Psychotherapy Assumptions

Secular society bombards us with assumptions about morality and science that are untrue and unhealthy to adopt. Here are some popular assumptions, followed by an explanation of the truth.

1. Assumption: Psychotherapy that does not affirm a person’s belief that they are inherently gay or that challenges a person’s adoption of a gay identity and lifestyle, is called conversion or reparative therapy and it is unethical, illegal and harmful.

This false and exaggerated belief is actually a key component of the LGBTQ propaganda mosaic and has been aggressively planted into the minds of many intelligent people in Western society, including therapists themselves who are supposed to have a more nuanced and informed view on the topic. But the truth is that therapists are not magicians. It is not their job, nor their expertise, to “change people” in any way, shape or form. Hence, the specific assumption is often connected to this larger one about therapists in general.

But in terms of therapy for same-sex attractions, putting aside the name of the therapy approach, a general reminder of the very purpose of therapy should be all that we need to challenge this assumption. First, it is the role of therapists to help people gain more understanding and control over any type of exaggerated or involuntary feeling, whether sadness, fear, panic or arousal. Even if the client does not overtly complain about such experiences, even if they are proud of them, therapists nonetheless are supposed to maintain their objectivity to help clients better manage and express their feelings. This is the bread and butter of their job.

So if a client reports a history of powerful and immediate arousal at the mere sight of a specific body part, physique or personality, whether of the same or opposite sex, or is preoccupied with romantic and sexual feelings with anyone, it is a therapist’s basic job to give the person an accurate name for these obviously exaggerated reactions and preoccupations and to encourage them to better understand and reduce these. Though our culture normalizes and exalts people’s potent non-heterosexual feelings and compulsions, the people who actually experience them tend to report these as a source of discomfort, mystery and distress, even if it doesn’t conflict with their religious values.

2. Assumption : it is a therapist’s basic job to discourage any kind of helplessness and victimhood feelings in their clients, which are well-known catalysts of severe psychological distress. Therapists generally do believe in biological determinism, or early-childhood determinism, which states that a person’s symptoms or relationship preferences are fixed and immutable. To apply such a theory in the one instance of same-sex attractions would be suspicious and a sign that they are discriminating against these clients.

3. Assumption: another general task of a psychotherapist is to make a good “differential diagnosis” for each client, to make sure that one type of diagnosis is not being confused with another. With the popularity of sexual identity labels in our culture, it is now even more the therapist’s responsibility to make sure that they are not just applying fashionable and scientifically questionable identity labels for patterns that may have a much different name and a clearer path forward. In fact, in my opinion, not taking the time to make such a careful diagnosis is considered unethical clinical care, because it risks leading the client astray and having them suffer unnecessarily with lifelong symptoms and life problems.

4. Assumption : The therapists traditionally believe in the psychological importance of maintaining connection with one’s family and community of origin. Unless it is an extreme case, therapists try to help people appreciate the good in these social systems and tolerate or strategize around the bad.

5. Assumption: while therapists generally believe in the value of self-actualization, they are not supposed to encourage unhealthy and irresponsible sexual behavior, like promiscuous sex and expressing desire at the risk of their own health and at the risk of offending or pushing away important people in their life, which is ironically the very explicit aim of the LGBTQ movement.

With this understanding of the basic purpose of psychotherapy, practitioners who apply one value system to one population and a completely different value system to just those with same-sex attractions or who identify themselves using one of the LGBTQ+ letters, may actually be guilty of discriminating and withholding necessary care in the name of political correctness.