Free Republic

In an editorial which just appeared in the latest issue of Psychology Today (Jan./Feb. 2003) editor Robert Epstein, Ph.D. defends sexual reorientation therapy, responding as well to recent bruising criticism from the gay community. Epstein's editorial, "Am I Anti-Gay? You Be the Judge" was written after gay activists objected to his magazine's publication of an ad for a controversial new book. The book is A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality, by Joseph and Linda Nicolosi, which describes the ways in which parents can maximize the likelihood of their children growing up with a secure gender identity and heterosexual orientation. Angered...

If gun sales are supposedly "red hot," why are gun manufacturers struggling, even filing for bankruptcy? The answers include a gun glut and long-term trends in gun ownership in America. There's a continuous media mantra that gun sales are going through the roof. Well, they may have had a little boomlet after the 2012 Newtown shootings. But with Colt filing for bankruptcy, and other gun manufacturers reporting huge declines in sales and falling stock, it's clear that Americans aren't going as gun crazy as people think.On June 15, Political Scientist Robert Spitzer of SUNY Cortland wrote the column "Why assault...

Gay Therapy Gay conversion therapy, as it is known, supposedly helps gay people overcome same-sex attractions. But mainstream psychologists say the therapy is ineffective, unethical and often harmful, exacerbating anxiety and self-hatred among those treated for what is not a mental disorder. In 2013, two cases involving the therapy to convert gay people into heterosexuals hit the courts, with one seeking to sue counselors who offer the therapy and the other seeking to defend them. Here are five things you need to know about the therapy and the current lawsuits.

The simple fact was that he had done something wrong, and at the end of a long and revolutionary career it didn't matter how often he'd been right, how powerful he once was, or what it would mean for his legacy. Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, considered by some to be the father of modern psychiatry, lay awake at 4 o'clock on a recent morning knowing he had to do the one thing that comes least naturally to him... Dr. Spitzer's fingers jerked over the keys, unreliably, as if choking on the words. And then it was done: a short letter...

<p>In a move that serves as a significant blow to "ex-gay" programs and anti-gay organizations, Dr. Robert Spitzer repudiated his much-criticized 2001 study that claimed some "highly motivated" homosexuals could go from gay to straight. His retraction occurred in an American Prospect magazine article that hit newsstands today. Spitzer's rejection of his own research, which was originally published in the prestigious Archives of Sexual Behavior, is a devastating blow to "ex-gay" organizations because it decisively eliminates their most potent claim that homosexuality can be reversed through therapy and prayer.</p>

The Medicated Americans: Antidepressant Prescriptions on the Rise Close to 10 percent of men and women in America are now taking drugs to combat depression. How did a once rare condition become so common? I am thinking of the Medicated Americans, those 11 percent of women and 5 percent of men who are taking antidepressants. It is Sunday night. The Medicated American—let’s call her Julie, and let’s place her in Winterset, Iowa—is getting ready for bed. Monday morning and its attendant pressures—the rush to get out of the house, the long commute, the bustle of the office—loom. She opens the...

The great ADHD mythBy JENNY HOPE - More by this author » Last updated at 22:34pm on 9th March 2007  Have hyperactive kids been misdiagnosed with ADD? The psychiatrist who identified attention deficit disorder - the condition blamed for the bad behaviour of hundreds of thousands of children - has admitted that many may not really be ill. Dr Robert Spitzer said that up to 30 per cent of youngsters classified as suffering from disruptive and hyperactive conditions could have been misdiagnosed. They may simply be showing perfectly normal signs of being happy or sad, he said. 'Many of...

A 2003 study on whether homosexuals can change their sexual orientation has become a central issue in the Montgomery County sex-education debate. The study conducted by psychiatrist Robert L. Spitzer of Columbia University found that some homosexuals "can and do change." Interviewing 200 former homosexuals, Dr. Spitzer conducted the study in response to a request by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 2000 to determine the risks and benefits of "reparative therapy." Reparative therapy is psychiatric or religious counseling that former homosexuals, or "ex-gays," say has helped them overcome "unwanted same-sex attraction." "There is evidence that change in sexual orientation...

The Titanic of Gay Rights, leaving all in its wake, is about to founder on a large and immovable fact. My concern is not for the glamorous first-class passengers - the prominent doctors and judges - or for the Mardi Gras exhibitionists leering and lurching across the deck - but for the unknown homosexuals down in their lonely cabins feeling sick. These are the ones who want to stop the ship and get off. The homosexuals who do not want to be homosexual but who are told that change is impossible, and that any talk of change is disloyal to the...

In the alphabet soup that makes up the Washington, DC political lobbying scene, one of the more respected acronyms is NMHA. The National Mental Health Association has been around since 1950 and has been instrumental in advocating for the needs of the mentally ill. As president of the American Mental Health Counselors Association several years ago, I was glad to work along side the NMHA on initiatives designed to improve access to mental health care for all citizens. Given the serious work that this organization does, I am shocked and disappointed to learn that the NMHA has determined to discriminate...

Former Homosexual Testifies for U.S. Congress 1/30/04 12:29:00 PM To: National Desk Contact: Regina Griggs of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays, 703-360-2225 or ex-gays@earthlink.net, Web: http://www.pfox.org WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) congratulates Mike Haley, a former homosexual and Manager of Gender Issues at Focus on the Family (Focus), on his testimony before a congressional subcommittee addressing faith-based organizations. Haley coordinates Love Won Out conferences, which present information on the causes and prevention of homosexuality and are sponsored by Focus, a non- profit Christian organization. Love Won Out travels...

A controversial study has demonstrated that homosexuality is not necessarily a fixed sexual orientation, but that "gay" men and lesbians can change. The research was conducted by Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, who in 1973 was one of the driving forces behind the psychiatric community's removal of homosexuality from its manual of mental disorders. The study was published in the October Archives of Sexual Behavior. "Although examples of 'complete' change in orientation were not common, the majority of participants did report change from a predominantly or exclusively homosexual orientation before therapy to a predominantly or exclusively heterosexual orientation in the past...

Spitzer Study Just Published: Evidence Found for Effectiveness of Reorientation Therapy By Roy Waller and Linda A. Nicolosi The results of a study conducted by Dr. Robert L. Spitzer have just been published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 32, No. 5, October 2003, pp. 403-417. Spitzer's findings challenge the widely-held assumption that a homosexual orientation is "who one is" -- an intrinsic part of a person's identity that can never be changed. The study has attracted particularly attention because its author, a prominent psychiatrist, is viewed as a historic champion of gay activism. Spitzer played a pivotal role...

Row as researcher claims gays can be 'straightened' Polly Curtis Thursday October 2, 2003 The Guardian An international row has broken out after an American journal published research which claimed that therapy can make homosexual people become heterosexual. Gay rights groups have already dubbed the research "dangerous and sinister". The study of Americans who had undergone so-called "reparative therapy" claimed that 78% of men and 95% of wome reported a change to predominantly or completely heterosexual behaviour. The study's author, Professor Robert Sptizer, a psychiatrist at Columbia University, claimed it was the first study of its type. The Times Higher...

Furore over study that suggests 'cure' for homosexuality By Steve Connor, Science Editor 06 October 2003 A study showing that it may be possible to change the sexual orientation of gays and lesbians has reopened the debate over whether people are born homosexual or straight. Research that demonstrates some homosexual men and women were capable of becoming "predominantly" heterosexual through psychotherapy has created a furore within academia. The study was based on interviews with 200 men and women who claimed to have had their gay preferences changed in therapy - often provided by religious organisations that believe homosexuality is a...

(CNSNews.com) - In a step critics charge could result in decriminalizing sexual contact between adults and children, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) recently sponsored a symposium in which participants discussed the removal of pedophilia from an upcoming edition of the psychiatric manual of mental disorders. Psychiatrists attending an annual APA convention May 19 in San Francisco proposed removing several long-recognized categories of mental illness - including pedophilia, exhibitionism, fetishism, transvestism, voyeurism and sadomasochism - from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Most of the mental illnesses being considered for removal are known as "paraphilias." Psychiatrist Charles Moser...

(CNSNews.com) - As homosexual advocacy groups increasingly model their push for greater acceptance on the rhetoric and tactics of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, some black groups are beginning to take exception. The comparison between the two movements and the "rights" associated with them can be misleading, said David Almasi, director for Project 21, a group of conservative black leaders. "Homosexuality is behavior. It's not something you're born with," Almasi said. The homosexual movement identifies itself with a number of sympathetic causes, including the Holocaust remembrance and the civil rights struggle, to advance its effort to gain acceptance....