History and Iatrogenic Effects of Conversion Therapy
Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, Jan 17, 2024
Research indicates that sexual orientation change efforts (SOCEs) are not effective and furthermo... more Research indicates that sexual orientation change efforts (SOCEs) are not effective and furthermore commonly lead to iatrogenic effects such as depression, anxiety, and even suicide. Negative attitudes toward homosexuality derive from most formal religions and are incarnated in medical and psychological theories that support and encourage SOCEs. Oppression of sexual minorities makes it unlikely that change requests by patients are voluntary. Recently there has been a dramatic change as the field moves from reparative to affirmative approaches. Here, we review the history of SOCEs, their consequences, current affirmative treatments, and future directions in the field as they pertain to the well-being of the queer community. From an institutional community psychology perspective, we argue that even if true conversion were possible, such efforts are unethical and should not be pursued even if requested. As is the case with all psychological/psychiatric interventions, the issue is not "can" but "ought."
E.O Fisher et al. (Eds.) Principles and Concepts of Behavioral Medicine: A Global Handbook, 2018
In this chapter we have presented some ideas about values issues that permeate behavioral medicin... more In this chapter we have presented some ideas about values issues that permeate behavioral medicine and allied health-related fields in ways that are not always fully acknowledged but that nonetheless influence what we study, how we conceptualize the world, and how we intervene into the lives of others. Thedomains we have examined in some detail – longevity, quality of life, suicide, euthanasia, and global and cross-cultural issues in research and practice – are but a few of the issues that we believe should be considered when professionals presume or are asked to help people make changes.
W.H. O'Donohue & A. Masuda (eds.). Behavior Therapy, 2022
A review of the author's contributions over the past 50+ years to the development of behavior the... more A review of the author's contributions over the past 50+ years to the development of behavior therapy and cognitive behavior therapy. Themes include cognitive restructuring of a paranoid delusion, arguing for agency in deep muscle relaxation and in countercontrol, attribution in the maintenance of behavior change, perceived as contrasted with actual control, integrating humanistic elements into CBT, the complexities of the science-practice dialectic, calling attention to the essential phenomenological nature of CBT, providing insights into therapists’ thinking through a pedagogical innovation in explaining clinical applications, social constructivism in clinical assessment, innovating with a laboratory-based think-aloud cognitive assessment paradigm, and the ethics and politics of conversion therapy for gay people.
Research indicates that sexual orientation change efforts (SOCEs) are not effective and furthermo... more Research indicates that sexual orientation change efforts (SOCEs) are not effective and furthermore commonly lead to iatrogenic effects such as depression, anxiety, and even suicide. Negative attitudes toward homosexuality derive from most formal religions and are incarnated in medical and psychological theories that support and encourage SOCEs. Oppression of sexual minorities makes it unlikely that change requests by patients are voluntary. Recently there has been a dramatic change as the field moves from reparative to affirmative approaches. Here, we review the history of SOCEs, their consequences, current affirmative treatments, and future directions in the field as they pertain to the well-being of the queer community. From an institutional community psychology perspective, we argue that even if true conversion were possible, such efforts are unethical and should not be pursued even if requested. As is the case with all psychological/psychiatric interventions, the issue is not "can" but "ought."
To the best of our knowledge, this report is the 1st to recognize the advantages of employing bot... more To the best of our knowledge, this report is the 1st to recognize the advantages of employing both classical and operant conditioning procedures in the treatment of a neurotic case. A model which appeared to have heuristic value was developed: When avoidance behavior is motivated by high levels of anxiety, classical counterconditioning techniques are called for; when anxiety is minimal, and avoidance behavior is seemingly maintained by various secondary reinforcers, operant strategies should be applied. Furthermore, this paper indicates that the practice of interchanging therapists not only failed to disrupt or impede therapeutic progress but had certain distinct advantages.
In diesem Buch haben wir immer wieder angedeutet, das bei der Durchfuhrung von Verhaltenstherapie... more In diesem Buch haben wir immer wieder angedeutet, das bei der Durchfuhrung von Verhaltenstherapie auch ethische Erwagungen angestellt werden mussen. In diesem Kapitel nun wollen wir den Versuch unternehmen, einige Fragen herauszugreifen, die unserer Ansicht nach in diesem Zusammenhang von besonderer Bedeutung sind.
Differential Relaxation and Cognitive Restructuring in Therapy with a "Paranoid Schizophrenic" or "Paranoid State
PsycEXTRA Dataset, 1966
To the extent that a psychiatric case is con-sidered qualitatively different from so-called nor-m... more To the extent that a psychiatric case is con-sidered qualitatively different from so-called nor-mals, afflicted with organic and/or psychic diseases which underlie the observable deviant behavior, one might tend to overlook in therapy the various pro-cedures in general ...
Part One: Introduction and Basic Issues 1. Introduction: Historical and Scientific Considerations... more Part One: Introduction and Basic Issues 1. Introduction: Historical and Scientific Considerations 2. Current Paradigms in Psychopathology and Therapy 3. Classification and Diagnosis 4. Clinical Assessment Procedures 5. Research Methods in the Study of Abnormal Behavior Part Two: Psychological Disorders 6. Anxiety Disorders 7. Somatoform and Dissociative Disorders 8. Psychophysiological Disorders and Health Psychology 9. Eating Disorders 10. Mood Disorders 11. Schizophrenia 12. Substance Use Disorders 13. Personality Disorders 14. Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Part Three: Life-Span Developmental Disorders 15. Disorders of Childhood 16. Aging and Psychological Disorders Part Four: Intervention and Legal and Ethical Issues 17. Outcomes and Issues in Psychological Intervention 18. Legal and Ethical Issues.
The present paper is a conceptual analysis and empirical review of research using the Articulated... more The present paper is a conceptual analysis and empirical review of research using the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (Davison et al. in Cogn Ther Res 7(1): 17-39, 1983) paradigm, a think-aloud cognitive assessment approach that is intended to capture ongoing thinking in an analogue, controlled environment of considerable interpersonal complexity. From an examination of over 25 years of the paradigm's usage and in light of comments from scores of ATSS users, we have expanded upon and updated an earlier review (Davison et al. in J Consult Clin Psychol 65(6): 950-958, 1997). In addition to an empirical update, we describe the ATSS in greater methodological and psychometric detail, highlight its strengths and discuss its weaknesses, address some practical concerns, and comment on the evidence accumulated from the close to 70 studies employing the paradigm. We conclude that the ATSS paradigm is useful in assessing complex cognitions in a variety of investigator-controlled situations.
An article by Eubanks-Carter, Burckell, and Goldfried (this issue) provides a variety of gay-affi... more An article by Eubanks-Carter, Burckell, and Goldfried (this issue) provides a variety of gay-affirmative suggestions about what psychotherapists should know about the gay and lesbian experience if they are to be humane and effective mental health helpers. In the present article I offer several critiques and comments on issues and nonissues pertaining to the analysis and conduct of psychological assessment and intervention with homosexual and bisexual individuals. These issues include (a) the unlikelihood of voluntariness in requests for sexual reorientation, given the prejudice against gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) people; (b) the biases inherent in psychological assessment viewed as a constructionist enterprise; (c) the minor importance of biological theories of sexual orientation in prejudice and discrimination; (d) the hidden negative biases against homosexuality in presumably gay-positive changes in earlier versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM); and (e) the irrelevance of sexual conversion effectiveness in the politics and ethics of efforts to direct sexual preference from the homosexual to the heterosexual.
This text continues to be one of the most current, authoritative overviews of the theories and re... more This text continues to be one of the most current, authoritative overviews of the theories and research in psychopathology and intervention. Its widely praised scientific clinical approach blends the clinical and empirical/experimental as the authors examine each disorder from multiple perspectives. The text emphasizes different paradigms with a particular emphasis on the diathesis-stress paradigm as necessary for understanding most psychopathologies.
Attentional dysfunction is commonly found in depressed individuals in the form of impairment on m... more Attentional dysfunction is commonly found in depressed individuals in the form of impairment on measures of selective attention as well as attentional biases for negative information. Although a relationship between nonvalenced and valenced aspects of attention has been suggested based on theory, functional neuroanatomy, and studies in other populations, this relationship has not been explicitly explored in depressed individuals. A total of 91 individuals who were currently depressed, formerly depressed, or never depressed completed tasks assessing neuropsychological functioning and attentional bias. Depression status was associated with decreased selective attention (but not set shifting) and stronger attention biases. Selective attention was also found to mediate the relationship between group status and attentional bias, but only in currently depressed individuals. These findings suggest depression is associated with specific impairments in attention and moreover that impairments in nonvalenced aspects of attention are associated with attentional bias to valenced stimuli in currently depressed individuals.
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Papers by Gerald Davison
study, how we conceptualize the world, and how we intervene into the lives of others. Thedomains we have examined in some detail –
longevity, quality of life, suicide, euthanasia, and global and cross-cultural
issues in research and practice – are but a few of the issues that we believe should be considered when professionals presume or are asked to help people make changes.
for agency in deep muscle relaxation and in countercontrol, attribution in the maintenance of behavior change, perceived as contrasted with actual control, integrating humanistic elements into CBT, the complexities of the science-practice dialectic, calling attention to the essential phenomenological nature of CBT, providing insights into therapists’ thinking through a pedagogical innovation in explaining
clinical applications, social constructivism in clinical assessment, innovating with a laboratory-based think-aloud cognitive assessment paradigm, and the ethics and politics of conversion therapy for gay people.