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== Biography == == Biography ==
⚫ Nicolosi held a ] from the ]. He was a founding member of the ] (NARTH) and was its president for some time. NARTH is a professional association that promotes the acceptance of ]. He was an advisor to, and officer of, NARTH.<ref name="officers">{{cite web|url=http://www.narth.com/menus/officers.html |title=NARTH Officers |accessdate=2010-05-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040803174911/http://www.narth.com/menus/officers.html |archivedate=2004-08-03 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.narth.com/menus/advisors.html |title=NARTH Advisors |accessdate=2010-05-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617025223/http://www.narth.com/menus/advisors.html |archivedate=2008-06-17 }}</ref> NARTH was for some time based in Encino at Nicolosi's own "] Psychological Clinic". According to the ], "NARTH presents its methods as based on scientific fact rather than religious belief".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Potok|first1=Mark |url = https://www.splcenter.org/20160525/quacks-conversion-therapists-anti-lgbt-right-and-demonization-homosexuality | title = QUACKS: 'Conversion Therapists,' the Anti-LGBT Right, and the Demonization of Homosexuality |date=May 25, 2016 |publisher=Website of the ] |accessdate = 11 May 2020}}</ref> He was a ].<ref name="Huffpost" />

Nicolosi described his ideas in ''Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality: A New Clinical Approach'' (1991) and three other books. Nicolosi proposed that ] is often the product of a condition he described as gender-identity deficit caused by an alienation from, and perceived rejection by, formative individuals of the subject's gender which interrupts normal masculine or feminine identification process.<ref name=autogenerated1>Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D., ''Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7657-0142-1}}</ref> He also held that adaptation to gender trauma during formative years could alienate a child from their "fundamental nature." His goal was to restore "that which functions in accordance with its biological design.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/traumatic-foundation-male-homosexuality|title=The Traumatic Foundation of Male Homosexuality|date=2016-12-19|website=Crisis Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref> Nicolosi described his ideas in ''Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality: A New Clinical Approach'' (1991) and three other books. Nicolosi proposed that ] is often the product of a condition he described as gender-identity deficit caused by an alienation from, and perceived rejection by, formative individuals of the subject's gender which interrupts normal masculine or feminine identification process.<ref name=autogenerated1>Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D., ''Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7657-0142-1}}</ref> He also held that adaptation to gender trauma during formative years could alienate a child from their "fundamental nature." His goal was to restore "that which functions in accordance with its biological design.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crisismagazine.com/2016/traumatic-foundation-male-homosexuality|title=The Traumatic Foundation of Male Homosexuality|date=2016-12-19|website=Crisis Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref>


⚫ Nicolosi held a ] from the ]. He was a founding member of the ] (NARTH) and was its president for some time. NARTH is a professional association that promotes the acceptance of ]. He was an advisor to, and officer of, NARTH.<ref name="officers">{{cite web|url=http://www.narth.com/menus/officers.html |title=NARTH Officers |accessdate=2010-05-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040803174911/http://www.narth.com/menus/officers.html |archivedate=2004-08-03 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.narth.com/menus/advisors.html |title=NARTH Advisors |accessdate=2010-05-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617025223/http://www.narth.com/menus/advisors.html |archivedate=2008-06-17 }}</ref> NARTH was for some time based in Encino at Nicolosi's own "] Psychological Clinic". According to the ], "NARTH presents its methods as based on scientific fact rather than religious belief".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Potok|first1=Mark |url = https://www.splcenter.org/20160525/quacks-conversion-therapists-anti-lgbt-right-and-demonization-homosexuality | title = QUACKS: 'Conversion Therapists,' the Anti-LGBT Right, and the Demonization of Homosexuality |date=May 25, 2016 |publisher=Website of the ] |accessdate = 11 May 2020}}</ref> He was a ].<ref name="Huffpost" />
⚫ After his death in 2017, Nicolosi's ] continues to exist as "The Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity", headed by his son, Joseph Nicolosi Junior.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kristine Stolakis cracks the secrets of the ex-gay movement in 'Pray Away'|url=https://www.queerty.com/kristine-stolakis-cracks-secrets-ex-gay-movement-pray-away-20200426|last=Reddish|first=David|date=2020-04-26|website=Queerty|access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref>


==Views==
Nicolosi claimed the ] of ] and ] of a boy or man, particularly the influence of ]s, specially of the ], to be one of the significant causes of ].<ref name=N/> In his view,
{{Quote|The vast majority of these fathers appeared to be psychologically normal and, also like most fathers, well-intentioned with regard to their sons; in only one case was the father seriously disturbed, inflicting significant emotional cruelty upon his son. However as a group, these fathers were characterized by the inability to counter their sons' defensive detachment from them. They felt helpless to attract the boy into their own masculine sphere.<ref name=N>{{cite web |last1=Nicolosi |first1=Joseph |title=FATHERS OF MALE HOMOSEXUALS: A Collective Clinical Profile |url=https://www.josephnicolosi.com/collection/2015/5/30/fathers-of-male-homosexuals-a-collective-clinical-profile |website=Joseph Nicolosi - Reparative Therapy® |accessdate=3 August 2020 |date=30 May 2015}}</ref>}}

==Criticism==
In 2009, ] criticized Nicolosi's appearance at a conference in ], saying that: "there is no sound scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed" and "furthermore, so-called treatments of homosexuality create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish."<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=2009-04-23|title=Doctors criticise 'gay treatment'|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8015711.stm|url-status=live|access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref> Nicolosi gave an interview with the ] in order to defend his opinions, claiming: "we have a great deal of evidence".<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=2009-04-24|title=Psychologist defends gay 'treatment'|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8016013.stm|url-status=live|access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The conference, at which Nicolosi was a ] speaker, was organized by ], a conservative religious charity, and by evangelical conservative lobby group ], and its organizers professed to be "very worried about the continued progress of the ]".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Booth|first=Robert|last2=Ball|first2=James|date=2012-04-13|title='Gay cure' Christian charity funded 20 MPs' interns|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/13/gay-cure-christian-charity-mps-interns|access-date=2020-05-12|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> At the conference, Nicolosi performed "therapy" on a man live in front of the audience, a sight ] described as "like I was watching a ]".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Strudwick|first=Patrick|date=2010-02-09|title=The war on 'cures' for homosexuality {{!}} Patrick Strudwick|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/09/conversion-therapy-homosexuality|access-date=2020-05-12|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In 2009, ] criticized Nicolosi's appearance at a conference in ], saying that: "there is no sound scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed" and "furthermore, so-called treatments of homosexuality create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish."<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=2009-04-23|title=Doctors criticise 'gay treatment'|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8015711.stm|url-status=live|access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref> Nicolosi gave an interview with the ] in order to defend his opinions, claiming: "we have a great deal of evidence".<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=2009-04-24|title=Psychologist defends gay 'treatment'|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8016013.stm|url-status=live|access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The conference, at which Nicolosi was a ] speaker, was organized by ], a conservative religious charity, and by evangelical conservative lobby group ], and its organizers professed to be "very worried about the continued progress of the ]".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Booth|first=Robert|last2=Ball|first2=James|date=2012-04-13|title='Gay cure' Christian charity funded 20 MPs' interns|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/13/gay-cure-christian-charity-mps-interns|access-date=2020-05-12|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> At the conference, Nicolosi performed "therapy" on a man live in front of the audience, a sight ] described as "like I was watching a ]".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Strudwick|first=Patrick|date=2010-02-09|title=The war on 'cures' for homosexuality {{!}} Patrick Strudwick|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/09/conversion-therapy-homosexuality|access-date=2020-05-12|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>


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On July 2, 2019, leading online book retailer ] removed several of Nicolosi's books from their catalog, including the 2002 publication ''A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality'', following a ] petition requesting that they do so.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-takes-down-gay-conversion-therapy-books-2019-7|title=Amazon pulls conversion therapy books like 'A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality' after 3 months of protests|first=Isobel Asher|last=Hamilton|website=Business Insider}}</ref> On July 2, 2019, leading online book retailer ] removed several of Nicolosi's books from their catalog, including the 2002 publication ''A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality'', following a ] petition requesting that they do so.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-takes-down-gay-conversion-therapy-books-2019-7|title=Amazon pulls conversion therapy books like 'A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality' after 3 months of protests|first=Isobel Asher|last=Hamilton|website=Business Insider}}</ref>

⚫ Nicolosi's ] continues to exist as "The Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity", headed by his son.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kristine Stolakis cracks the secrets of the ex-gay movement in 'Pray Away'|url=https://www.queerty.com/kristine-stolakis-cracks-secrets-ex-gay-movement-pray-away-20200426|last=Reddish|first=David|date=2020-04-26|website=Queerty|access-date=2020-05-12}}</ref>


==Death== ==Death==

Revision as of 00:57, 4 August 2020

American clinical psychologist
Joseph Nicolosi
Born(1947-01-24)January 24, 1947
New York
DiedMarch 8, 2017(2017-03-08) (aged 70)
California, U.S.
OccupationPsychologist
Spouse Linda Nicolosi ​(m. 1978⁠–⁠2017)​

Joseph Nicolosi (January 24, 1947 – March 8, 2017) was an American clinical psychologist who advocated and practiced "reparative therapy", a form of the pseudoscientific treatment of conversion therapy that he claimed could help people overcome or mitigate their homosexual desires and replace them with heterosexual ones. Nicolosi was a founder and president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH).

Biography

Nicolosi described his ideas in Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality: A New Clinical Approach (1991) and three other books. Nicolosi proposed that homosexuality is often the product of a condition he described as gender-identity deficit caused by an alienation from, and perceived rejection by, formative individuals of the subject's gender which interrupts normal masculine or feminine identification process. He also held that adaptation to gender trauma during formative years could alienate a child from their "fundamental nature." His goal was to restore "that which functions in accordance with its biological design.”

Nicolosi held a Ph.D. from the California School of Professional Psychology. He was a founding member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) and was its president for some time. NARTH is a professional association that promotes the acceptance of conversion therapy. He was an advisor to, and officer of, NARTH. NARTH was for some time based in Encino at Nicolosi's own "Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic". According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, "NARTH presents its methods as based on scientific fact rather than religious belief". He was a Catholic.

In 2009, Royal College of Psychiatrists criticized Nicolosi's appearance at a conference in London, saying that: "there is no sound scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed" and "furthermore, so-called treatments of homosexuality create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish." Nicolosi gave an interview with the BBC in order to defend his opinions, claiming: "we have a great deal of evidence". The conference, at which Nicolosi was a keynote speaker, was organized by Anglican Mainstream, a conservative religious charity, and by evangelical conservative lobby group Christian Action Research and Education, and its organizers professed to be "very worried about the continued progress of the gay ... agenda". At the conference, Nicolosi performed "therapy" on a man live in front of the audience, a sight Patrick Strudwick described as "like I was watching a blood sport".

In 2012, California passed a law that banned the provision of conversion therapy to minors, including some of Nicolosi's existing patients. Nicolosi was named as a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the law on constitutional grounds but the law, effectively barring Nicolosi's clinic from taking on patients under the age of 18, was subsequently upheld. The Supreme Court later explicitly referenced this case.

In 2013, Nicolosi appeared in Stephen Fry's television documentary Stephen Fry: Out There, which examined different attitudes to homosexuality. Nicolosi informed Fry that "sixty percent of our clients now are teenagers. Parents call up in a panic because they found out their son is looking at gay porn, and, of course we have to get him into therapy". After the segment, Fry says that "for all his talk of success, Nicolosi is unable to find one of his ex-gays to talk to us". Fry then speaks with Daniel Gonzales, a former client of Nicolosi's who did not have success in changing his sexual orientation. Gonzales condemns the therapy.

From 2013, protests were raised in Spain over the sale of three of Nicolosi's books titled: I Want to Stop Being Gay (Template:Lang-es), How to Prevent Homosexuality (Template:Lang-es), and Gender Confusion in Childhood (Template:Lang-es). Major Spanish department store El Corte Inglés was threatened with a boycott by the United Left coalition over its stocking of the works, but continued to market them in 2014.

In 2017, psychology professor Warren Throckmorton said that Nicolosi had earlier been offered the chance to assess the viability of his therapy by J. Michael Bailey, a professor of psychology best known for his sexual orientation research. Bailey informed Nicolosi that he could bring his patients to his lab at Northwestern University to test their automatic responses to erotic cues, i.e. men versus women. Throckmorton wrote that "Nicolosi never took him up on the offer" and that Bailey confirmed the offer was still open. Bailey told Throckmorton that "pre (or even mid) treatment scans compared with post-treatment scans would help to offset the lack of a control group". In a prominent 2016 academic review, Bailey also critiqued Nicolosi's claims of success, noting that earlier research by Kurt Freund found that mens claims of sexual re-orientation were not supported by phallometric assessments, which measure penile blood-flow in response to imagery. Additionally Bailey notes that Conrad and Wincze found that physiological arousal measurements did not support the positive reports of those who had participated in sexual-reorientation therapy. In other words, the men were still attracted to and aroused by men.

On July 2, 2019, leading online book retailer Amazon removed several of Nicolosi's books from their catalog, including the 2002 publication A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality, following a Change.org petition requesting that they do so.

Nicolosi's NARTH continues to exist as "The Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity", headed by his son.

Death

Nicolosi died in March 2017 at the age of 70 from flu complications.

Publications

See also

References

  1. Sandomir, Richard (March 16, 2017). "Joseph Nicolosi, Advocate of Conversion Therapy for Gays, Dies at 70". The New York Times.
  2. Joseph Nicolosi: Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic (March 9, 2017). "Post number 652660888270320". Facebook. Retrieved March 11, 2017. Linda Nicolosi, Joe's lifelong collaborator and also his wife of 39 years, is grateful for everyone's prayers ...
  3. ^ "Amazon Pulls Books By Catholic Writer Who Promoted Conversion Therapy". 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
  4. ^ "NARTH Officers". Archived from the original on 2004-08-03. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  5. Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D., Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality, Rowman & Littlefield, 2004, ISBN 0-7657-0142-1
  6. "The Traumatic Foundation of Male Homosexuality". Crisis Magazine. 2016-12-19. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  7. "NARTH Advisors". Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  8. Potok, Mark (May 25, 2016). "QUACKS: 'Conversion Therapists,' the Anti-LGBT Right, and the Demonization of Homosexuality". Website of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Doctors criticise 'gay treatment'". BBC News. 2009-04-23. Retrieved 2020-05-12.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. "Psychologist defends gay 'treatment'". BBC News. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2020-05-12.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. Booth, Robert; Ball, James (2012-04-13). "'Gay cure' Christian charity funded 20 MPs' interns". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  12. Strudwick, Patrick (2010-02-09). "The war on 'cures' for homosexuality | Patrick Strudwick". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  13. "Second Lawsuit Filed against Calif. Gay Therapy Ban". CBN. October 7, 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  14. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-1140_5368.pdf
  15. Fry, Stephen (2013). ""Stephen Fry meets an ex-gay therapist" from Stephen Fry: Out There". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-04-16 – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) + +
    • Quote Joseph Nicolosi: "I would say about maybe, sixty percent of our clients now are teenagers. Parents call up in a panic because they found out their son is looking at gay porn, and, of course we have to get him into therapy" (timestamp 04:40 minutes)+
    • Quote Stephen Fry: "for all his talk of success, Nicolosi is unable to find one of his ex-gays to talk to us" (timestamp 06:39 minutes)+
  16. Waidzunas, Tom (2015-11-20). The Straight Line: How the Fringe Science of Ex-Gay Therapy Reoriented Sexuality. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1-4529-4552-1.
  17. "Stephen Fry's documentary about gay life across the globe is unexpectedly absorbing". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  18. ^ Kassam, Ashifa (2014-06-17). "Call for boycott of Spanish department store over sales of anti-gay books". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  19. "Translations: Spanish". Joseph Nicolosi - Reparative Therapy®. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  20. "New Sexual Reorientation Study Off to a Shaky Start; Michael Bailey's Brain Scan Offer is Still Good – Warren Throckmorton". Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  21. Bailey, J. Michael; Vasey, Paul L.; Diamond, Lisa M.; Breedlove, S. Marc; Vilain, Eric; Epprecht, Marc (2016). "Sexual Orientation, Controversy, and Science" (PDF). Psychological Science in the Public Interest: A Journal of the American Psychological Society. 17 (2): 85. doi:10.1177/1529100616637616. ISSN 2160-0031. PMID 27113562.
  22. Hamilton, Isobel Asher. "Amazon pulls conversion therapy books like 'A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality' after 3 months of protests". Business Insider.
  23. Reddish, David (2020-04-26). "Kristine Stolakis cracks the secrets of the ex-gay movement in 'Pray Away'". Queerty. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  24. Allen, Samantha (March 9, 2017). "'Ex-Gay Therapy' Leader Dead at 70". The Daily Beast.

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