Dr. Oz agrees with medical professionals that ‘reparative therapy’ is dangerous

Following the controversy surrounding the Dr. Oz Show for airing an episode debating the merits of reparative therapy and the subsequent call from three LGBT organizations for Dr. Oz to distance himself from the practice, he has now written a blog post agreeing with the established medical opinion that the practice is dangerous.

Dr. Oz wrote on his OZ Blog,

“Some guests argued that they have been changed through these treatments, but I was overwhelmed by the pain of individuals hurt by the experience.  After listening to both sides of the issue and after reviewing the available medical data, I agree with the established medical consensus.  I have not found enough published data supporting positive results with gay reparative therapy, and I have concerns about the potentially dangerous effects when the therapy fails, especially when minors are forced into treatments.

My biggest epiphany occurred after hearing where the opposing groups found some common ground. The guests who appeared on my show on either side of this debate agreed that entering into any therapy with guilt and self-hate is a major error. Trying to change who you are instead of loving who you are leads to broken spirits and broken hearts. Encouraging self-acceptance is the only way to help alleviate the shame experienced by those who are struggling with their sexuality – and help them reach a place where who they are matches who they want to be.”

So-called “ex-gay” programs have been thoroughly condemned by The American Psychiatric Association; The American Psychological Association; The American Medical Association; The American Counseling Association; The American Academy of Pediatrics; and The National Association of Social Workers. The nation’s most knowledgeable medical and mental health authorities have uniformly dismissed the idea that being gay is something that needs to be “treated,” and recognize that trying to do so can cause serious harm.

The practice of reparative therapy has been widely repudiated by officials in the health community, with the World Health Organization in May declaring the practice “a serious threat to the health and well-being of affected people” and that it “lacked medical justification.” In September, California became the first state in the country to ban reparative therapy for minors, with Gov. Jerry Brown declaring that such therapies “have no basis in science or medicine, and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery.”