Gay can be cured

Conversion therapy has proven ineffective at best and harmful at worst, yet for those whose religious beliefs forbid homosexuality or who believe that being LGBTQ makes life too difficult, what. Joseph Nicolosi, a psychologist in Encino, Calif., says he can rid adults, teens, and even children of homosexuality.

For nearly 30 years, he has offered a "psychodynamic" form of reparative therapy for people — mostly men — seeking to change their sexual orientation. Can Psychiatrists Really "Cure" Homosexuality? Masters and Johnson claimed to convert gays to heterosexuality in a book. But did they?. Studies consistently show higher rates of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse among LGBTQ+ individuals.

But why? It’s not because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. No, the culprit is far more insidious: societal stigma and discrimination.

Openly gay men and women were banned from serving in the U.S. military. If a gay person in the military came out or was outed by someone else, they could be court-martialed and discharged. Christian Pastor Peresvetov claims religion can cure gay "perversion". Controversial "treatments" by psychotherapists and preachers are being offered to gay people in Russia. BBC Russian heard accounts of so-called cures, after it emerged that gay men were being persecuted in Chechnya, a mainly Muslim republic in southern Russia.

On Tuesday German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had asked Vladimir Putin to "use his influence to protect the rights of minorities", referring to the reports from Chechnya. Homosexuality is not officially considered a mental disorder in Russia. But homophobia is common - not only in Chechnya.

Studies consistently show higher

Russia removed homosexuality from its list of recognised psychiatric conditions in - after the US had done so in and the World Health Organization in Globally, scientists do not recognise any "treatment" of homosexuality as effective or required. Psychotherapist Yan Goland, from the city of Nizhny Novgorod, says he has "cured" 78 gay and eight transsexual people using a method developed in the Soviet Union by his teacher, Nikolai Ivanov.

He told the BBC that the "treatment" lasted between eight and 18 months, and longer for transsexuals. The patient is filled with hope that we can help, and understands they need to be treated," he said. In the first stage, he aims to "extinguish" the individual's same-sex attraction. The hypnotherapy sessions can last up to eight hours. He also uses a mixture of psychoanalysis and identity therapy as a way of influencing a person's dreams.

The second stage is meant to forge an attraction to the opposite sex. He prompts his male patients to sexually objectify the women around them. Step three, Mr Goland says, involves sex with members of the opposite sex. Yuri, 40, says he underwent the psychotherapist's "treatment" in the early s, wanting to "wake up and be on the right path", but ended up with his sex drive in tatters.

It was catastrophic, if I'm honest. Mr Goland is now 80 and says he is still "treating" people. Chechen police 'torturing gay men'. Russia's mixed messages on LGBT. Anti-gay drive evicts Russian teacher. There are claims that hypnosis can help some people struggling with their sexuality. A Russian web search on "how to cure homosexuality" brings up various websites offering online consultations with doctors.

The Nikitenko brothers describe themselves as "psycho-hypnologists" and offer a two-month course of audio-hypnosis. Nikolai Nikitenko believes homosexuality is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD. A guy from Vladivostok called me: he's 18 and said he was worrying for nine hours a day about becoming gay.

Their hypnotherapy aims to de-stress the patient and teach them the "right ways to behave and react". The brothers boast they have already "treated" seven gay people who wanted to be straight and say there is "no chance of them relapsing". But there are doctors in Russia with views closer to those of Western specialists and scientists worldwide. Attempts to change your sexual orientation through psychotherapy can be damaging, he warned.