Hypnosis and Russian Conversion Therapy
I have been a professional hypnotherapist for over 29 years, and for most of those years, I have been very proud of the work that my colleagues and I have done. There are days, however, when I hang my head in shame not only as a hypnotherapist but also as a psychotherapist. I was reading today about how hypnosis is being used as a conversion therapy in Russia. This is that discredited and unethical practice of attempting to “cure” people from being gay.
In the article the treatment given lasts between 8 and 18 months and longer for transexuals. The first part of the treatment is to get rid of the same sex attraction and the second part is to sexually objectify women. This is barbarism in the tradition of the inquisition rather than psychological truth.
We are secular practitioners, our personal, religious beliefs have no place in the consulting room. When professional colleagues prevent the work that we do it is a stain on the entire profession. Not just hypnotherapists, but these are psychotherapists engaging in this practice.
It is a crime that people still believe that homosexuality is something that needs to be cured. Even if one is to evoke religious belief into this, we are all supposed to be equal in the eyes of God. Shame on those who are so bigoted that they prevent not only psychotherapy but religion as well to serve their prejudice.
