Conversion therapy refers to any practice that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It includes talk therapy, behavioral techniques, group sessions, and religious retreats, all operating under the premise that being LGBTQ+ is something that needs to be fixed. Every major medical and mental health organization in the United States has rejected these practices as both ineffective and harmful.
How Conversion Therapy Works
The term covers a broad range of methods. Some take the form of traditional-looking talk therapy conducted by a licensed counselor. Others involve behavioral techniques like aversive stimuli, where unwanted feelings are paired with something unpleasant to discourage them. Group therapy sessions and residential retreats or inpatient programs combine multiple approaches in an immersive setting. Religious-based programs may frame the process as spiritual healing or deliverance.
What all these methods share is a goal: pushing someone toward heterosexuality or toward identifying with the sex they were assigned at birth. The specific techniques vary widely, but the underlying assumption is the same. Being gay, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise gender diverse is treated as a disorder that can and should be corrected.
Why Medical Organizations Oppose It
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry states plainly that homosexuality and gender diverse identities are not pathological, and that the absence of pathology means there is no need for conversion or any similar intervention. The academy finds no evidence to support any therapeutic intervention that treats a specific sexual orientation or gender identity as something to be changed.
This position is shared across the field. The American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) all oppose conversion practices. WPATH’s most recent clinical guidelines specifically recommend against any reparative or conversion therapy aimed at changing a person’s gender identity to match their sex assigned at birth, and call on health professionals to reject approaches that have the goal or effect of conversion.
What the Research Shows About Effectiveness
A comprehensive review by Cornell University’s What We Know Project identified 47 peer-reviewed studies on conversion therapy. Of the 13 that included primary research, 12 concluded that the practice is ineffective, harmful, or both. Only one study found that change efforts could succeed, and even then only for a minority of its participants. That study had significant limitations: every participant self-identified as religious, and the findings relied entirely on self-reports, which are prone to bias.
Some researchers did find that certain techniques could suppress same-sex arousal, sometimes through severe methods. But suppressing arousal didn’t translate into genuine attraction to the opposite sex or the ability to maintain a satisfying opposite-sex relationship. Sexual orientation proved highly resistant to deliberate attempts at change. The overall body of evidence supports what every major professional organization has concluded: therapeutic intervention cannot change sexual orientation.
While some participants in studies reported isolated benefits like reduced anxiety or greater acceptance of their same-sex attractions, these outcomes had nothing to do with actually changing orientation. They were more consistent with what supportive, affirming therapy already provides without the harmful framing.
Documented Mental Health Harms
The harms of conversion therapy are well documented and serious. Research consistently links the practice to depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, social isolation, and a reduced capacity for intimacy.
A 2024 Stanford Medicine study of 4,426 LGBTQIA+ adults examined how specific types of conversion practices affect mental health. The findings were striking. People who underwent formal efforts to change their sexual orientation reported elevated symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Those subjected to efforts targeting their gender identity showed more symptoms of depression. People who experienced both forms of conversion practices had higher levels of both PTSD symptoms and suicidality.
These harms make sense in context. Conversion therapy tells people that a core part of who they are is broken. For young people still developing their sense of self, that message can be devastating, especially when it comes from a therapist, religious leader, or family member they trust.
Who It Affects Most
Minors are particularly vulnerable. Many young people don’t choose conversion therapy for themselves. They’re brought to it by parents or guardians, sometimes through religious communities, often during adolescence when the stakes for identity development are highest. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has stated that conversion therapies should not be part of any behavioral health treatment of children and adolescents. WPATH has noted that transgender and gender diverse people are sometimes forced into conversion therapy by family members or religious communities.
Adults can also be pressured into these practices through social, familial, or religious expectations. The line between voluntary participation and coercion is often blurred when someone’s community or family makes acceptance conditional on attempting to change.
Legal Status in the United States
Over the past decade, a growing number of states have passed laws restricting conversion therapy. At least 23 states, including New York and New Jersey, have barred licensed mental health professionals from providing conversion therapy to minors. Protections have also been established in more than 120 cities and municipalities across the country.
These bans typically apply only to licensed practitioners, not to religious counselors or unlicensed individuals. That means conversion practices continue in settings that fall outside the reach of professional licensing boards, particularly in faith-based organizations. The legal landscape remains uneven, with no federal ban in place and many states offering no protections at all.
How It Differs From Affirming Therapy
It’s worth distinguishing conversion therapy from legitimate mental health support. Affirming therapy helps people explore their identity, cope with stigma, navigate family dynamics, and address related mental health challenges like depression or anxiety. The goal is the person’s well-being, not a predetermined outcome about who they should be attracted to or how they should identify.
Conversion therapy does the opposite. It starts with the conclusion that the person’s orientation or identity is wrong and works backward from there. That fundamental difference is why one approach is supported by evidence and professional standards, and the other is rejected by every major health organization that has examined it.