Disappeared”
Fallout From Richard Cohen’s “The Daily Show” Appearance
Therapy In the Wild, Wild West
September 1st, 2006
The wide-ranging condemnations of Dr. Joseph Berger, the NARTH Scientific Advisory Committee member who recommended “ridicule” as an effective treatment for young children with variant sexual identity and expression, has had an effect. Warren Throckmorten notes that not only has Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, President of NARTH disavowed Dr. Berger’s advice, NARTH pulled the offending post from their blog and offers this statement:
We have pulled the discussion on gender variant children in Oakland. The article contained comments that were deemed offensive to many readers and failed to accurately express the overall views of the physician who expressed them.
We apologize for publishing the article without getting proper clarifications first about how children with gender identity disorders should be treated by parents, teachers, and counselors.
NARTH President Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D. has issued the following statement related to gender variant children and remarks made by Dr. Joseph Berger:
“NARTH disagrees with Dr. Berger’s advice as we believe shaming, as distinct from correcting, can only create greater harm. Too many of our clients experienced the often life-long, harmful effects of peer shaming. We cannot encourage this.”
Here is the original text of Dr. Berger’s comments which has been removed from NARTH’s website. (Thanks to Pam Spaulding for finding it.)
I think that a lot of this is nonsense and is being pushed by people who have an agenda to disrupt society in order to further some perverted goals such as the acceptance of pedophilia, and, of course, the attempted “normalization” of homosexuality.
From a medical/scientific perspective, the notion of a child of five being “transgendered” is absolute garbage. This is a child wanting attention and wanting to play “dress-up,” with an added layer of unhappiness.
That essentially is the issue for most of these children. They are unhappy. They don’t have a “biological” based “gender identity disorder.” They are unhappy; they have an envy of certain aspects of the opposite sex role — and wish to pursuit it for as long as they can.
Tolerant parents, tolerant schools, tolerant societies, might let them get away with it. No one should be surprised that avant-garde California or sun-drenched Florida should be places where the tolerance is highest.
The notion that a person is really someone of the opposite sex “trapped in the wrong body” is poetic stupidity. It doesn’t exist in reality. A person wishing to change their external manifestations to appear to be a person of the opposite sex is someone very unhappy with being their “real” sex and/or believing in some idealized fantasy of how much better it is to be of the opposite sex.
We don’t treat distorted fantasies with mutilating surgery.
Here in cold Canada, I often talk with mothers of small children who routinely complain about how difficult it is to get their children dressed in the winter in the multiple layers of clothing they need to go off to school. I suggest to them that they make it clear to their children that they will leave home — or that the school bus will come — at such-and-such time, and they will go whether they are ready or not. I suggest that going just one day in their pajamas or underwear will be enough to “cure” them of their procrastination.
I suggest, indeed, letting children who wish go to school in clothes of the opposite sex — but not counseling other children to not tease them or hurt their feelings.
On the contrary, don’t interfere, and let the other children ridicule the child who has lost that clear boundary between play-acting at home and the reality needs of the outside world. Maybe, in this way, the child will re-establish that necessary boundary.
It is a mistake for various interfering, ignorant, and biased busybodies to try to “counsel” the other children into accepting the abnormal. It is very healthy to be able to draw the line between what is healthy and what is sick.
I am sure that if we looked carefully, we could find some significant personal issues and aberrations in the parents of these children. These children don’t have such problems without there having been some groundwork laid by their parents in some way.
Dr Joseph Berger, FRCP, DABPN, DLFAPA
No word yet on whether NARTH intends to maintain Dr. Berger’s position on their advisory committee. It seems that following his advice can lead to a lot of hot water.
August 31st, 2006
From Ex-Gay Watch and Pink News comes this startling report:
A coalition of organisations monitoring groups claiming to convert gay people back to heterosexuality, have criticised the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuals (NARTH) after a member advocated teasing transgender children to “re-establish that necessary boundary.”
NARTH Scientific Advisory Committee member Joseph Berger said on a blog in reaction to a San Francisco Chronicle article on gender identity issues, “I suggest, indeed, letting children who wish go to school in clothes of the opposite sex – but not counselling other children to not tease them or hurt their feelings.
“On the contrary, don’t interfere, and let the other children ridicule the child who has lost that clear boundary between play-acting at home and the reality needs of the outside world.
You can find Dr. Berger’s original blog comment here. (Update: The blog post has been removed. You can read about it here.)
As one who has experienced this sort of peer “therapy” myself while growing up (and I can’t think of any gay or lesbian friends who haven’t), I find it utterly outrageous that this advice should come from someone who purports to be a mental health professional. I can say from personal experience that the efficacy of this “therapy” was poor, but the harm great. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Independent research backs that up:
Given what we know about the effects of the sort of peer-pressure that Dr. Berger advocates against LGBT children, it is important to hold him and NARTH accountable for this dangerously irresponsible advice.
Update: Wayne Besen, at Truth Wins Out has issued a press release about Dr. Berger’s comments. Wayne contacted the Ontario APA and the Canadian Human Rights Commission to inquire about filing a complaint.
August 28th, 2006
As reported more than two weeks ago, the APA released this statement directed at NARTH and Focus on the Family:
“For over three decades the consensus of the mental health community has been that homosexuality is not an illness and therefore not in need of a cure. The APA’s concern about the positions espoused by NARTH and so-called conversation therapy is that they are not supported by the science. There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Our further concern is that the positions espoused by NARTH and Focus on the Family create an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish.”
This apparently sparked some controversy at the APA meeting in New Orleans. On first glance, many took it to be a repudiation of conversion therapy — which would mean a change in the APA’s official policy statement. But a closer reading gives what I believe to be a more accurate understanding, that the APA is concerned about how NARTH and Focus on the Family (which sponsors Exodus) uses conversion therapy — and misrepresented science — to nonscientific (political) ends. At least that’s how I read it. Yes, it calls into question conversion therapy’s efficacy, but the APA does not prohibit it. In my opinion at least, it’s the only way to read this statement without throwing away the APA’s official policy on conversion therapy altogether, which a statement like this does not have the capacity to do.
Neither NARTH nor Focus on the Family responded to the APA statement directly. Instead, they claimed a sort of victory by reporting on a Town Hall Meeting between the APA leaders and members. According to NARTH’s rendition of events, APA President Gerald Koocher said this about conversion therapy:
Highlighting the importance of client autonomy and self-determination, Dr. Koocher stated, “APA has no conflict with psychologists who help those distressed by unwanted homosexual attraction.”
He emphasized that —
1. The choice to enter therapy to diminish homosexual attractions and to strengthen heterosexual potential must be respected.
2. The choice to enter therapy must be voluntary and not coerced in any way.
3. Treatment options must be discussed by the therapist.
4. Treatment goals must be mutually agreed upon.
5. The “iterative process” must be a part of therapy. That is, client choice regarding treatment goals must be reiterated throughout the treatment process.
Focus on the Family issued a statement claiming credit for Dr. Koochers’s “endorsement” of conversion therapy, calling it a “policy change”:
Koocher’s response was simple: “APA has no conflict with psychologists who help those distressed by unwanted homosexual attraction.”
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, a network of ministries for those struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction, said it was an unexpected turn of events.
“Given the APA’s track record of the last two years,” Chambers told CitizenLink, “it is very unusual that the president would come out and state our case for us, that people have a right to self-determination — to determine their own path for their mental-health status.”
Chambers said he believes a protest organized by ex-gays and their therapists outside the convention hall had an impact.
Let’s stop here a moment and review what happened. First, Exodus organized a protest by “ex-gays” at the APA convention in New Orleans. The APA responded by issuing a statement denouncing the particular practices of NARTH and Exodus (via Focus on the Family). NARTH and Focus in the Family respond by describing a meeting where Dr. Koocher appears to “endorse” conversion therapy, and Focus goes so far as to claim this “policy change” as a victory brought on by their protest.
First, let’s be clear of one thing. There was no policy change. The APA does not prohibit conversion therapy. Go ahead and read the APA’s policy statement.
But read the whole thing. I’ll wait.
Notice that the APA insists that homosexuality is not a disease, and that all members must refrain from disseminating false information about homosexuality, about gays and lesbians themselves, and about treatment options and success rates. Therapists are required to ensure that the client understands the likelihood of change, what change may mean or may not mean, and the possible negative consequences of pursuing therapy to try to change sexual orientation. This is essential if “informed consent” is to be achieved according to the APA’s policy statement:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that “psychologists do not make false or deceptive statements concerning … the scientific or clinical basis for … their services,” (American Psychological Association, 1992); and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that “psychologists attempt to identify situations in which particular interventions … may not be applicable … because of factors such as … sexual orientation” (American Psychological Association, 1992); and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that “psychologists obtain appropriate informed consent to therapy or related procedures” [which] “generally implies that the [client or patient] (1) has the capacity to consent, (2) has been informed of significant information concerning the procedure, (3) has freely and without undue influence expressed consent, and (4) consent has been appropriately documented”
Maybe due to the free-wheeling nature of the discussion, the issues surrounding informed consent didn’t come up at the town hall meeting. Or maybe they did and NARTH and Exodus neglected to mention them. But Warren Throckmorton posted this follow-up statement from the APA’s Public Affairs office to clarify the importance of informed consent:
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.
This is critical, because NARTH and Exodus both are flagrant violators of many components of the APA’s policy on sexual orientation conversion therapy, especially in those areas concerned with ensuring that informed consent is truly “informed.” And for that, they deserve to be singled out for criticism.
August 11th, 2006
According to Wayne Besen and confirmed by Warren Throckmorton, the American Psychological Association will release the following statement to the press sometime today:
“For over three decades the consensus of the mental health community has been that homosexuality is not an illness and therefore not in need of a cure. The APA’s concern about the positions espoused by NARTH and so-called conversation therapy is that they are not supported by the science. There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Our further concern is that the positions espoused by NARTH and Focus on the Family create an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish.”
This is sure to raise the roof at Focus-sponsored Exodus and NARTH. We’ll keep you posted on their reaction as we hear it.
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