Tag: george rekers

Reparative therapy information page

A reminder: I have a page dedicated to an examination of evidence for reparative therapy. More accurately, the page addresses the flaws of the theory and finds it inadequate as a general theory of same-sex attraction.
Here is a sampling:

Posts on the theory
Reparative therapy for females – Discounts Janelle Hallman’s thesis that lesbians do not have “selves.”
Father – Son estrangement – This brief post quotes research on father-son relationships in general and how that relates to the thesis that male homosexuals have poor relationships with their fathers. Straights have such poor relationships too.
Queer theories for the straight guise
Many people want to know why they experience same-sex attraction. Reparative drive theory provides a narrative but it may not be correct. In Why Do I Have These Feelings? I examine how this pressure for a narrative may be misleading.
Masculinity and reparative therapy
Mankind Project clarifies stance on reparative therapy – Reparative therapists often refer clients to activities and groups which promise to enhance masculinity as a means of reducing same-sex attractions. Macho Man group Mankind Project clarifies that the New Warriors Training Adventure is not a form of reparative therapy.

I have not included some of the recent posts or articles off the site, such as this one at Huffington Post on the use of the discredited research by George Rekers by Joseph Nicolosi, but will over the next several weeks. For now, I hope this is a useful resource.

Sissy Boy Experiment, Part 3 – Nicolosi defends reparative therapy

In this segment, Ryan Kendall, former reparative therapyclient, alleges that he was mistreated by Joseph Nicolosi. For his part, Nicolosi can’t remember Kendall. CNN’s Randi Kaye produces bills and documentation from the clinic but Nicolosi can’t recall the sessions. This is a component of the segment that I wanted to know more about.

Column at HuffPo: Experts and Homosexuality: Don't Try This at Home

Huffington Post just published my op-ed about the Kirk Murphy story featured at Box Turtle Bulletin and CNN. Part 3 of the series on CNN wraps up tonight with former reparative therapy client, Ryan Kendall, and his former therapist (according to Kendall) Joseph Nicolosi.
Here is the first few paragraphs, go on over to HuffPo and give the rest a read:

Last week, Chuck Colson used his Breakpoint radio show and column to promote the theory that one can prevent homosexuality by altering parent-child relations. To prevent male homosexuality, Colson wrote, “early intervention, in which the boy’s father learns how to be both strong and caring, will interrupt an unhealthy mother-son bond.” In other words, according to Colson, troublesome parent-child relationships are at the root of homosexuality.
Colson based his program on a book by Joseph and Linda Nicolosi, titled A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality. In their book, the Nicolosis assert that gender norms should be reinforced and fathers should help boys develop a strong sense of masculinity. In his talks on the subject, Nicolosi says that fathers and mothers play differently with their children and he lauds the rougher manner of fathers. For instance, in a 2006 talk on the roots of male homosexuality, I heard Nicolosi describe how some fathers playfully toss their infant sons in the air. Nicolosi then joked that if the father did not catch his son and the infant fell and cracked his head, that the son might have brain damage, “but at least he won’t be gay.”

CNN: Sissy Boy Experiment, Part 2; Nicolosi to be on tonight

At the end of Part 2 posted below, Ryan Kendall was on giving a preview of his appearance in Part 3 of the Sissy Boy series, on tonight. After Kendall was on, Anderson Cooper said that Kendall’s therapist would also be on. According to Kendall, his therapist was Joe Nicolosi. We’ll see…
Here is Part 2 of the series:

You can read some of Kendall’s testimony in the Prop 8 CA gay marriage case here.