Reparative therapy
This page contains resources and information on UKCP's policies and campaigining work against reparative therapy (sometimes referred to in the media as 'gay cure').
An experience of reparative therapy
A short video made by @ProudToBeQueer in which Lee talks about his experiences of undergoing reparative therapy and the effect it had on him. Shown here with permission.
UKCP statement on the 'reparative' therapy of members of sexual minorities
UKCP does not consider homosexuality or bisexuality, or transsexual and transgendered states to be pathologies, mental disorders or indicative of developmental arrest. These are not symptoms to be treated by psychotherapists, in the sense of attempting to change or remove them.
Read more ...
[February 2010]
Guidance document
- UKCP's Guidance on the Practice of Psychological Therapies that Pathologise and/or seek to Eliminate or Reduce Same Sex Attraction
This document is an elaboration of UKCP's Ethical Principles and Codes of Professional Conduct relevant to 'reparative therapy
[15 July 2011]
Media releases and press statements
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UKCP welcomes decision to pull 'gay cure' adverts from London buses
[13 April 2012] - UKCP statement on the Core-Issues Trust conference
[27 January 2012] - Statement on Mike Davidson
[20 January 2012] - Statement from UKCP and Pink Therapy on research into curing gays
[26 Mar 2009]
If you are a journalist doing a story on reparative therapy and want to contact UKCP, our media contact details are here
Media work and letters
- Max Pemberton quotes UKCP in his article 'There's no such thing as a gay cure' in The Telegraph
[30 April 2012] - Pink News: 'Christian campaigners to seek judicial review of Mayor's decision to ban anti-gay bus ads'
[24 April 2012] - TheSouthAfrican.com reporting on bus campaign quotes UKCP
[26 April 2012} - UKCP referenced in Independent newspaper blog
[16 April 2012] - Pink News: 'Religious groups "to sue mayor" over ex-gay London bus adverts'
[13 April 2012] - Pink News: 'Transport for London bans "Some people are Ex-Gay! Get over it" adverts after Mayor Boris Johnson intervenes'
[12 April 2012] - Ex-Gay Watch on Core Issues London bus ad campaign being pulled
[12 April 2012] - Ex-Gay Watch reviews January's BBC Radio Ulster exchange
[16 April 2012] - Letter to the Rector of Exeter College, University of Oxford
and response from Rector of Exeter College
[20 February 2012] - Pink News: Gay cure columnist 'denied free speech'
[10 February 2012] - Pink Paper quotes UKCP Chair in its report on the London Core Issues conference, 'The Lepers Among Us'
[30 January 2012] - UKCP challenges reparative therapy on BBC Radio Ulster
[22 January 2012] - Letter in Belfast Telegraph regarding Core Issues Trust conference 'The Lepers Among Us' quoting UKCP policy
[20 January 2012] - UKCP letter response to the psychotherapist trying to change a patient's sexuality
[1 June 2011] - Letter to the Guardian in response to Patrick Strudwick winning his case against BACP therapist Lesley Pilkington
[29 May 2011, unpublished] - Letter published in The Telegraph on 'conversion therapy'
[24 January 2011] - Letter from Andrew Samuels published in The Independent
[5 February 2010] - PinkPaper.com: Psychotherapy conference announced after therapy expose
[20 April 2009]
Guidance from the British Psychological Society
British Psychological Society guidelines and literature review for psychologists working theraqpeutically with sexual and gender minority clients
From Dr Liz Shaw, Chair of the BPS Working Party:
We are pleased to announce the launch of the above guidance which we hope will be useful in informing clinical practice. These guidelines have been developed in recognition of the importance of guiding and supporting applied psychologists around their work with sexual and gender minority clients in order to enable their inclusion in clinical practice at a high standard.
They also aspire to engender better understanding of clients who may have suffered social exclusion and stigmatisation in order to reduce the possibility of this in the clinical arena. The guidelines reflect where psychologists and society in the UK have reached in terms of legislation and advances in insight into the clinical issues faced by sexual and gender minority clients.
Please click here to access the BPS guidance[8 March 2012]
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