Finally, some clarity on “conversion” therapy

A must-listen interview! Click here to hear Stella break down what “conversion” therapy is and isn’t.

The proposals for the ban on conversion therapy rumble on in the UK and Ireland. They’re so saturated with bland assumptions that it’s almost impossible to work out what they actually mean. 

However, the Irish Times chose to shine a light on this mess by publishing an article by three experts in the field, Madeleine Ní Dhálaigh, GP, Jacky Grainger and Genspect director, Stella O’Malley. In this piece, the difficulties with conflating sexual orientation and gender identity are exposed:

“If therapists are fearful of accusations of “conversion” therapy, first the majority won’t work in the area of gender and, second, there will be no chance for gender-questioning clients of this age to explore or be challenged. No room for growth, no time for reflection or self-discovery. The result of which would be a rigidity most alien to both effective psychological therapy and every single child development model that has ever existed. It is bad practice. As ethical therapists and clinicians, we should not support it.”

Stella then went on Newstalk FM to discuss the many issues relating to this proposed ban on conversion therapy, with a long and detailed conversation with broadcaster Sean Moncrieff. For anyone who is seeking to understand the issues with these proposed bans on conversion therapy and how a better, more in-depth document is necessary to protect the integrity of the therapeutic process, this is the interview to listen to. 

“Conversion therapy” is an emotive phrase. At the most extreme end, images of invasive electroshock treatments come to mind; and even in its subtler guises, the idea of “converting” someone out of homosexuality is profoundly unsettling. After all, the gay rights movement centered on the idea that gay people should be accepted as they are, not according to someone else’s idea of who they should be.

But the retooled idea of expanding bans on conversion therapy to cover gender identity is something which has far less public understanding. And even the implications for therapists are often unclear. 

Therapeutic support has its place within therapy. Therapists affirm their clients every working day. They affirm their thoughts, their beliefs, the validity of their emotions, the depth of their emotion but ethical therapy provides more than support; within the heart of good therapy is an effective therapeutic process. 

This means that qualified, competent, and ethical therapists provide their clients with opportunities to explore their inner psyche, to build self-awareness and to become more aware of impediments to progress. As Stella points out, if a young teenage client is repressing a burgeoning sexual identity with a gender identity, then it might be very valuable for the therapist to explore this issue – especially if an underlying internalized homophobia is driving the individual. 

At the heart of many therapeutic models is the notion of exploration. The current, newly developed gender affirmative approach is necessary but not sufficient. We need to make sure therapists are able to provide their clients with the opportunity for a therapeutic process rather than simply nodding along with everything they say.