Conversion hypnosis

Domain XVI · Historical, discredited & harmful · Krafft-Ebing, Albert von Schrenck-Notzing · 1895 · Munich

What it is

Conversion hypnosis is the use of hypnosis or hypnotic suggestion with the aim of changing a person's sexual orientation (in nineteenth-century terms, "contrary sexual instinct") and, in present-day variants, gender identity. It is a conversion practice and is not recommended. Its proponents held…

Format

• Phases of the psychotherapist's work. Session counts and durations are not fixed; pacing follows risk and the client's goals.
• Version followed: the historical record of hypnotic "treatment" of homosexuality in Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis (Chaddock's English translation, Project Gutenberg eBook 64931), Schrenck-Notzing's Therapeutic Suggestion in Psychopathia Sexualis (Chaddock's translation, 1895) and Roper…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Phase 5: Advocacy, reporting and follow-up. Goal: support any complaint or legal route the client chooses, close therapy with a relapse and crisis plan, and act on duties toward any practitioner still offering the practice.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Today's professional and international bodies state the opposite of those claims. The APA's updated resolution states that research supports the conclusion that there is "no evidence of sexual orientation change". The UN Independent Expert reports "there is no sound scientific evidence that innate…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• 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?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• 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

• depression; self-blame; pressure to forgive before ready.
• intergenerational shame; activation of the client's own experiences.
• compliance rather than choice; dissociation; mistrust surfacing later.
• your own beliefs leaking in; fear of losing community; spiritual abuse themes.
• services that present change or "suppression" as an option under another name.

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.