Question Posted Saturday September 19 2009, 11:40 am
I've read a book about psychology and it says that there are psychologist trying to convert homosexuals. Is that true? Do people learning psychology consider homosexual as a problem?
[ Answer this question ] Want to answer more questions in the Work & School category? Maybe give some free advice about: School? Catlovers141 answered Saturday September 19 2009, 12:01 pm: If I were to say that people learning psychology consider homosexuals as a problem, that would be a huge generalization. It would still be a generalization if I said the opposite were true. Psychologists are people, and as people they have their own individual views on things. Homosexuality used to actually be treated like a mental illness, but now it doesn't count as mental illness anymore. They don't consider it dysfunctional. Therefore, you wouldn't find a lot of psychologists who would try to "convert" homosexuals. They might try to help you feel better about discrimination and prejudice, but they probably wouldn't try to change you.
There has been a lot of research done and apparently trying to convert homosexuals can be very damaging to them. This was something that they didn't know in the past. But now that the knowledge is getting out there, this is becoming vastly uncommon.
Even if there is some prejudice among psychologists, if they are good at what they do they will put it aside and treat you as an individual. That said, if you do notice discrimination or feel like you or your psychologist is uncomfortable, you can always find another one.
I know that a lot of parents bring their homosexual children to psychologists in order to convert them. However, most psychologists refuse to do this. Instead, they might try family therapy to get the parents to understand and interact well with the child. For the homosexual, they might help them with dealing with stress about who they are and other people's reactions.
I don't know what book you are reading or what exactly it said, but perhaps it is outdated or very biased. There are a few instances where this might happen, but those are the exception and not the rule. [ Catlovers141's advice column | Ask Catlovers141 A Question ]
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