Sexual Orientation Change Efforts Through Psychotherapy for LGBQ Individuals Affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

This study reports the results of a comprehensive online survey of 1,612 current or former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many of whom engaged in psychotherapy to cope with (i.e., understand, accept, or change) their same-sex attractions. 

Data obtained from written and quantitative responses showed that therapy was initiated over a very wide age range and continued for many years. However, counseling was largely ineffective; less than 4% reported any modification of core same-sex erotic attraction. Moreover, 42% reported that their change-oriented therapy was not at all effective, and 37% found it to be moderately to severely harmful. In contrast, affirming psychotherapeutic strategies were often found to be beneficial in reducing depression, increasing self-esteem, and improving family and other relationships. 

Results suggest that the very low likelihood of a modification of sexual orientation and the ambiguous nature of any such change should be important considerations for highly religious sexual minority individuals considering reorientation therapy.

Purchase full article at:   http://goo.gl/imF7Jx

By:  Kate Bradshaw^a, John P. Dehlin^b, Katherine A. Crowell^c, Renee V. Galliher^b & William S. Bradshaw^d*

^a English Department, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA

^b Department of Psychology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA

^c Department of Psychology, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington, USA

^d Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv insight

And: http://twitter.com/Prison Health