APA
The APA, or American Psychological Association, "makes resolutions and public policy statements on issues for which there is little or inadequate science."[1] According to newsmagazine Newsweek the APA represents psychotherapists without medical degrees and in 2006 had 150,000 members.[2]
Activism instead of science
APA has become one of the leading organizations to back the claims of homosexual activists. At least as early as in 2006 onwards, a statement on their website −apparently in line with dialectical unity of self-contradictions − have said that homosexuality "does not require treatment and is not changeable." In addition, the statement continued that "close scrutiny" of conversion therapies "cast doubt on their claims" that people have been freed from homosexuality. APA even has a Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual Concerns office. APA's position on homosexuality has given homosexual activists a significant boost in the national debate over such issues as homosexuality and "gay marriage." The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest homosexual activist organization, lists APA's position statements on its website, along with similar statements from the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association. This APA's stand has been however contested by ex-gay movement, including Christopher Yuan and Caleb Price who left homosexual lifestyle and consider themselves to be a living evidence that homosexuals can change. Representants of ex-gay movement make appeal that "If they [in APA] are about science and not about politics, then they should be willing to look at issues involving homosexuality … in an intellectually honest way. The reality is that people's lives are changed. We are living testimonies of the fact that people can and do change." The criticism of APA further points out that the members of the governing board of the APA use their position to steer the debate in the media and in the public in an unfortunate and unfair way to cast doubt on the men and women who have changed out of homosexuality. Board members of APA are the ones who don't talk about a client's right to self-determination.[3]
See also
- American Psychiatric Association
- Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (conservative doctor's association)
- American Medical Association
- Dialectical unity of self-contradictions
- Types of therapists
- Zapping the shrinks
References
- ↑ "Destructive Trends in Mental Health: The Well-Intentioned Path to Harm" - book review
- ↑ Jerry Adler (March 26, 2006 7:00 PM). Freud in Our Midst. newsweek.com. Retrieved on December 25, 2013. “The American Psychological Association, which represents psychotherapists without medical degrees, has 150,000 members.”
- ↑ Michael Foust (14 Aug 2006). Ex-homosexuals protest APA's position on homosexuality. Baptist Press, Southern Baptist Convention. “Caleb Price, research analyst at Focus on the Family, called APA's position "hypocritical." Price says he identified himself as a homosexual for about 14 years but now is a Christian and heterosexual. "If they are about science and not about politics, then they should be willing to look at issues involving homosexuality … in an intellectually honest way," Price, who also took part in the protest, told BP. Clinton Anderson, director of the APA's Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual office, told the Associated Press that there "is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. "Price, though, strongly disagreed. "The reality is that people's lives are changed," Price said. "We are living testimonies of the fact that people can and do change."”
