Leaders in the world of psychotherapy have united to call for an end to practices aiming to ‘change’ person’s sexuality or gender identity claiming such practices are offensive, harmful and their effectiveness has never been proved. The memorandum goes further than a document published in 2015 by the Department for Health, which focused exclusively on sexual orientation. The professional bodies now want to make clear that gender identity also cannot be changed like that. Dominic Davies, CEO Pink Therapy, said: “This document has the potential to change the way therapy is delivered in the UK for future generations, as it requires therapists to be trained to work with gender and sexual diverse clients.” The UK Council for Psychotherapy, the Royal College of GPs, the British Psychoanalytic Council and the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy are among the organisations to sign the document. It is also backed by the Association of Christian Counsellors.
