Thank you for the description between sexual identity “therapy,” and sexual identity “ministry.” I appreciate that.

I was also wondering, since you stated that you work outside of your worldview (when answering a question posed by another), would you help an individual “coming out” who is a christian (who feels that his christianity and same-sex attractions are not in conflict), actualize his potentials as a gay man? Assisting him as he navigates through the “coming out” process, etc…with his christian family?

It’s a difficult situation, and I’m wondering your thoughts.

I think you will begin to see a shift of those in the ministry camps from that of it is not genetic to there may be dimensions of sexuality that are genetic. I have seen a shift – slow, small but it is beginning. I doubt we will see a full swing until science unquestionably provides information either way. From my perspective, homosexuality, as well as many variations of sexuality, are a bit both nature/nurture.

Yep – we all go about our business doing either the best we can or not and letting others make decisions that are not always (in our own view) the best ones. We can advise, counsel, provide information from our experience etc… but ultimately people will decide what action they will take. Some days I just shake my head and do my job. God must do what God does – taking people on the path he decides (or they decide) not me, not you, not anyone else decides that for a person.

I’m glad you made this post, because it is exactly what i was thinking about, were a therapy to become reparative or conversional in a religious ministry settting. Exodus is wedded to NARTH reparative therapies at this point, the defective-daddy/masterful-mother principal. They have ministerial meetings which delve into these reparative attributes in a group therapy setting.

So does this mean that Exodus should completely revamp its ministries? Cohen seems to have been a sign-post in thar respect. Should a counselor/therapist/psychologist/pscychiatrist turn their secular scientific knowledge into a ministerial activity? Well, yes, of course they should. But the when it comes to homosexuality we seemingly have problems…. like Richard Cohen. We have a religious dogma driving a ministerial objective through the use of psychological practice.

In such a ministry we get people wedded to a dogmatic understanding that seems to be unscientific or at most only partly scientifically correct (in maybe 3-5% of cases). At the very least it denies the very real personal testimonies (subjective and anecdotal though they may be) in which homosexuality cannot be denied as most basic to a person’s psyche.

But at the same time it is an APA point of consideration that deeply-held religious principals are not delusional. Is the idea that homosexuality has no natural aspect, no innate quality, nor an intrinsically natural quality of which the person cannot divorces themself, a belief to be deeply held and not delusional in terms of the APA. So does that give the ministry/therapist an out as long as the person holds that belief? A therapist doesn’t have the right or even the obligation to tell the person that he is likely wrong?

In those terms what else can the APA do? Ministries and therputic counselors seem to be too closely wedded. Psychologists should not be inculcating themselves in ex-gay ministries, it messes with their objectivity.