Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Health Professions
 
Board
Board of Medicine
 
Guidance Document Change: Board of Medicine guidance on conversion therapy
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12/9/19  11:57 am
Commenter: Catherine Casey MD

Conversion therapy is medically unacceptable
 

As a Family Medicine physician who sees patients of all ages, genders and sexual orientations, I adhere to the American Psychiatric Association's statement from 2013 that “The American Psychiatric Association does not believe that same-sex orientation should or needs to be changed, and efforts to do so represent a significant risk of harm by subjecting individuals to forms of treatment which have not been scientifically validated and by undermining self-esteem when sexual orientation fails to change. No credible evidence exists that any mental health intervention can reliably and safely change sexual orientation; nor, from a mental health perspective does sexual orientation need to be changed.”

CommentID: 77376