The Feminine Boy Project (UCLA)

Domain XVI · Historical, discredited & harmful · George Rekers, Lovaas · 1970 · Los Angeles

What it is

"The Feminine Boy Project" is the name used for 1970s research and treatment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) that tried to make young boys judged too "feminine" behave in more conventionally masculine ways. The name as a formal project title is. CNN's 2011 series described it as…

Format

• Phases of the psychotherapist's work. Session number and length follow the client's needs and the setting.
• Format: individual therapy is the default. Family or couple sessions only at the client's request and with their consent. Child and family work only under safeguarding frameworks.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• "The Feminine Boy Project" is the name used for 1970s research and treatment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) that tried to make young boys judged too "feminine" behave in more conventionally masculine ways. The name as a formal project title is. CNN's 2011 series described it as a government-funded UCLA programme. The series called George Rekers "the man behind the therapy" and said the programme…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• The APA found "no evidence of sexual orientation change" from these efforts. It states that transgender and nonbinary identities are "normal variations" and opposes efforts to force conformity to rigid gender identities.

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?
• 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

• Pressure from advocacy groups or family. It's working when decisions are paced and owned by the client.
• Information used to intellectualise grief. It's working when the client's self-blaming statements soften.
• Legal timelines driving the pace of therapy. It's working when the client's choice is informed and paced.
• Your own assumptions about religion. It's working when the client can hold both identities with less conflict.
• Treating the history as a closed chapter. It's working when trainees can spot similar risks in current practice.

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.