As a Licensed Professional Counselor, I fully support the American Counseling Association’s reaffirmed stance against conversion therapy. The ACA’s recent statement, issued alongside its participation in Chiles v. Salazar before the U.S. Supreme Court, makes something very clear: efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity are not therapy. They are harm disguised as help.
Conversion therapy, sometimes called “reparative therapy,” has been condemned by every major medical and mental-health organization. Research has shown that people subjected to these practices face higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Beyond the statistics are real people who walked into what they believed was a place of safety and instead experienced deep shame, self-doubt, and trauma. That is the opposite of what counseling is meant to be.
The ACA’s position isn’t political. It’s ethical. Counseling is a regulated health profession with a duty to protect the public from harm. Genuine therapy supports self-understanding and healing; it never tries to erase identity. The ACA’s latest amicus brief reminds the Supreme Court that psychotherapy is not “just talk.” It’s a professional relationship built on standards of care, client autonomy, and informed consent. States have both the right and the responsibility to prohibit practices that endanger clients, especially minors who cannot freely consent to such interventions.
I support that position without hesitation. In my own practice, I reject any approach that pathologizes who someone is. Whether a client is exploring their identity, repairing trauma from family rejection, or rebuilding self-trust after being told they were “wrong” for existing as they are, my goal is the same: to create safety, respect, and genuine choice. Healing begins when people no longer have to hide or perform to be accepted.
There is nothing therapeutic about shame. There is nothing healing about coercion. And there is no professional justification for conversion therapy. The ACA’s reaffirmation reminds all of us in this field that our ethical codes are not optional-they are the guardrails that protect clients from ideology masquerading as treatment.
I also want to speak directly to anyone who has been harmed by these practices. What happened to you was not therapy. It was a violation of trust. Many people find that it takes time to believe that safety is possible again, especially in a counseling setting. But safety can be rebuilt. Recovery from that betrayal is real. My door, and the doors of many affirming therapists across the country, remain open to you.
As professionals, we must keep advocating for clarity and courage in this conversation. Laws can shift, but ethics must not. If the courts weaken state protections against conversion therapy, it will fall even more on individual clinicians and professional organizations to stand firm. I intend to do that-publicly and in my daily work.
Affirming therapy means honoring the whole person: body, mind, spirit, identity, and story. It means curiosity instead of judgment, collaboration instead of control. I am proud to align my practice with the ACA’s call for a profession rooted in compassion, science, and human dignity.
No matter how the Supreme Court rules in the months ahead, the moral and clinical truth remains the same: people do not need to be changed to be worthy of love, belonging, and mental health care that helps them thrive.
Originally published at https://northvalleytherapy.org on October 11, 2025.