Anglican Mainstream

The prestigious Royal College of Psychiatrists has recently given the leadership of the CoE, its bishops, a moral imperative of the first order (‘Acceptance helps gays, psychiatrists inform Anglicans’, by Bill Bowder: http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=47420).  The Church must become fully inclusive.  In particular, all LGBT folk are to be welcomed into the Church as LGBTs.  The only real problem that such folk have is the at-times subtle, at-times overtly nasty, homophobia which they must endure and endure even in supposedly ’safe’ realms like the local parish church.  Indeed, if heterosexuals received such treatment, they might be a little more sympathetic to the plight of those who identify as LGBT!  Moreover, being a LGBT is not a choice: in essence it is a given.  And change is impossible – not only impossible, but potentially dangerous.  Did you realise how damaging it could be?  No, probably not! 

Well, for some of us, this is all very much last week’s ‘news’ and it was stale and old hat then.  I will be presenting another side in a series, under the above title.  I begin with the notion of the pitfalls and dangers of ‘treatment’.  And before I proceed it is really important to note one thing.  I have spent lots of time now on the ex-ex gay sites, reading one horror story after another.  And some of them are indeed appalling - the folks there are as gay at the finish line as ever they were at the start, and that after much time, energy, money etc.  They feel they were set-up for failure and are simply furious by what they consider a complete ‘con’ game.  However, after reading some of the narratives, what the struggler tried as ‘therapy’ never had a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding because it was outrageously naive, simplistic and inadequate.  After the inevitable failure, someone or something must be blamed, of course, and so the concept of post-gay via inner healing or reparative therapy is trashed. 

Moreover, there are various types and modes of legitimate help out there in circulation.  Some work for some people at different times in their lives.  A couple of strugglers told me recently that they had tried X and had received significant insight and healing but were still stuck in key places.  They were in the process of trying Y and finding that they had started to shift.  They are still in the early days of the healing trajectory but feeling confident that something massive has moved at a profound level.  And this sort of thing keeps surfacing in the narrative literature of inner-healing and therapy. It is a journey, an at-times lengthy, painful, tortuous journey, a deeply intimate, personal, individualized journey.  As with snowflakes and fingerpints, no two are the same.  But for many it is worth the blood, sweat and tears. Or so I am told.

Finally, what is the complete ’success’ or ‘cure’ rate for, say, those dealing with drug abuse issues? 5%, according to a spokesperson for a drug group whose views were written up in recent Independent article  One obvious response then, of course, is to legalize drugs; others find this essentially ‘If-you-can’t-beat-them-join-them’ approach appalling.  But take a less controversial, more successful group like AA.  AA can hardly boast of sterling success rates, yet we do not condemn it for that.  Indeed, we keep encouraging those who struggle to keep trying to contend with their challenging personal situations and groups like AA to continue their labour of love.  Of course we do:  people are worth it.    

Now, to that dangerous realm of ‘conversion’ therapy.  From Christianity Today, on the recent research published by Stanton Jones and Mark Yarhouse.

The Best Research Yet Two psychologists show that homosexuals should not be discouraged from seeking change. Tim Stafford | posted 9/13/2007 02:20PM

‘When Stanton Jones first began to study psychology, homosexuality was a malady, listed and described in the official “diagnostic Bible,” the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. In 1973, that diagnosis was dropped. Now the American Psychological Association’s official website states, “The reality is that homosexuality is not an illness. It does not require treatment and is not changeable.” The website warns that “conversion therapy” is poorly documented and could cause potential harm. The American Psychiatric Association’s website adds, “[T]here is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of ‘reparative therapy’ as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientation. The potential risks of ‘reparative therapy’ are great, including depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior.”

What to make, then, of the apparently sincere personal testimonies of people claiming to be ex-gay? Longtime Wheaton College professor of psychology and provost Jones, working with Regent University professor Mark Yarhouse, found an anomalous situation. Professional opinion made unusually absolute statements of the impossibility of change, considering older studies of homosexuals under treatment that showed substantial evidence of change. Critics of the older research noted shortcomings but offered no better evidence in support of the contention that change is impossible, even dangerous.

Jones and Yarhouse address this lack of good evidence in their book, Ex-Gays?: A Continuing Study of Religiously Mediated Sexual Orientation Change in Exodus Participants. By taking a sample of people entering ex-gay programs under the Exodus umbrella and following them with detailed questionnaires over several years, Jones and Yarhouse tested the impact of ex-gay programs on participants-whether they actually experienced change, and whether the attempt to change caused additional distress. Participants are still being followed, but the findings to date clearly upset the professional consensus. A substantial minority of participants showed significant change from homosexual patterns of behavior and thought, and there was no overall evidence of additional mental distress. The change observed was generally modest, perhaps comparable to the results of therapy for alcohol and drug addiction, for troubled marriages, or for personality disorders.’

For the article in its entirety see http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/october/5.52.html

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