conversion therapy

noun

plural conversion therapies

: the use of any of various methods (such as aversive stimulation or religious counseling) in an attempt to change a person's sexual orientation to heterosexual or to change a person's gender identity to correspond to the sex the person was identified as having at birth

Note: Conversion therapy is generally regarded as having no scientific basis and as being both ineffective and harmful.

Conversion therapy is both pointless and painful. At its best, it can inflict considerable psychological damage on a child without changing their sexual orientation or gender identity whatsoever. At its worst, it can lead to suicide …

—Samantha Allen

Momentum has been building in legislative sessions this spring for the bans, which prohibit state-licensed mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy for anyone under 18.

—Susan Miller

called also reparative therapy

Examples of conversion therapy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The story examines Radha’s struggle with gender identity amid familial beliefs and societal expectations, shedding light on cultural practices that function as conversion therapy. —Patrick Frater, Variety, 3 Oct. 2024

The same survey — which the governor's office cited in its statement — found that 54% of the LGBTQ youths who attempted suicide in the year prior were threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy. —Matt Lavietes, NBC News, 18 Sep. 2024

Many were sent to conversion therapy, which does not appear to work and traumatizes the youngsters going through it further. —Aaron Shattuck, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024

Religious counselors filed a lawsuit last week in Henrico saying Virginia's 2020 ban on conversion therapy for minors violates their First Amendment rights. —Sabrina Moreno, Axios, 30 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above