Therapy Archives - ACOMSDave

Gay Conversion Therapy – Government Cop Out

14/08/2020 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

In June 2013, I wrote a short piece on Dr Paul Miller MD DMH MRC Psych as he had hit the headlines due to his ability to ‘cure’ gays through ‘Gay Conversion Therapy’. Also, his close connections to ex-Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Iris Robinson.

Why am I re-raising this again you may ask; well I was reading some old Hansards’ and came across a report on Dr Miller talking to a

NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE FOR HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AND PUBLIC SAFETY

where he was talking about suicide and in particular with young men. He also made reference to his Christian beliefs in this report. He outlined all his experience and qualifications – which to a layman seem to be very exhaustive.

Now back to today, Dr Miller is Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychogeriatrician. Clinical Lead and Responsible Officer at Mirabilis Health which is based in Glengormley. A recent report (Announced Care Inspection Report 27 March 2017) from The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority found no issues with the establishment and the 12 patients who submitted questionnaire responses indicated that the service is well managed.

Now the therapy system that Dr Miller uses is:

EMDR therapy is broken down into eight different phases, so you’ll need to attend multiple sessions. Treatment usually takes about 12 separate sessions.

Phase 1: History and treatment planning

Your therapist will first review your history and decide where you are in the treatment process. This evaluation phase also includes talking about your trauma and identifying potential traumatic memories to treat specifically.

Phase 2: Preparation

Your therapist will then help you learn several different ways to cope with the emotional or psychological stress you’re experiencing.

Stress management techniques such as deep breathing and mindfulness may be used.

Phase 3: Assessment

During the third phase of EMDR treatment, your therapist will identify the specific memories that will be targeted and all the associated components (such as the physical sensations that are stimulated when you concentrate on an event) for each target memory.

Phases 4-7: Treatment

Your therapist will then begin using EMDR therapy techniques to treat your targeted memories. During these sessions, you will be asked to focus on a negative thought, memory, or image.

Your therapist will simultaneously have you do specific eye movements. The bilateral stimulation may also include taps or other movements mixed in, depending on your case.

After the bilateral stimulation, your therapist will ask you to let your mind go blank and notice the thoughts and feelings you’re having spontaneously. After you identify these thoughts, your therapist may have you refocus on that traumatic memory, or move on to another.

If you become distressed, your therapist will help bring you back to the present before moving on to another traumatic memory. Over time, the distress over particular thoughts, images, or memories should start to fade.

Phase 8: Evaluation

In the final phase, you’ll be asked to evaluate your progress after these sessions. Your therapist will do the same.

I am not saying EMDR is not successful, EMDR therapy has proven to be very effective in the treatment of PTSD for instance, however as being gay is not a medical condition, and possibly using it as a form of Gay Conversion treatment of ‘gays’ it would seem more like a version of brainwashing.

Now the LGBT community has been fighting for gay conversion therapy to be banned in the UK. Indeed in 2018, then-prime minister Theresa May’s LGBT action plan said the government would bring forward proposals to “end the practice of conversion therapy” as a priority; however the current Conservative equalities minister Kemi Badenoch says the so-called therapy is a ‘very complex issue’ and the department was unable to produce a timetable for any legislation or forthcoming consultation.

Westminster and Gay Conversion Therapy — Conservative Government Cop Out

Research

Belfast psychiatrist Miller to face cash dealings probe – Headline from 18 April 2013

From <https://queerarchive.net/belfast-psychiatrist-miller-to-face-cash-dealings-probe-headline-from-18-april-2013/>

The ‘gay cure’ experiments that were written out of scientific history

From <https://mosaicscience.com/story/gay-cure-experiments/>

Treatments of homosexuality in Britain since the 1950s—an oral history: the experience of patients

From <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC344257/>

Conversion Therapy

From <https://www.stonewall.org.uk/campaign-groups/conversion-therapy>

The cruel, dangerous reality of gay conversion therapy

From <https://www.wired.co.uk/article/what-is-gay-conversion-therapy>

Gay Conversion Therapy’s Disturbing 19th-Century Origins

From <https://www.history.com/news/gay-conversion-therapy-origins-19th-century>

I tried gay conversion therapy and it was my own horror film

From <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/31/gay-conversion-therapy-the-miseducation-of-cameron-post>

UK government hasn’t banned gay conversion therapy two years after pledge to end practice

From <https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gay-conversion-therapy-uk-ban-government-a9520751.html>

EMDR Therapy: What You Need to Know

From <https://www.healthline.com/health/emdr-therapy#how-it-works>

Could Therapy Save Your Life?

10/01/2016 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

By The Gay UK, Jan 8 2016 02:52PM

As a psychotherapist, the current news around suicide, immigration, and HIV transmission, troubles me greatly.

CREDIT: kwest / Depositphotos.com

It is only a matter of months since we heard that Vikki Thompson, despite being known to be at serious risk in custody, was sent to a male prison anyway, resulting in her making the upsetting decision to end her life. The reverberations around the country have been vast – people are now engaging in dialogue about suicide, considering the fate of transgender men and women in the prison estate, alongside considering the wider concerns around the risk of suicide to the LGBTF community. For those of us who are part of this community, the concerns are real, and significant. But what are, roughly, the facts?
In terms of stats, you are all probably aware that the majority of suicides are male (of the 6,233 reported suicides in the UK during 2013, 4,858 of those were men, and 1,375 were women (Samaritans’ Report, 2015). Males – and usually white males – between the ages of 49 and 65 were particularly at risk, especially professionals such as doctors, social workers, and solicitors. In addition, suicide amongst the LGBT youth is notable, with LGBT teens and young adults having one of the highest rates of suicide attempts in comparison with the rest of the population. The situation is truly disturbing for us, our families, and our friends. For those left behind when someone ends their life, recovery can be arduous at best. Even more sadly, the lack of a therapist who shares the same sexual identity can significantly impact the quality of the therapeutic relationship from developing at all. But what can we do about it?
The statutory services are often less than helpful. Without casting ‘shade’ on my Health colleagues, who work hard under very difficult circumstances, waiting lists remain high, the quick fix agenda is still rampant, and getting a therapy which will actually do what it sets out to do is rarely available, despite promises otherwise. Rather unconventionally, in a country where we expect to be treated for everything for free, my humble suggestion would be for anyone with a need for some emotional support, is to consider paying for the therapy yourself. Here are some things to think about in order to help your decision:
• There are often no waiting lists in private practice.
• Choice actually means something. If your therapeutic alliance is not working, find someone else.
• An hour’s therapy costs the equivalent of a meal out, or a pair of jeans.
• Your happiness is priceless.
* Therapy can take as long as you need it to, not just six sessions.
• Many therapies are available online, i.e. Skype, meaning you don’t even need to go out of your home.
• Confidentiality is more meaningful, as there will be no trace on your health record. At all.
The thing is, research supports the idea that therapy can be really helpful. For myself (yes, therapists are required to complete their own therapy) the therapy was life-changing. Therapy can help alleviate difficult feelings to the point where, for example, with depression, the impact can rival anti-depressants, and the effects can be felt for much longer afterwards. Some people report that therapy has been profound, with many people wishing they’d made the decision much earlier. Isn’t it about time you considered trying therapy for yourself?
About Andrew Smith:
Andrew is the clinical director of TherAppUK Ltd, an organisation based in Greater Manchester that provides a range of therapeutic solutions to individuals, families, and groups. He is also a doctoral researcher at the University of Huddersfield, and lives in the Calder Valley with his partner, Nigel, their son, a neurotic Chihuahua called Chicky, and two cats. If you have any urgent concerns about your own or someone else’s emotional health, please call 999 or NHS Direct. If this is a matter that can wait until one of our therapists can call you back, please email Andrew on andrew.smith@therapp.org
Provided Content by Andrew Smith (What does this mean?)

This Disturbing Video Exposes China’s ‘Electroshock’ Gay ‘Conversion’ Methods

21/10/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Curtis M. WongGay Voices Senior Editor, The Huffington Post

Beijing activist John Shen went undercover in an effort to expose the use of controversial “conversion” methods that promise to “cure” gay and lesbian people in China.
U.K. television network Channel 4 has produced a new documentary titled, “Unreported World,” which follows John, 22, and other members of China’s largest LGBT rights group, theBeijing LGBT Center, as they take viewers behind the scenes for a close-up look at a few of the outlandish, horrifying techniques — including electroshock therapy — used in clinics across the country. These “cures,” of course, have absolutely no basis in science.
Still, the resulting footage is quite unsettling.
“Your current conditioned reflex is when you see the same sex, you feel love,” one medical professional at a clinic in Tianjin told Shen in the report. She went on to suggest drugs and electric shocks as methods for ridding one’s self of same-sex attraction. “Now what I want to make you feel is scared,” she said.
Another clinician is shown physically administering an electric shock treatment at a hospital outside of Beijing.
The report is particularly disconcerting given that it comes less than a year after a Chinese psychological clinic was ordered to pay 3,500 yuan ($560) to a gay man for administrating such treatments. The 30-year-old patient, Yang Teng, had taken the clinic to court for administering electric shocks and hypnosis with the aim of making him heterosexual. He’d voluntarily visited the clinic in 2014 after pressure from family members to marry and have a child, according to the Associated Press.
The court ruled that such “conversion” treatments were illegal.
China dropped homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 2001. Still, the nation has no anti-discrimination legislation acknowledging the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in place, and same-sex marriage remains illegal.
You can check out the full “Unreported World” documentary here.

Ex-Gay Therapy

09/03/2015 By David McFarlane Leave a Comment

The Human Rights Campaign requested that Psychology Today remove a listing for an ex-gay therapist, and to stop accepting ads from therapists that offer “reparative,” “conversion,” or “ex-gay” therapy. Initially the publication was reluctant to do so as it said that it had no control over these listings. However Psychology Today has now removed the listing and posted a statement on its website yesterday saying,
“Psychology Todaydoes not endorse or publish ads for reparative therapy in print, online or in professionals’ profiles. The Therapy Directory has removed the individual whose profile included a discussion of conversion therapy. We have informed all Directory professionals that those whose profiles offer conversion therapy will be delisted.”
HRC officials welcomed the move. “So-called ‘conversion therapy’ is a dangerous and discredited practice that puts vulnerable people, including children, at terrible risk,” said Fred Sainz, HRC vice president for communications and marketing, in a press release today. ”Not only is there no evidence that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression can be ‘cured,’ but research also shows that attempting to do so can lead to depression and even suicidal thoughts, particularly in young people.”