Despite a long history of viewing homosexuality as pathological and in need of change, the majority of mental health professions have, during the past 30 years, adopted statements that have depathologized lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. However, concurrent with these advances has been a rise in religious and therapeutic approaches to sexual reorientation (conversion or “reparative”) therapies. Recent scholarship highlights these controversies and the benefits and harms experienced by clients who have sought such interventions. This major contribution extends extant scholarship to include predisposing environmental and personality variables that lead same-sex attracted individuals in religious conflict to conversion therapies, an understanding of the journey to and through such therapies, and clinical implications and recommendations for working with these clients in a manner that does not contribute to further conflict.
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