Reparative Therapy or Conversion Therapy – Position Statement
As a licensed professional counselor in the State of Arizona, I employ best practices and work within all ethical and legal requirements when providing treatment to individuals seeking my therapeutic services. I do not engage in therapy practices that are manipulative, aversive, oppressive, or compulsory in any way. I do not coerce or attempt to convince a client to make changes they do not want, or address issues that they do not want to address. These principles apply whether the client is an adult or a minor. I follow the APA guidelines to provide “client-directed” counseling services and follow this standard for all clients.
At the beginning of my career, I was uncertain what to call my attachment approach and, at times, used the term reparative therapy. However, after consulting with various colleagues, I realized this approach has always been attachment-focused therapy. Since this realization many years ago, I have been careful to accurately describe my approach to counseling, which is not in any way “reparative” or “conversion” or any form of SOCE. All of the therapists at Family Strategies Counseling Center (including myself) provide inclusive and non-biased “attachment-focused” counseling for a variety of therapeutic issues.