Conversion Therapy Is Harm—And We Need to Stop Pretending Otherwise

Let’s be clear from the start: Conversion therapy is not therapy. It is harm dressed up as care.

And yet, here we are—watching a Supreme Court decision reopen the door to a practice that has already been discredited by every major medical and mental health organization.

What Just Happened

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled against a state-level ban on conversion therapy for minors, framing the issue as one of free speech rather than clinical harm.

This matters, because it shifts the conversation away from evidence-based care and toward ideology—where harmful practices can be defended as “expression.”

What Conversion Therapy Actually Is

Conversion therapy—also called “reparative therapy”—includes any attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

It is based on a premise that is not clinically supported: that LGBTQ+ identities are pathological or need correction. That premise alone puts it in direct conflict with every major professional body in mental health.

This Is Not a Debate. The Research Is Clear.

Conversion therapy has been widely condemned because of its documented psychological harm.

Research consistently shows that individuals who undergo conversion therapy experience:

• significantly higher rates of depression

• increased suicidality

• internalized shame and self-hatred

• long-term trauma symptoms

In one large study, exposure to conversion efforts was associated with more than double the rate of suicide attempts compared to those who did not experience such interventions (Turban et al., 2020). Another study found that individuals subjected to these practices report long-lasting psychological distress and identity fragmentation (Ryan et al., 2020).

Let’s Call It What It Actually Is

Conversion therapy is not about healing; it is about enforcing conformity, suppressing identity and prioritizing social comfort over individual well-being. bAnd when it is applied to minors, it becomes even more dangerous - now we are dealing with developmental vulnerability, power imbalance, identity formation under coercion, and societal gaslighting our youth into believing they are inherently wrong.

The Problem With Framing This as “Speech”

When a clinician tells a client: “who you are is wrong”, “you need to change to be acceptable”, that is psychological harm delivered through authority. It has nothing to do with protecting free speech and everything to do with protecting harmful practices.

As a Therapist—Let’s Be Clear

As a therapist - let's be clear: there is no ethical framework that supports attempting to change a client’s sexual orientation,

framing identity as pathology or reinforcing shame as a therapeutic tool. Major organizations—including the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry—have explicitly rejected these practices due to lack of efficacy and risk of harm (American Psychological Association, 2009; AACAP, 2018).

The impact is not abstract, and this is not about politics. This is about ethics. When harmful practices can be protected under the guise of “speech,” we are no longer protecting clients.

We are protecting harm.

References

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (2018). Conversion therapy. https://www.aacap.org

American Psychological Association. (2009). Report of the American Psychological Association task force on appropriate therapeutic responses to sexual orientation. https://www.apa.org

Ryan, C., Toomey, R. B., Diaz, R. M., & Russell, S. T. (2020). Parent-initiated sexual orientation change efforts with LGBT adolescents: Implications for young adult mental health and adjustment. Journal of Homosexuality, 67(2), 159–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2018.1538407

Turban, J. L., Beckwith, N., Reisner, S. L., & Keuroghlian, A. S. (2020). Association between recalled exposure to gender identity conversion efforts and psychological distress and suicide attempts among transgender adults. JAMA Psychiatry, 77(1), 68–76. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2285