| | |
| | | New Research by IHF Published in Peer-Reviewed Journal Issues in Law & Medicine
Recent legislation introduced in the United States, and abroad, to restrict “conversion” or “change” therapies for clients under the age of eighteen has brought upon increasing challenges for religious and/or rejecting families of children who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ), or experience unwanted same-sex attractions or gender identity conflicts. Currently, fourteen states, the District of Columbia, and forty-four cities have passed laws to prohibit such therapies, with more legislation being introduced every year. While reports of abuse and/or forced therapy with licensed clinicians are hard to verify, outcome studies on the effects of “conversion” or “change” therapy for minors have not been published in the scientific peer-reviewed literature, and even less is known about successful therapeutic interventions for religious and/ or rejecting families of such youth. |
| With the increasing scrutiny brought about by such laws, licensed mental health practitioners should consider adopting innovative models of family systems therapy in order to safely and effectively work with sexual minority youth, and their families. This article presents one such family systems therapeutic model, while also addressing several important ethical considerations for working with religious and/or rejecting families of sexual minority youth. Click here to read more of A New Family Systems Therapeutic Approach for Parents and Families of Sexual Minority Youth.
|
| | | | | |
|
|
| Bring Christopher Doyle to Your Church Service, Conference, or Event Clear Answers on Sexuality and Gender in a Confused Culture
In today’s secular culture, confusion abounds on issues relating to sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Within the church, pastors and ministers are being inundated with so-called modern constructs of sex, gender, and sexual identity - and without the proper training and education, professionals in the faith-based community are often unable to articulate clear solutions to difficult questions.
Having journeyed through these issues, personally and professionally, Christopher Doyle understands and can articulate clear-cut solutions to these dilemmas. As a licensed clinical professional counselor, published author, and expert on sexuality and gender identity, some of the topics he teaches on, are:
- The Meaning of Sex: A New Christian Ethos
- Understanding Homosexuality and Gender Identity: Meaning and Causes
- Intimacy in Marriage: How to Take Your Marriage from Functioning to Flourishing
- Healing for Families and Parents of Sexual Minority Children
- Sexual Risk Avoidance: Benefits of Delaying Sexual Debut for Young People
- Real Love in Marriage: How to Give and Receive Unconditional Love
- The Politics of Sexual and Gender Identity
In addition, Christopher can customize any of these presentations to suit your conference, event, Sunday morning service, or mid-week Bible study.
|
| | Institute for Healthy Families and Christopher Doyle in the Media |
| |  |
'I know personally it works': Man who sued Maryland to overturn gay conversion ban at center of new film
Whether as the plaintiff in a recently filed lawsuit or a central figure in a new documentary, therapist Christopher Doyle portrays himself as both healer and healed.
“The same-sex desires, just like it was in my case, just went away. And today, I’m married, I have two kids and I’m so happy,” Doyle says in a 2012 Dr. Oz appearance that opens the documentary, “The Sunday Sessions.” The movie will be screened at the Creative Alliance on Sunday.
He and a client gave Baltimore-based filmmaker Richard Yeagley broad access to months of sessions, and the often-wrenching footage from them forms the heart of the 1 1/2-hour documentary, which was released for streaming on iTunes, Amazon and Kanopy on Feb. 5 and previously screened in other cities. It depicts the client, Nathan Gniewek, struggling, often tearfully and angrily, to deal with his attraction to men.
The power of the film comes from its fly-on-the-wall approach — there are no voiceovers or interviews, and Yeagley kept his belief that gay people shouldn’t have to feel a need to “convert” on his side of the camera. Click here to read more in The Baltimore Sun. |
| | Review of "The Sunday Sessions" on 1More Film Blog
. . . the most counter-cultural thing in this portrait of a conflicted gay man is his insistence that his religious identity is not some choice that can be jettisoned to make his life healthier and happier in the eyes of those who fundamentally agree with some of its assumptions.
The documentary also contrasts sharply with Boy Erased in the way it presents those doing the therapy. Chris Doyle may well be held in contempt by the film for persisting in a practice that is not endorsed by any credible psychiatric association and is now banned in Maryland but is consistently shown, unlike the counselors in Boy Erased, telling (Nathan) that he is in charge of his own therapy. If Doyle is wrong, either about his own sexual preference conversion or about what is best for (Nathan), he appears to be sincerely wrong.
That sincerity creates a fascinating subtext in The Sunday Sessions, one in which the documentary appears to conflate not intervening with being neutral. Towards the end of the documentary, (Nathan) shares an answer to prayer that he believes he received by means of a spiritually intense experience while taking the Eucharist. Ironically, while both his therapist and the film seem to be agreed that his Christian identity and his gay identity are not compatible (just disagreed about which he should give up), (Nathan) bravely persists at trying to reconcile the two. Does that make him foolish or brave? Click here to read more.
|
| | MD Counseling Ban on Trial
BALTIMORE, MD (January 21, 2019) – Liberty Counsel filed a federal lawsuit seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction against Maryland's new law which prohibits minors from receiving voluntary counseling from licensed professionals to reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions or gender confusion.
In Doyle v. Hogan, Liberty Counsel represents Christopher Doyle, a licensed professional counselor in Virginia and Maryland. Doyle is challenging Maryland's SB 1028, which was signed into law by Maryland governor Larry Hogan and went into effect on October 1, 2018. SB 1028 is modeled after similar laws in California, New Jersey and other states that prohibit licensed counselors from providing talk therapy to children and adolescents who want to reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions or gender confusion. These professionals provide life-saving counsel to minors who desperately desire to conform their attractions, behaviors, and identity to their sincerely held religious beliefs. The sacred trust between counselors and clients is a unique alliance that permits clients to inform the counselors of their own goals and receive counseling consistent with those goals. Click here to read more of Liberty Counsel's press release.
|
| | Dr. Michelle Cretella on Transgender Ideology: 'Institutionalized Large-Scale Child Abuse'
"For most of human history, it has been pretty obvious that we determine our gender by our bodies. But today, more are beginning to believe it starts in the mind. It's troubling when an adult chooses this, but when children become involved, it's dangerous," stated Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, who moderated a panel on gender ideology and children at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. Click here to read Christopher Doyle's interview with Dr. Michelle Cretella at The Christian Post. |
| | Institute for Healthy Families (IHF) specializes in counseling solutions for individuals, couples, families, therapists, and ministry leaders. IHF is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit therapeutic organization located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. As a Judeo-Christian organization, IHF believes that the family is the foundation for healthy individuals, relationships, communities, and places of worship. While IHF is non-sectarian, we believe that God reveals His truth in both the Bible and Creation and that we can use this wisdom to help facilitate healing. IHF believes that through this synthesis of science and faith, we can help our clients form and maintain healthy families that will be able to help their children become the best versions of themselves and fulfill God’s will for their lives. For more information, visit our website at: www.InstituteforHealthyFamilies.org.
|
| |
|
