The Mormon Therapist
SAMHSA took an historic position today by releasing the following publication:
SAMHSA: Ending Conversion Therapy Therapy: Supporting and Affirming LGBTQ Youth
It is important to note that Dr. Caitlin Ryan of the Family Acceptance Project (which has materials specifically geared towards LDS families: Supportive Families, Healthy Children) played a pivotal role in contributing to this report being released. Dr. Ryan was the keynote speaker at the last Mormon Mental Health Association’s annual conference on the impact the Family Acceptance Project has had and can continue to have within LDS communities. This SAMHSA report calls for an end to all types of conversion therapies – which have been shown to be ineffective and in fact, harmful to those who participate. It provides best-practice standards for professionals who work with children and adolescents who present with sexual orientation and gender identity themes. This report is grounded in research and will help both families and providers make informed decisions in a way that will reduce suicidal risk and promote wellbeing. Conversion therapies have recently become illegal in several states in the USA and I hope we will see more of this type of legislation across the board. There was also a recent case in New Jersey where a jury ruled that a gay-conversion therapy group had committed consumer fraud by providing these services: The End of Gay Conversion Therapy.
I am currently serving as the president of the Mormon Mental Health Association and was part of drafting the position the board of directors voted to adopt renouncing this type of practice in August of this year. Clinicians who are listed on the MMHA directory have signed a Code of Ethics where they specifically agree to not engage in such practices.
I hope that we can continue to press forward as an LDS community to understand the ramifications of how we have treated and continue to treat our LGBT members. I will continue to advocate for healthy life options for our LGBT brothers and sisters within the context of living the LDS faith. Choosing a life of celibacy with no chance of romantic or sexual expression is not going to cut it. Our church is not currently a safe place for our LGBT members – plain and simple. This is not a doctrine issue. This is a cultural bias issue. We have corrected from cultural bias in the past as a church – and we will have to do so again in the future. I hope we can do so at a more speedy rate than is currently being showcased with the understanding that the sooner we correct course, the more lives we save and the more members we retain within the arms of our community. We can, and I have faith that we will, do much better.
Conversion Therapy Endangers LGBT Youth and Must Stop: US Report
Federal Report Calls for End to ‘Conversion Therapy’ for LGBT Youth
Natasha Helfer Parker can be contacted at natashaparker.org.
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