The ACBS Board resolutely denounces the use of so-called “conversion therapy”, which involves the use of coercive practices associated with sexual orientation and gender identity that use shame, punishment, or other abusive strategies.
The ACBS Board recognizes the historic involvement of behavior therapists in the marginalization of sexual orientation and gender diverse people through the pathologizing of their diverse identities and the practice of “conversion therapy”. As a behavior science organization that centers values of self-reflection and inclusion, we must recognize this history, learn from it, and move forward in the service of social justice.
As such, the ACBS Board condemns the use of conversion therapy as these efforts are not evidence-based and are harmful to sexual orientation and gender diverse people (Fish & Russell, 2020; Haldeman, 2022). As Charles Silverstein argued at AABT (now ABCT, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies) in 1972, the provision of “conversion therapy” itself contributes to the pathologizing of sexual orientation and gender diverse people, and further contributes to discrimination and violence against sexual orientation and gender diverse people.
ACBS believes in prosocial, compassionate, and evidence-based science; therefore, we condemn the use of contextual behavioral therapies for “conversion therapy” within and beyond ACBS.
The ACBS’s Peer Reviewed ACT Trainers Values Statement reflects well the stance of ACBS and states, “[Peer Reviewed Trainers] are aware of and respect cultural, individual, and role differences, including those based on age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status, impact of global warming, and stay informed about empirical findings related to the training and delivery of ACT when working with any such group.”
In addition to the aforementioned condemnations, the ACBS Board reaffirms our unequivocal support for our sexual orientation and gender diverse members and communities in the following ways:
Calling for the retraction of previously published conversion therapy behavioral therapy papers as these are still used by practitioners to justify the use of conversion therapy today, thereby perpetuating the harm. We believe that when the preponderance of the empirical evidence documents that a procedure is associated with harm, it must be clearly marked as such so that all future readers of the article are appropriately informed. This can be accomplished with a formal retraction. Absent this step, we will nevertheless call upon publishers to achieve this functional step, either by revisiting their guidelines or deriving clear methods to warn future readers.
Encouraging sexual orientation and gender diverse members to apply for and join ACBS committees, special interest groups, and the board to amplify their voices.
Providing and encouraging sexual orientation and gender diverse members to apply for awards focused on reducing structural barriers to conference attendance including the ACBS Diversity Award and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion World Conference Scholars Award.
Through the ACBS Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (JEDI) initiative, soliciting guidance for the board on specific actions for repair and building more inclusive spaces, in a noncoercive manner.
Becoming a signatory of the International Psychology Network for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Issues (IPsyNet) Statement and Commitment on LGBTIQ+ Concerns, affirming a commitment to research and practice that affirms the rights and integrity of all people and disavows discriminatory practice.
Barlow, D. H., Leitenberg, H., & Agras, W. S. (1969). Experimental control of sexual deviation through manipulation of the noxious scene in covert sensitization. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 74(5), 597–601. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0028087
Fish, J. N., & Russell, S. T. (2020). Sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts are unethical and harmful. American journal of public health, 110(8), 1113.
Haldeman, D. C. (2022). The case against conversion “therapy”: Evidence, ethics, and alternatives (pp. xv-271). American Psychological Association.