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One more example...teen boot camps are a popular form of therapy in which teens are subjected to military like conditions. FL banned them after a teen collapsed after being forced to exercise past his endurance. To date, 31 teens have died in these camps, but FL is the only state with a ban.
Teen boot camps are also not a particularly regulated industry, there are no studies of their efficacy (you don't want to know the number of kids who came to treatment with me after the promises the camps made to the parents about improved symptoms and functioning never happened, 20K later). I hate boot camps with a passion and vehemently recommend against them in favor of evidence-based treatments. However, I also do not think they should be banned. Regulated? Yes. Held accountable? Yes. I guess this is my issue - people can and do choose ineffective and harmful treatments. Where the line is drawn, and by whom, for what ineffective and harmful treatments a parent can choose for the child is a legitimate question, to my mind. Educating families about snake oil salesmen is something I fully support, as well as statements being issued by professional organizations.
It's somewhat different with "reparative therapies" in that there is a body of scientific evidence that outlines the specific harm done by the treatment itself. Again, please don't think I am supporting their existence - I just don't know that I agree with the idea of banning at the level of government. I think the case made for the treatment itself being abusive can be strong, and thus banning on that basis.
Last edited by eastwesteastagain; 10-01-2012 at 12:24 PM..
I think the same could be said of anything that actually causes harm though. Domain experts whether they be the APA, CDC, or whomever surely have the prerogative to seek to ban or limit therapies, be they psychotherapies, surgery, or pharmacological agents, that cause harm.
I think the same could be said of anything that actually causes harm though. Domain experts whether they be the APA, CDC, or whomever surely have the prerogative to seek to ban or limit therapies, be they psychotherapies, surgery, or pharmacological agents, that cause harm.
Teen boot camps are also not a particularly regulated industry, there are no studies of their efficacy (you don't want to know the number of kids who came to treatment with me after the promises the camps made to the parents about improved symptoms and functioning never happened, 20K later). I hate boot camps with a passion and vehemently recommend against them in favor of evidence-based treatments. However, I also do not think they should be banned. Regulated? Yes. Held accountable? Yes. I guess this is my issue - people can and do choose ineffective and harmful treatments. Where the line is drawn, and by whom, for what ineffective and harmful treatments a parent can choose for the child is a legitimate question, to my mind. Educating families about snake oil salesmen is something I fully support, as well as statements being issued by professional organizations.
It's somewhat different with "reparative therapies" in that there is a body of scientific evidence that outlines the specific harm done by the treatment itself. Again, please don't think I am supporting their existence - I just don't know that I agree with the idea of banning at the level of government. I think the case made for the treatment itself being abusive can be strong, and thus banning on that basis.
What boot camps, rebirthing therapy, and 'gay conversion' therapy have in common is that money changes hands. It isn't legal to sell snake oil anymore- well, it certainly is, but you can't do it as blatantly as in the days of the old west. And you certainly can't sell a product that is known to cause harm on the open market.
I worked in marketing for health supplements. I'll tell you straight up that most of them were snake oil in the classic sense of promising much, delivering little. But there are very strict guidelines as to how these things are marketed. You can't make medical claims about 'snake oil' products. So you can say, for example, Product X helps with blood sugar issues. You can't say Product X CURES blood sugar issues. In order to make that claim, your product has to go through much more intense testing and has an entirely different level of regulation.
But if I sell Product X for a while under the lesser regulations allowed for supplements (as opposed to drugs) and it turns out that Product X puts people into diabetic comas, you can bet the government is going to intervene.
These therapists are making two different claims. One, that 'gayness' is something that can be altered in the first place, and two that their brand of therapy will do so. They can't back up either claim. On top of that, the therapy has been proven to cause harm. Just as the government would with diabetic coma causing Product X, the state has not just the right but the duty to intervene.
Interestingly, there are many states in which it IS legal for a parent to withhold medical care and depend on prayer, or that allow such parents to use faith as a defense in trial when the child dies. There regulations vary very widely state by state. But I think that most parents outside these faiths would agree that allowing a child to die for lack of medical care IS abusive and should be outlawed. I think most parents would be surprised that this isn't already the case.
In this case, parents are killing or harming their children WITH a type of medical care. It would be like allowing a parent to punch their child in the stomach to treat the flu, and allowing a doctor to charge for such treatment.
This would be my answer for my child and the state could stay out of the business of our family: video - Brent I do not think it should ever have been removed from the list of mental health conditions since that would have at least put the youth in counseling to help them sort it out and the LGBT community would not be blaming people who believe in God's laws for the suicides of the youth. This is a mental health condition that encompasses much more than "who you love", please read extensively before deciding what path to take with a child. The sexual acts and risks are high and I can't blame the parents for wanting to try to protect their children. I about barf every time I hear "you can't help who you love" and read the list of abusive sexual practices. Protect your children.
This would be my answer for my child and the state could stay out of the business of our family: video - Brent I do not think it should ever have been removed from the list of mental health conditions since that would have at least put the youth in counseling to help them sort it out and the LGBT community would not be blaming people who believe in God's laws for the suicides of the youth. This is a mental health condition that encompasses much more than "who you love", please read extensively before deciding what path to take with a child. The sexual acts and risks are high and I can't blame the parents for wanting to try to protect their children. I about barf every time I hear "you can't help who you love" and read the list of abusive sexual practices. Protect your children.
Interestingly 'reparative therapy' or 'conversion therapy' as it known in the UK is now considered unethical among all age groups.
Quote:
Britain's biggest professional body for psychotherapists has instructed members that it is unethical for them to attempt to "convert" gay people to being heterosexual.
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy has written to its near-30,000 members to inform them of the new guidelines. The letter says the BACP "opposes any psychological treatment such as 'reparative' or 'conversion' therapy which is based upon the assumption that homosexuality is a mental disorder, or based on the premise that the client/patient should change his/her sexuality". The body adds that it recognises World Health Organisation policy that says such therapies can cause severe harm to an individual's mental and physical health.
This would be my answer for my child and the state could stay out of the business of our family: video - Brent I do not think it should ever have been removed from the list of mental health conditions since that would have at least put the youth in counseling to help them sort it out and the LGBT community would not be blaming people who believe in God's laws for the suicides of the youth. This is a mental health condition that encompasses much more than "who you love", please read extensively before deciding what path to take with a child. The sexual acts and risks are high and I can't blame the parents for wanting to try to protect their children. I about barf every time I hear "you can't help who you love" and read the list of abusive sexual practices. Protect your children.
This would be my answer for my child and the state could stay out of the business of our family: video - Brent I do not think it should ever have been removed from the list of mental health conditions since that would have at least put the youth in counseling to help them sort it out and the LGBT community would not be blaming people who believe in God's laws for the suicides of the youth. This is a mental health condition that encompasses much more than "who you love", please read extensively before deciding what path to take with a child. The sexual acts and risks are high and I can't blame the parents for wanting to try to protect their children. I about barf every time I hear "you can't help who you love" and read the list of abusive sexual practices. Protect your children.
See, I have qualms about the government being involved in banning harmful "therapies." Then I read something like this and I understand why people feel the need to ban harmful "therapies."
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Wow! Just wow.
I'm floored to know some people still feel this way. and I agree; Wow!
