From Allies of “Conversion Therapy” to Accomplices of Justice: Invited Concluding Comment to the C&BP Special Series

Abstract

This special feature of Cognitive and Behavioral Practice serves to remind psychological scientists and other mental health clinicians of the importance of understanding our responsibilities in the field with specific reference to sexual orientation and gender identity “conversion therapy” efforts: from considering our ethical responsibilities in our practice (Davison) to understanding the widespread iatrogenic impacts of “conversion therapy” practice in all its subtleties (Anderson et al.), from staying abreast of the contemporary anti-LGBTQ+ talking points (Haldeman) to understanding how this rhetoric targets specific subpopulations in the U.S. currently (Hope & Puckett). We conclude this special series by reminding the reader that structures within our institutions and day-to-day functioning uphold and foster an unethical and iatrogenic practice. We point out the need to be alert. Clinical psychological science is not value-free. Pretending that it is serves the obfuscation of scientific findings and equips scholars who hold vested interests in seeing the dangerous practice of “conversion therapy” legitimized and disseminated in a larger scale.