Don't Forsake Homosexuals Who Want Help
By Charles Socarides, Benjamin Kaufman, Joseph Nicolosi, Jeffrey Satinover
and Richard Fitzgibbons
Reprinted from Letters to the Editor, Wall
Street Journal, January 9, 1997. © 1997 by the
National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH),
founded in 1992, is composed of psychoanalysts, psychoanalytically-informed
psychologists, certified social workers, and other behavioral scientists, as
well as laymen in fields such as law, religion, and education.
Suppose that a young man, seeking help for a psychological condition that was
associated with serious health risks and made him desperately unhappy were to be
told by the professional he consulted that no treatment is available, that his
condition is permanent and genetically based, and that he must learn to live
with it. Perhaps this young man, unwilling to give up hope, sought out other
specialists only to receive the same message: "Nothing can be done for you.
Accept your condition."
How would this man and his family feel when they discovered years later that
numerous therapeutic approaches have been available for his specific problem for
more than 60 years? What would be his reaction when informed that, although none
of these approaches guaranteed results and most required a long period of
treatment, a patient who was willing to follow a proven treatment regime had a
good chance of being free from the condition? How would this man feel if he
discovered that the reason he was not informed that treatment for his condition
was available was that certain groups were, for political reasons, pressuring
professionals to deny that effective treatment existed?
Every day young men seek help because they are experiencing an unwanted sexual
attraction to other men, and are told that their condition is untreatable. It is
not surprising that many of these young men fall into depression or despair when
they are informed that a normal life with a wife and children is never to be
theirs.
This despair can lead to reckless and life-threatening actions. Many young men
with homosexual inclinations, feeling their lives are of little value, are
choosing to engage in unprotected sex with strangers. Epidemiologists are well
aware that the number of new HIV infections among young men involved in
homosexual activity is rising at an alarming rate; within this population, the
"safer sex" message is falling on deaf ears. One recent study revealed that 38%
of homosexual adolescents had engaged in unprotected sex in the previous six
months.
Young men and the parents of at-risk males have a right to know that prevention
and effective treatment are available. They have a right to expect that every
professional they consult will inform them of all their therapeutic options and
allow them to make their own choices based on the best clinical evidence. A
variety of studies have shown that between 25% and 50% of those seeking
treatment experienced significant improvement. If a therapist feels for whatever
reason that he cannot treat someone of this condition, he has an obligation to
refer the patient to someone who will.
Also, these young men and their parents have the right to know that, contrary to
media propaganda, there is no proven biological basis for homosexuality. A
November 1995 article in Scientific American pointed out that the
much-publicized brain research by Simon Le Vay has never been replicated and
that Dean Hamer's gene study has been contradicted by another study.
The truth is that the clinical experience of many therapists who work with men
struggling with same-sex attractions and behaviors indicates that there are many
causes and various manifestations of homosexuality. No single category describes
them all, but the disorder is characterized by a constellation of symptoms,
including excessive clinging to the mother during early childhood, a sense that
one's masculinity is defective, and powerful feelings of guilt, shame and
inferiority beginning in adolescence.
If the emotional desire for another man is primarily a symptom of the failure to
develop a strong masculine identity, then a man's unconscious desire to assume
the manhood of another male may be more important than the sexual act. The goal
of therapy in such cases is to help the clients understand the various causes of
his feelings and to strengthen his masculine identify. It has been our clinical
experience that as these men become more comfortable and confident with their
manhood, same-sex attractions decrease significantly. Eventually many find the
freedom they are seeking and are able to have normal relationships with women.
Help is available for men struggling with unwanted homosexual desires. The
National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuality offers
information for those interested in understanding the various therapeutic
approaches to treatment. In addition, a number of self-help groups have sprung
up to offer support to those who suffer from this problem.
As we grieve for all those lives so abruptly ended by AIDS, we would do well to
reflect that many of the young men who have died of AIDS have sought treatment
for their homosexuality and were denied knowledge and hope. Many of them would
be alive today if they had only been told where to find the help they sought.
Dr. Socarides is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Albert
Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Kaufman is a clinical professor of psychiatry
at the University of California, Davis. Mr. Nicolosi is director of a clinic in
Encino, Calif. Dr. Satinover is a Westport, Conn., psychiatrist. Dr. Fitzgibbons
is director of a clinic in West Conshohocken, PA.
Copyright © NARTH. All Rights Reserved.
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