Repairative Therapy

It does not work. Its dangerious and in my view totaly sick. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU<3 you don't need to be "fixed" your perfect the way you are:/ you can't change your height or age what makes people think they can change your sexuality? Its apart of you as much as the hair on your head. Be true to yourself o: your perfect just how you are

 

I agree with Laura on this, I do not have any experience with it, but I wouldn't want to either.

They try to force you to like the opposite sex and "pray" the Gay away, they try several methods to get you to stop liking the same sex and in the end it's harmful to you and also it will make you unhappy because you will always know deep down what you want.

You are 18 and if you want to do this that is up to you, you are legally an adult and thus can make the decision. Though I want you to take some time and think about this, because once you go through with it there is no telling how it will effect you.

I looked online and found this article and would like you to read it: The Lies and Dangers of Reparative Therapy | Resources | Human Rights Campaign

I also want you to know that there is NOTHING wrong with you at all, you were born this way and if you ever need help or advice we are always here to help you(&&&)(*hug*)

 

What country do you live in? I live in Ireland, which was (and still is, to some extent), considered to be an overtly Catholic country. But gay people here wouldn't dream — not in a million years — of asking their local priest what you do about their sexuality.

Please, please avoid it.

If anything, this type of therapy will make you feel more depressed about your sexuality, because it will be encouraging you to suppress it and ignore your feelings, when there is absolutely zero evidence to show that it works. In fact, there is a lot of evidence, as posted above, that shows that it does serious harm to one's mental health.

But you probably do need therapy. But therapy with a psychologist who has experience dealing with LGBT people, and someone who isn't going to try and convince you that you can pray away your sexuality. You should look into a type of therapy called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as there is a lot of evidence to show that it is very effective in dealing with this kind of thing.

 

It's not your sexuality that needs fixing. It can't be changed, believe me I've tried. I've not heard anything good of people who tried reparative therapy either. (I note that most people who recommend it are usually religiously conservative and already straight.)

It's people's attitudes and beliefs that need adjustment. That's partly why I'm now atheist.

Being that, I can't advise you on reconciling you sexuality with your faith. I can only say good luck with adjusting your sexuality.

 

Hi there! I know the Catholic Church can be harsh about this sometimes, but remember what the Catholic Church also teaches? Acceptance of all people.

Another thing that I noticed is that the only place in the Bible that says anything against homosexuality is in the old testament, and if you look up what else is in the old testament, there are some pretty strange things.

As for repairative therapy, it really doesn't work. All it does is try to scare people into believing that who they are is wrong. Along with it, there are very cruel ways of trying to make people straight. Even the name is demeaning.

As for regular therapy, I think that it's a really really good idea in your case.

 

I totally agree.

I am also a Christian (Mennonite background) and have struggled with my sexuality in the past. A website that I found to be extremely helpful is Gay Christian 101. They cover all of the clobber passages in scripture and discuss how they are misquoted. They also talk about a lot of issues that pertain to being both gay and Christian.

 

My Southern Baptist family shipped me off to a straight camp when I was 17. I can tell you all about it, if you really want to hear the horror stories.

- They play with gender roles. Men are taught to talk in a deep voice, play sports and so on. Women are taught to wear dresses, fix their hair and do their makeup, along with cooking and cleaning.

- You have to sit in a group therapy session and confess your personal secrets. Who you like, who you've had sex with, what you did. It's all about shaming you.

- Several times a day you attend a church service where they preach against you and try to scare you with stats about AIDS, suicide, drug abuse and so on. They'll really up the ante near the end by bringing in "Ex-Gays" who weave a tale about their life of horror stories and how they were abused, beaten, raped, were drug addicts, slept with like five people a day and all this, because we all know that's what every gay person in the world does every single day.

It was a nightmare but I survived it. I came back a few weeks later and appeased my family for the last year of high school, and once college came I got the eff out of there. My family and I are okay now, but they still don't fully accept this one portion of my life.

Long story short, hon: DO NOT DO IT. I know what it's like. I was raised very religious too and it took me years to finally accept myself. But at least you're an adult and on your own, so you're better off than most of us who went through that.

 

You seem to be in need of actual therapy which would help you better accept yourself and help to come out to others. Therapy that tries to make you straight does not work and just messes people up by instilling more shame and guilt about their sexuality. Please, under no circumstances should you go.

 

Repairative therapy DOES NOT work. Even the founder of a popular one said so himself. You will be far more depressed and suicidal after going through something like that than how things are now. All they do is try to make you deny who you really are and make you feel absolutely horrible. You will ALWAYS be gay. It is an inborn trait that cannot be changed.

 

hey sweetie, I'm Catholic too. I spent a lot of years in a group called Courage, and attempting various forms of reparative therapy. I just quit Courage in January, so I may be biased, but I am strongly against it.

I'd suggest looking through the information on Home - Beyond Ex-Gay before making any decisions. Also, consider that the APA is against reparative therapy (Resolution on Appropriate Affirmative Responses to Sexual Orientation Distress and Change Efforts).

Yes, we typically go to our priests with everything. But our priests are not necessarily trained in science, or psychology.

God loves you for you. He made you the way you are. They keep saying our cross is to be celibate, but God doesn't call people to be celibate without putting a true desire for complete celibacy in their hearts. So much about what the Church teaches regarding homosexuality just does not add up.

I'm not saying go out there and sleep around with as many people as you can find - it is possible to be gay and still wait for marriage, if that's what you want.

But it's not healthy to try to change a key part of the way God made you. Don't you think, if he wanted us to be straight only, He'd stop making so many of us homosexual? Did you know that the Church used to be pro-segregation, too? And pro-slavery? It hurts, a lot, to realize this - but the Church is not always right. And this time, there are too many valid arguments that tell me the Church is wrong about us, too. We're meant to be here. We're meant to be exactly who and what we are - including our sexuality.

Feel free to message me if you ever need to talk, regardless of what decision you make.

 

I'm sorry you're depressed about this, but please hang in there (*hug*) The problem that needs fixing is the lie that being gay is wrong. The Bible doesn't really say being gay is sinful, but we've been lied to for so long that we believe it. Getting therapy is a good idea to get over the depression that the lies have caused you. There is no valid therapy to change your sexuality and that's not your real issue anyway. Look up GLBT supportive Catholic groups for help too. You can do it :eusa_clap

 

I'm going to have to agree with everyone else, reparative therapy does not work. I can personally attest to that as I've tried it, and I do believe it caused me severe psychological damage. When I was younger and struggling with my sexuality, I used to do a lot a research online about reparative therapy. I had no clue what is until I came across this website called Exodus something, I forget the exact website because it's been years since I've been on there. I used to read the advice that they would give people who were struggling with their sexuality. And I absorbed and believed every word that they were saying because it was a religious organization. I thought, ”This must truly be the word of God.” I wasn't really religious, but I believed in a higher power. However, after reading their opinion about how being gay is a ”choice” etc...I began to hate myself. I hate to reflect on those dark, lonely and self loathing days. But they were the worse days, which turned into years of my life :tears:

Please do not try to change who you are, it will not work. It does more harm than good and I'm living proof. Perhaps, you should try finding a gay friendly church and a priest who will give you legitimate advice. For him to even suggest that is just sickening :eusa_naug

 

Aside from parroting the usual "reparative therapy doesn't work" opinion that you're certain to receive from the gay community, I will go one step forward and illustrate to you why reparative therapy is ineffective. If you're gonna read and take one post seriously in this thread, it's this one, so read it.

Reparative therapy is not real "therapy". It is a pseudoscience that, at best, is an entire waste of money. Unlike conventional psychological or psychiatric therapy, reparative therapy is not a tested & peer-reviewed method found to provide worthy, safe, and effective results. This is the standard to which doctors and psychologists must adhere to when providing care, and reparative therapy does not meet it. In other words, the operators of these centres are pretty much making things up as they go along and telling you it works, to further their agenda and/or get money out of you. I guarantee you will see no results afterward, other than realizing you spent too much time off and too much money for nothing.

I'm going to draw a parallel to something everyone else conventionally regards as ridiculous, so you can see why reparative therapy is a waste of time and money. You may have heard of (and righteously ridiculed) the Scientology practice of Dianetics, a bizarre mix of misused technology with Eastern philosophy. Dianetics is often pushed by Scientologists as an effective alternative to psychiatry when it comes to correcting mental disabilities. The problem is, it isn't effective at all, for the same reasons as reparative therapy. It's untested, unproven, no scientific publication will ever take it seriously, and they practically made the whole thing up just to get your money. In extreme cases, Dianetics has even killed individuals, adding "unsafe" to that large pile of pseudoscientific attributes.

You wouldn't go for Dianetics to treat schizophrenia, any more than you wouldn't go to reparative therapy to treat homosexuality. Now, this is the part where I would suggest real therapy to address your medical issues. But homosexuality isn't a medical issue. How do I know? The same people who deliver peer-reviewed, scientific therapies have long found no connection between pathology and homosexuality. There's nothing wrong with you. You only want to change because your cultural traditions forbid something completely natural.

Take the scientific angle one more step. You have two people here, a psychologist and a priest. The psychologist tells you that the best thing you can do for your mental health is live as yourself. The priest is telling you to get reparative therapy. The psychologist attended almost ten years of schooling taking classes in the sciences and genuine psychological studies. The priest spent the same amount of time interpreting a 2,000 year old document believing everything in it was not to be questioned. Who do you think is more qualified to give you proper advice on this topic?

I rest my case. Go out and enjoy your life. You've got a finite set of years and money. Don't waste either of 'em on bullshit.

 

I'm sorry but you don't have an "issue" you're gay, its no different then your eye colour or if you like the colour blue more then red. You're NORMAL.

 

What do I think about it? I think that it's actually an extreme kind of emotional abuse, and you should treat any attempt to send them against your will as kidnapping. If I ever heard of anyone trying to send their child to something like that, I would involve Child Protective Services and law enforcement. I know you're an adult, but still.

You don't need repaired!