Sexual Attraction Fluidity Exploration in Therapy (SAFE – T)
by Christopher Rosik, Ph.D.
Creating a clearer impression of professional therapies that allow for change.
During its May 27th, 2016, meeting, the board of the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI) voted unanimously to endorse new terminology that more accurately and effectively represents the work of Alliance therapists who see clients with unwanted same-sex attractions. The board has come to believe that terms such as reorientation therapy, conversion therapy, and even sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) are no longer
scientifically or politically tenable. Among the many reasons the board felt it time to retire these older terms as much
as possible were the following:
1. These terms imply that categorical change (from exclusive SSA to exclusive OSA) is the goal. This is a degree of change that is statistically rare and not demanded of any other psychological experience as a condition of legitimate psychological care.2. The current terms imply there is a specific and exotic form of therapy that is being conducted (not standard therapeutic modalities)3. These terms imply that sexual orientation is an actual entity (i.e., the terms all reify sexual orientation as immutable).4. The terms imply that change is the therapist’s goal and not that of the clients (i.e., it’s coercive rather than self-determined).5. These terms (especially SOCE) do not differentiate between professional conducted psychotherapyand religious or other forms of counseling practice.6. These terms have been demonized and/or developed by professionals completely unsympathetic to therapies that allow for change in same-sex attractions and behaviors. This means that Alliance clinicians are immediately on the defensive as soon as they reference their therapeutic work in these terms.
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