Seeking for info about the IHF

[Depdem]

IHF- International Healing Foundation

I would like to find some info on this specific ex-gay ministry/movement/therapy...
Below are some main points of interest.

1)
Read somewhere that scientific evidence points to a genetic or biological basis? but...
This says the opposite and 80 years!... wow. how true is this?

"No one is born with same-sex attraction (SSA).

There is no scientific data to substantiate either a genetic or biologic basis for same-sex attraction (SSA). On the contrary, eighty years of scientific research conclusively indicates that SSA is the result of temperament, familial, and environmental conditions. "

2)
Also says,
"Meet....
Richard Cohen, M.A.
Psychotherapist
Educator and Author
Richard Cohen, M.A., a psychotherapist and educator, is one of the leading experts in the field of sexual reorientation..."

Ok.. heard/read somewhere that anyone can hang a sign over a building and say their a psychotherapist. But he still has a masters in psychology.


3)
"The underlying meaning and causes of homosexuality are presented. The hidden meanings behind same-sex attractions are described:

Need for same-sex parent's love

Need for gender identification

Fear of intimacy with the opposite sex.

The ten basic causes are detailed:

Heredity

Temperament

Hetero-emotional wounds

Homo-emotional wounds

Family dynamics / sibling wounds

Body image wounds

Peer wounds (Homo-social wounds)

Sexual abuse

Cultural wounds

Intrauterine influences and other factors

This is an excellent introduction for anyone who wishes to understand the causes of same-sex attractions."

I've read time and time again that these causes have been disproven by scientific evidence, but up to now, i haven't found any.

4)
His testimony and that of others mentioned in the site are pretty unwavering. Their firm that what their saying is true.
They use their testimony/ies and say it is applicable to anyone who desires it.

Is there any back-up info when one gets confronted by a pro-cohen healing mindset?
----------------------------------

I don't see any 'this is what God wants' articles in the "ex-gay" website (link removed by moderator).
More proof for the anti-gay movement and their righteous homo-condemning ways.

[RedneckDyke]

I don't know about IHF. I don't want to even read their stuff. A couple years ago Love Won Out Came to Raleigh. I organized a protest. I looked up the websites of Exodus and NARTH so I'd know what they say.And so they couldn't say I mis-quoted them when I talked to people about it.
At the time, I had been in good therapy for 4 years and in a welcoming loving church for 2 years. I had just gotten to the point where I was moving past growing up in a fundie religion. Even with all this support, it only took me 10 minutes of reading that crap on their website to make me feel like they were right. That I was a sinner. Diseased. Mentally ill. An abomination. And on and on.
The stuff they say is TOXIC. It is nuclear waste.

[Alecto]

truthwinsout.org has some interesting information on Richard Cohen. All information seems to point towards him being at least a bit of a nutjob. As for "psychotherapist", that's what you call yourself when you're not a Psychologist (PhD) or a Psychiatrist (don't remember the letters, but these are the folks that go through full med school).

As for the "studies" they always point to: they're almost NEVER published in peer-reviewed journals (because they couldn't hold up to peer criticism). Those that are tend to be heavily criticized based on frivelous abandonment of the scientific method.

Some of what they say probably has been directly disproven scientifically. A lot more of it, though, is merely unsupported scientifically. So, if I say "females tend to be more ::insert inoffensive trait here" arbitrarily based on my anecdotal evidence, then it might very well hold up to a scientific study. Or it might be complete and utter nonsense. Whereas when I say "gay people are always easily identifyable", that one HAS been disproven by studies. Start combining the two, and you've got a lovely little organization called NARTH.

[u-dog]

Originally Posted by Alecto

truthwinsout.org has some interesting information on Richard Cohen. All information seems to point towards him being at least a bit of a nutjob. As for "psychotherapist", that's what you call yourself when you're not a Psychologist (PhD) or a Psychiatrist (don't remember the letters, but these are the folks that go through full med school).

Sorry but I need to respond to this, Alecto, as the husband of a person in the mental health field your characterization of "psychotherapist" is REALLY unfair and untrue. A PHD Psychologist is a psychotherapist if he or she SEES patients. Many of them don't. A person with a masters in Psychology can be a psychotherapist if they are liscenced. A psychiatrist is an MD. They USED to do psychotherapy and sometimes still do but these days they are mostly "pill pushers" They also often work WITH pyschotherapists to prescribe meds in association with talk therapy. There are a whole host of different Masters level clinicians (masters of Social Work, marriage and Family therapists, pastoral counselors, marriage counselors, sex therapists, and more) all of whom can be called psychotherapists and if they are licensed by their states are well educated and trained with hundreds of hours of clinical experience behind them and a competant professional standing behind them providing "supervision".

In addition, all of these specialities have national professional organizations that lay out qualifications and training requirements and maintain codes of ethical conduct. (APA, the AMA, etc)

AT ALL OF THESE LEVELS THERE ARE VERY COMPETANT PRACTITIONERS. THERE ARE ALSO QUACKS AND BOZOS.

The "psychotherapists" who are quoted by the ex-gay industry may or may not have a doctorate/masters degree and may or may not be liscenced and may or may not be abiding by the codes of conduct of their "guilds" Most of them are operating outside the mainstream of opinion and conduct in their fields.

[BrentRichards]

Originally Posted by u-dog

Sorry but I need to respond to this, Alecto, as the husband of a person in the mental health field your characterization of "psychotherapist" is REALLY unfair and untrue. A PHD Psychologist is a psychotherapist if he or she SEES patients. Many of them don't. A person with a masters in Psychology can be a psychotherapist if they are liscenced. A psychiatrist is an MD. They USED to do psychotherapy and sometimes still do but these days they are mostly "pill pushers" They also often work WITH pyschotherapists to prescribe meds in association with talk therapy. There are a whole host of different Masters level clinicians (masters of Social Work, marriage and Family therapists, pastoral counselors, marriage counselors, sex therapists, and more) all of whom can be called psychotherapists and if they are licensed by their states are well educated and trained with hundreds of hours of clinical experience behind them and a competant professional standing behind them providing "supervision".

In addition, all of these specialities have national professional organizations that lay out qualifications and training requirements and maintain codes of ethical conduct. (APA, the AMA, etc)

AT ALL OF THESE LEVELS THERE ARE VERY COMPETANT PRACTITIONERS. THERE ARE ALSO QUACKS AND BOZOS.

The "psychotherapists" who are quoted by the ex-gay industry may or may not have a doctorate/masters degree and may or may not be liscenced and may or may not be abiding by the codes of conduct of their "guilds" Most of them are operating outside the mainstream of opinion and conduct in their fields.

Thanks, Dave.

[Alecto]

Originally Posted by u-dog

Sorry but I need to respond to this, Alecto, as the husband of a person in the mental health field your characterization of "psychotherapist" is REALLY unfair and untrue. A PHD Psychologist is a psychotherapist if he or she SEES patients. Many of them don't. A person with a masters in Psychology can be a psychotherapist if they are liscenced. A psychiatrist is an MD. They USED to do psychotherapy and sometimes still do but these days they are mostly "pill pushers" They also often work WITH pyschotherapists to prescribe meds in association with talk therapy. There are a whole host of different Masters level clinicians (masters of Social Work, marriage and Family therapists, pastoral counselors, marriage counselors, sex therapists, and more) all of whom can be called psychotherapists and if they are licensed by their states are well educated and trained with hundreds of hours of clinical experience behind them and a competant professional standing behind them providing "supervision".

In addition, all of these specialities have national professional organizations that lay out qualifications and training requirements and maintain codes of ethical conduct. (APA, the AMA, etc)

AT ALL OF THESE LEVELS THERE ARE VERY COMPETANT PRACTITIONERS. THERE ARE ALSO QUACKS AND BOZOS.

The "psychotherapists" who are quoted by the ex-gay industry may or may not have a doctorate/masters degree and may or may not be liscenced and may or may not be abiding by the codes of conduct of their "guilds" Most of them are operating outside the mainstream of opinion and conduct in their fields.

I apologize: part of this was my lack of experience (I've got mostly the experience from the other side of the "couch", and that was with a psychologist and a psychiatrist who were indeed working together), and another part was just a poor way of phrasing what I was trying to get across. (And yes, for the record, the good folks doing the research end are usually PHDs too; I tend to forget about research because it never interested me too much).

I will ask the question, which I'm not sure if you directly addressed: what are the minimum requirements to call yourself a "psychotherapist"?

[BrentRichards]

Originally Posted by Alecto

I will ask the question, which I'm not sure if you directly addressed: what are the minimum requirements to call yourself a "psychotherapist"?

Short answer ... it depends. This is sometimes/often governed by state law. In some places (but not many any more) you can hang out a "shingle" and call yourself whatever you like, without having any credentials. Usually, though, the state has some licensure regulations. Mental Health licensure law tends to fall into two categories: I'll call them title law and practice law.

A title law governs what a professional may call themselves ... for example, it may restrict use of terms like "Mental Health Counselor," "Licensed Professional Counselor," "Marriage and Family Therapist" ... or perhaps more general terms like "Psychotherapist." Under this type of law, only those licensed by the state authority may call themselves by these particular titles. A consumer seeking counseling will then know which individuals with "shingles" are or are not "vouched for" by the state as having certain minimal qualifications. A person using the restricted terms without the license is subject to prosecution.

A practice law is more restrictive. It regulates not only what you may call yourself, but what kinds of services you may offer. Under this kind of law, if you put yourself forward as offering counseling services (as specifically defined by the law) you must comply with licensure requirements. Exemptions are often in place for religious counselors and the like. This law is more parallel to the medical licensing laws ... you can't dispense medical advice or pills without a license, no matter what you call yourself.

I'd say most states laws I've had contact with are a mix of the two types. They usually restrict certain titles, along with certain types of practices, to licensed professionals. Your state will likely have some kind of professional licensure board (often under a department of labor or industry) for counselors, just like they do for medicine, nursing, funeral directors, etc.