Reparative therapy and beliefs in the practice of clinical psychology: A systematic review

Abstract

Reparative therapy, popularly called 'gay cure', is based on the justification that every lesbian, bisexual, homosexual or transsexual person suffers from a disorder. Such irregular practices motivated by beliefs that pathologize the LGBT population are still identified. For this reason, this study aimed to investigate the beliefs and attitudes of psychology professionals about the use of reparative therapy in clinical practice with the LGBT population. A systematic literature review was performed, using a string 'LGBT' OR 'LGB' AND 'reparative therapy' OR 'beliefs' in the SciELO database; and 'LGBT' OR 'LGB' AND 'reparative therapy' OR 'beliefs' in Scopus and PubMed databases. A total of 339 productions were found, with the final analysis bank consisting of four articles. The results showed predominantly ideological and/ or religious beliefs that favor reparative therapy. More studies are needed that seek to understand what leads to the unpreparedness of professionals in relation to the LGBT population and the consequences of reparative therapy, mainly, in the national scenario. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)