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1.0 out of 5 stars Anathema to Academia, April 18, 2006
By Shining_One

I read this book as part of an Independent Study Project for my psych class. “Case Stories,” it promised. “Great!” I said. I thought this would make my project a piece of cake; psychological case histories all laid out for me, ready to spill their secrets for dissection and comparison.

As with most things in life, if something seems too good to be true it is.

Foremost, the title of this book is highly deceptive. These are not case stories, they are fables; supposedly first-person accounts of homosexuals who have become heterosexual through some form of psychological alchemy.

Beware; if you are planning to read this book in academic pursuit, you are wasting your time. No part of this book can be cited, sourced or substantiated. The author did not even attempt to provide adequate psychological case study notations.

I would describe this book as a product with a very specific niche market. Namely, people who self-identify as homosexual and for whatever personal reason wish to be heterosexual. The stories contained herein are not so much an exercise in psychiatry, but rather something from the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” collection. Here is a varied blend of stories from self-proclaimed homosexuals, each diverse enough to ensure that at least one of them will strike a chord with the reader. You can guess how each of them concludes.

Through further research into this book, and others like it, I have noticed a disturbing trend; despite the number of books claiming to offer case studies and testimonials of “former homosexuals”, the only such people to be verifiable are what one might call “professional ex-gays”. The vast majority of these people either work directly for the organization/ministry, or they have written books of their own, or they are the poster-boys who make their living touring with the organization/ministry. (etc.) In short, they are where the money is… until they slip-up and prove that they aren’t really straight after all, such as in the cases of former “ex-gay” super-stars Christopher Austin, Colin Cook, Michael Johnston, Terrance Lewis, and John Paulk to name a few.

Read this book if you wish, but I urge you to take it with a grain of salt. In my studies I have learned of many such books, some of which are still in publication and some of which that are not. It is not uncommon for these books to contain “testimonials” from people who later recant what they wrote (usually) while living at a `treatment facility’ for extended periods of time. For example I reference Kent Philpott’s book, The Third Sex, in which he gives the testimonies of six homosexuals who supposedly became heterosexual. Within a year after the book was published, all six of the people written about sent notarized affidavits to the publisher, stating that the book was untrue and that they were all still homosexuals. Nevertheless, the book continued to be printed and sold to an unwary public for eight (8!) years afterwards. To this day, people are finding false solace in `changes’ that never took place.

I also found the writing style of this particular book, Healing Homosexuality, to be dry and forced. The attempt to present emotional persuasions of the author’s agenda in the guise of scientific information is transparent and insulting to the reader’s intelligence. I feel that only those who are desperate to believe (or convince themselves of) the information herein will enjoy it.

In conclusion, the Kinsey Institute has had an open offer for nearly 40 years to report on a single case of a true change in sexual orientation, not just behaviour. In 40 years there has not been a single scientifically documented case of changed sexual orientation.
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1.0 out of 5 stars Reparative Therapy is harmful. I should know., June 22, 2005
By Shane Greenburg (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) – See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Healing Homosexuality: Case Stories of Reparative Therapy (Hardcover)
I was heavily involved in reparative therapy for many years. I was their perfect candidate (virgin, “straight-acting”, etc). No one wanted to change more than me, and no one worked harder than me.

Not only does this “therapy” not work, it leaves a wake of misery and self-hatred in its path.

Of course, Nicolosi would never include me or the millions like me in his case studies. Nor does he mention how many homosexuals have committed suicide in direct response to his “therapy”.

For those stuggling out there, God made you gay and that is OK. Love yourself.

Read what the professionals have to say on the subject.

AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION

· “The potential risks of ‘reparative therapy’ are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient. Many patients who have undergone “reparative therapy” relate that they were inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfaction. The possibility that the person might achieve happiness and satisfying interpersonal relationships as a gay man or lesbian is not presented, nor are alternative approaches to dealing with the effects of societal stigmatization discussed … the APA opposes any psychiatric treatment, such as ‘reparative’ or ‘conversion’ therapy which is based on the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based on a prior assumption that the patient should change his/her sexual orientation.

· “There is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of ‘reparative therapy’ as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientation. It is not described in the scientific literature, nor is it mentioned in the APA’s latest comprehensive Task Force Report, Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders (1989).

· “Clinical experience suggests that any person who seeks conversion therapy may be doing so because of social bias that has resulted in internalized homophobia, and that gay men and lesbians who have accepted their sexual orientation positively are better adjusted than those who have not done so.”

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

· “Even though homosexual orientation is not a mental illness and there is no scientific reason to attempt conversion of lesbians or gays to heterosexual orientation, some individuals may seek to change their sexual orientation or that of another individual (for example, parents seeking therapy for their child). Some therapists who undertake this kind of therapy report that they have changed their clients’ sexual orientation (from homosexual to heterosexual) in treatment. Close scrutiny of their reports indicates several factors that cast doubt: Many of the claims come from organizations with an ideological perspective on sexual orientation, rather than from mental health researchers; the treatments and their outcomes are poorly documented; and the length of time that clients are followed up on after treatment is too short.

· “In 1990, the American Psychological Association stated that scientific evidence does not show that conversion therapy works and that it can do more harm than good. Changing one’s sexual orientation is not simply a matter of changing one’s sexual behavior. It would require altering one’s emotional, romantic and sexual feelings and restructuring one’s self-concept and social identity.

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

· “Most of the emotional disturbance experienced by gay men and lesbians around their sexual identity is not based on physiological causes but rather is due more to a sense of alienation in an unaccepting environment. For this reason, aversion therapy (a behavioral or medical intervention which pairs unwanted behavior, in this case, homosexual behavior, with unpleasant sensations or aversive consequences) is no longer recommended for gay men and lesbians. Through psychotherapy, gay men and lesbians can become comfortable with their sexual orientation and understand the societal response to it.”

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

· “The psychosocial problems of gay and lesbian adolescents are primarily the result of societal stigma, hostility, hatred and isolation. The gravity of these stresses is underscored by current data that document that gay youths account for up to 30 percent of all completed adolescent suicides. Approximately 30 percent of a surveyed group of gay and bisexual males have attempted suicide at least once. Adolescents struggling with issues of sexual preference should be reassured that they will gradually form their own identity and that there is no need for premature labeling of one’s sexual orientation.”

Joseph Nicolosi, shame on you!
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1.0 out of 5 stars Utterly out of touch, April 8, 1999
By A Customer

Ultimately this book shows nothing more than the fact that some men feel bad about themselves because they have same-sex attractions. This is hardly a stunning revelation.

Nicolosi bases his work on the assumptions that men who have homosexual feelings lack identity as a man and that their feelings were ’caused’ by a distant and unsupportive father. Anyone who knows gay men as a group will recognize how false these assumptions are; the vast majority of gay men clearly identify with (and are happy with) a secure male identity and the majority of gay men did not suffer a lack of good fathering. His views are at odds with contemporary knowledge and represent a return to the discredited and uninformed views from 40 years ago.

Nicolosi resorts to stereotyping at nearly every turn – matching his obvious dislike of homosexuality with an equally ludicrous view that heterosexuality is always a happy state of affairs. It leads one to wonder just how many gay men Nicolosi has spoken to or mixed with outside the narrow World of his clinic – and just how much he in fact knows about heterosexuals as a group.

Throughout the book one is struck by Nicolosi’s continued confusion between exclusive homosexuality and degrees of bisexuality. He must know better, yet an uninformed reader would be left with the impression that convincing a bisexual only to behave heterosexually is that same as changing the entire sexual orientation of someone who is completely homosexual. Such obfuscation does no service to anyone.

Left unsaid is the way in which Nicolosi’s views are coloured by his extremely conservative religious views. Quick to analyze and stereotype others, this therapist seems not to be interested in doing some analysis of himself or his fellow travellers in that style of faith.

Nicolosi does deserve credit for writing a book that will help inform conservatives and liberals alike that there is indeed a small number of men who will never be happy about the fact they have homosexual attractions and who will never feel able to join the ‘gay community’ (whatever that is). Such unhappy men do deserve support – but one need not subscribe to polarized and negative views about homosexuality in order to do this. Returning to old and discarded ‘theories’ that blamed the parents also provides no understanding and ultimately gives little support.

Despite the title this is not a book about therapy or about homosexuality. It tells more about politics and a particular strain of religiously inspired thought than it does about either. It tells more about Nicolosi himself than it does about gay men.
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Naj še dodam, da se je v zadnjih letih v ZDA, po povečani tolernci do homoseksualnosti na univerzah in kolidžih pojavila kar močna ex-gay kampanja, podobna kampanji kreacionistov. Oboji namreč zahtevajo kot temu pri nas rečemo “uravnoteženost”. Kao če se uči Darwin, potem zakaj ne tudi kreacionizem in če se tolerira geje, zakaj jih ne bi tudi zdravili. Več na: articles.latimes.com/2006/may/28/nation/na-exgay28 Skratka. Plačan desničarski nateg, pri čemer nimajo geji nič zdraven, ampak se nanj obešajo ljudje, ki pravzaprav niti ne živijo z geji, niti jih ne poznajo, ampak bi radi “normalizirali” vse kar se jim bo “normalizirati” pustilo.

Toliko o tem kekcu.
Lp
Vili