Posted on 04/08/2005 6:44:50 AM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
CNSNews.com) - A Christian psychologist who advocates reparative therapy for homosexuals has been dropped from a prominent health advisory council following a documentary he made about ex-homosexuals. He tells Cybercast News Service that he believes political pressure from homosexual advocacy groups, upset over the film, led to his dismissal.
But no one either previously associated with Dr. Warren Throckmorton or opposed to his views is admitting responsibility for working to prevent Throckmorton's selection to the council.
Officials at Magellan Health Services, America's largest behavioral health care system, in September 2004 invited Throckmorton to serve on the company's developing National Professional Advisory Council, but in February 2005 rescinded the invitation, citing Throckmorton's views on the controversial therapy for homosexuals.
Throckmorton supports and provides what he calls "heterosexual affirming therapy," also known as reparative therapy, a form of counseling intended to change the sexual orientation of homosexuals who feel uneasy about their sexual preference.
Throckmorton, who is an associate professor of psychology at Pennsylvania's Grove City College, had served on a similar Magellan-sponsored council since 1999 called the National Providers Advisory Committee.
He told Cybercast News Service that he thinks he was removed from the council because of political pressure applied by homosexual advocacy groups who felt threatened by his 2004 film "I Do Exist," which documented the stories of several "ex-gays." His views were never an issue until after the release of the film, he said.
Throckmorton also wrote about the value of heterosexual affirming therapy in the Journal of Mental Health Counseling in 1998, before being invited to serve on the National Providers Advisory Committee.
In the article, "Efforts to Modify Sexual Orientation," Throckmorton stated that, "The available evidence supports ... that many individuals with a same-gender sexual orientation have been able to change through a variety of counseling approaches."
Throckmorton's 'potentially controversial views
Magellan spokeswoman Erin Somers confirmed that Throckmorton's invitation to the council was rescinded because of "certain of his publicly expressed views [that] could be potentially controversial to some of [Magellan's] stakeholders."
But Somers denied that Magellan was bowing to political pressure from homosexual advocacy groups. She said the company "had no discussion with anyone outside the organization about this matter.
"We don't take a position on [heterosexual affirming] therapy," Somers added.
Magellan's chief medical officer, Dr. Alex Rodriguez, who was in charge of assembling the National Professional Advisory Council, did not return repeated calls requesting comment for this article. In a letter to Throckmorton retracting the invitation to serve on the council, Rodriguez said, "I will not be following up with you to discuss either the decision or the circumstances under which the decision has been made."
Dr. Robert Gerst, a friend of Throckmorton and a board member of the American Mental Health Counselors Association, said he wouldn't be surprised to learn that Magellan Health Services acted out of pressure applied by homosexual activists.
"There [are] plenty of folks in outside groups that don't like Warren or his views at all and whether they had influence on this or not, I don't think anyone's going to know but Magellan," Gerst said.
Somers declined to cite an internal source of resistance to Throckmorton's presence. She also refused to release the names of the other council members because, she said, the final list had not been confirmed. But documents obtained by Cybercast News Service show that those council members scheduled a meeting in early March.
Dr. Paul Fink, one of the new council members, is a professor of psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine and the past president of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), which has issued statements expressing skepticism about heterosexual affirming therapy.
In a May 2000 "Fact Sheet," the APA stated that "efforts to repathologize homosexuality ... are often not guided by rigorous scientific or psychiatric research." It also recommended that "ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals' sexual orientation."
Fink told Cybercast News Service that he did not know when Magellan became aware of Throckmorton's views, but expressed satisfaction with the decision to withdraw the invitation to Throckmorton.
"It's been 25 years or more since we got rid of the idea that homosexuality is a disease," Fink said. "There are still some psychiatrists around who are holdouts and who want to insist that it's a disease," Fink said in reference to Throckmorton.
Throckmorton's views "[don't] really fit with modern psychiatry," Fink asserted, adding that at the least, practitioners of reparative therapy should not publicize their views. "If Throckmorton wanted to be public about it," Fink said, "he must have an agenda that I don't know about."
Fink said he was not aware of anyone relaying Throckmorton's views about reparative therapy to officials at Magellan Health Services, but mentioned that there are "very strong homosexual activists who may have discovered that he has both this idea and he's a member of the council." Fink specifically mentioned Dr. Jack Drescher, editor of the "Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy," the official journal of the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists (AGLP).
The AGLP was created as the Caucus of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Members of the American Psychiatric Association in the 1970s, before changing its name in 1985. Voting members of the AGLP must also be members of the APA.
When contacted on Thursday, Drescher denied any involvement in the Throckmorton matter. "I only know what I read in the newspapers. I mean I know a little bit about his writing, but I don't know anything about what happened there."
Drescher, who said he treats former reparative therapy patients, echoed the concerns of Fink and the APA about Throckmorton's views. Many people who undergo reparative therapy, Drescher said, become depressed, suicidal or start heterosexual families that eventually fall apart.
'Political considerations'
Throckmorton conceded that Magellan Health Services was "certainly free to bring in advisors as they see fit." But he added that, "my concern here is the message that this sends to other people on their networks that do the actual work for them, that Magellan will put these political considerations ahead of provider relations."
Throckmorton said he believes Magellan's reputation could be harmed by the perception that the organization would remove a representative of a legitimate field of study. "When people seek help for their concerns and they want their counselors to work with them consistent with their religion," Throckmorton said, "it would seem like the managed care company would want counselors available and trained and knowledgeable in how to do that."
Gerst also said he was concerned about the future consequences of Magellan's actions. "He's the only one on the board who is a mental health counselor," Gerst said. "We think it's important that mental health counselors be represented in places like that."
Religious counselors are also likely to be discouraged by the actions to remove Throckmorton, according to Gerst. "If someone is a therapist [who] works in a faith-based setting someplace, are they going to be kicked out of Magellan's panel as a provider?" he asked.
Throckmorton's views "aren't extreme," Gerst insisted. Throckmorton is "not one of these people who says, 'you need to hospitalize homosexuals and call them mentally ill' or anything like that, but that's what he's accused of doing. His views are people ought to have the right to determine what they want."
Somers said Throckmorton's presence on the council will have no bearing on the services offered by member organizations of the Magellan Health Care Services network, even those that offer the heterosexual-affirming therapy that Throckmorton advocates.
"We don't get into the details of specifically what's troubling somebody or the specifics of what's happening in that therapy session," Somers said. The decision to remove Throckmorton from the advisory council would "absolutely not" alienate people seeking the kind of therapy he advocates, Somers added.
Cybercast News Service has published two guest commentaries written by Throckmorton - one in 2003, another in 2004 - however, he was not paid for either column.
Turd burglars are just so tolerant of other viewpoints, ya know?
The "super secret" black hand at work again.
LOL -hard to get rid of the truth....
In this case the religion of anus worship has prevailed -moral relative psychology is their church....
What's so hypocritical is that they used discredited Kinsey and debunked Hooker research to remove it from the DSM in the first place...talk about hypocrites.
Homosexuality is a pathology for those who want to change, the APA's should listen to their own, like Spitzer and Perlhoff.
In a May 2000 "Fact Sheet," the APA stated that "efforts to repathologize homosexuality ... are often not guided by rigorous scientific or psychiatric research."
It was the effort to "unpathologize" homosexuality that was not guided by rigorous scientific or psychiatric research. The research that was cited in the removal of homosexuality from the DSM was performed by a "scientist" whose experience was working with rats and is documented here and here.
Any efforts to attempt research that is contrary to the official pro-homosexual political positions held by the APA and other homosexual-infested medical "professional" associations will be shot down, as documented here, here, here, and here.
An excerpt from "From mental disorder to civil-rights cause"
"Anyone who actually reads the studies examining the association between homosexuality and psychological disturbance will find a very strong association. What has never been clear until, perhaps, recently, is why. Perhaps the same problems that cause increased psychological distress also cause homosexuality. Perhaps homosexuality is an intrinsic psychopathology. Perhaps the social stigma experienced by being homosexual causes the psychological distress. Perhaps some unknown proportion of each. Perhaps some unknown proportion of each and a complex, nonlinear interaction among them over time. None of the early studies addressed these very obvious questions. They merely presumed the ideologically correct responses..."
"It's been 25 years or more since we got rid of the idea that homosexuality is a disease," Fink said.
The infiltration of the 'professional' medical and scientific associations by homosexual activists was ( and continues to be ) part of a well planned and well financed campaign to redefine homosexuality as normal. The campaign began with the infiltration of the American Psychiatric Association, with the goal removing homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Make no mistake, the homosexual activists knew exactly what they were doing in the days leading up to the removal of homosexuality from the DSM. Once they had control of the American Psychiatric Association, all the other 'professional' organizations ( such as the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Mental Health Association, the AMA , the American Counseling Association, etc.) fell in line and now accept, and march to, the APA's pro-homosexual party line. Click here (then scroll down the page to "The American Academy of Pediatrics") for a list of other pro-homosexual 'professional' associations that toe each others' homosexual agenda lines.
Forcing the removal of homosexuality from the DSM was the homosexual community's greatest achievement. It permitted them to claim that "homosexuality is normal" and set the stage to present this "normalcy" to the general public via a well planned media campaign ( outlined in 'The Overhauling of Straight America' ), and to kids in the public schools via Kevin Jennings' homosexual organization GLSEN. Kids as young as kindergarten age are now being indoctrinated with "homosexuality is normal" propaganda.
It wasn't science, but rather pro-homosexual activism that was, and continues to be, the primary force behind policy changes and the politically correct statments made by the APA and the majority of the other "professional" medical and scientific organizations.
For documentation of homosexual activism in both the APA's and the AAP, see the following replies in scripter's "Homosexual Agenda: Categorical Index of Links (Revision 1.1)" thread:
American Psychological Association: 121, 240, 242, 300, 329, 331, 336, 357, 449, and 503.
American Psychiatric Association: 46, 139, 213, 232, 237, 239, 241, 243, 246, 300, 363, 364, 443, 449, 467, 470, 514, and 524.
American Academy of Pediatrics: 284
Additional documentation:
"There are still some psychiatrists around who are holdouts and who want to insist that it's a disease," Fink said in reference to Throckmorton...
Fink specifically mentioned Dr. Jack Drescher, editor of the "Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy," the official journal of the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists (AGLP)...
Drescher, who said he treats former reparative therapy patients, echoed the concerns of Fink and the APA about Throckmorton's views...
Background information posted here.
Ed you're amazing.
As Throckmorton believes, people ought to have the right to determine what they want.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.