"Ethical Care in Secret": Qualitative Data from an International Survey of Exploratory Therapists Working with Gender-Questioning Clients.

This is a mixed methods international survey of therapists (n = 89) belonging to Therapy First, an organization supporting the use of exploratory therapy, rather than gender affirmative therapy, with gender-questioning clients. The method used was an electronic questionnaire, producing a 33% response rate from members. Responses were analyzed using thematic analysis. This article reports qualitative responses relating to therapists' experiences of anxiety in working in a hostile professional environment, and their adoption of strategies to minimize risk of allegations of conversion therapy. Therapist strategies included refining existing marketing approaches to serve preferred client groups, and reliance on proven therapy models.

Lessons From Reparative Therapy Applied to Post-Abortion Grief Counseling.

There is evidence from the legislative, judicial, and counseling sectors that the sun is setting on therapies designed to change sexual orientation. Despite this evidence, there is also evidence that similar pseudoscientific interventions continue to be used in at least one other area-post-abortion counseling. The key factor shared by both interventions is their dependence on unvalidated explanations of behavior. In the case of changing the expression of sexual orientation, the harm at the personal and communal levels is clear. In the case of post-abortion counseling, the harm is hypothesized, and the reasons why a communal response is lacking in the post-abortion community are described. Steps clinicians can take to alleviate the probable harm caused by the use of unvalidated/unvalidatable interventions, with a particular emphasis on identifying and expunging culturally derived and oppressive interventions currently used, are delineated as clinical and social justice activities to reduce human suffering.