Reparative therapy (Moberly, Nicolosi)

Domain XVI · Historical, discredited & harmful · Elizabeth Moberly, Joseph Nicolosi · 1980

What it is

"Reparative therapy" is a form of sexual orientation change effort (SOCE) built on a developmental theory that same-sex attraction arises from an incomplete identification with the same-sex parent. Elizabeth Moberly, writing in the early 1980s (her works include Homosexuality: A New Christian Ethic…

Format

• Length follows the client's needs; no fixed session count applies. Format is individual, with family or couple sessions by the client's choice (and, for minors, within safeguarding rules).
• What the professional and international bodies state: the APA's 2021 resolution finds "no evidence of sexual orientation change" and reports that former participants describe the experience as harmful, with a study of LGBTQ young people linking change efforts to suicide attempts. The APA 2009 Task…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• 2026: On 31 March 2026 the US Supreme Court ruled 8–1 in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado's conversion-therapy law, as applied to a counsellor's talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint; it reversed the lower courts, which had not applied sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny, and sent the case back (SCOTUSblog; NPR). Its effect on other states' laws is.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• What the professional and international bodies state: the APA's 2021 resolution finds "no evidence of sexual orientation change" and reports that former participants describe the experience as harmful, with a study of LGBTQ young people linking change efforts to suicide attempts. The APA 2009 Task…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Covert or renamed change work.
• Consent that is really a family's, not the client's.
• Rising hopelessness; financial exploitation (see 4.19).
• Re-traumatisation through proceedings; burnout from advocacy.
• Over-identification with a survivor's anger or with a family's faith position.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.