Editing Conversion therapy (section)

===Reparative therapy===
The term "reparative therapy" has been used as a synonym for conversion therapy generally, but according to [[Jack Drescher]], it more correctly refers to a specific kind of therapy{{clarify|date=July 2022}} associated with the psychologists [[Elizabeth Moberly]] and [[Joseph Nicolosi]].<ref name="Drescher1998">{{Harvnb|Drescher|2000|p=152}}</ref>  
For example, he wrote: 
{{blockquote|text=The pursuit of fulfillment through same-sex eroticism is spurred by the fearful anticipation that their masculine self-assertion will inevitably fail and result in humiliation.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nicolosi |first=Joseph |title=The Traumatic Foundation of Male Homosexuality|date=19 December 2016 | url=https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/traumatic-foundation-male-homosexuality}}</ref>}}

The term ''reparative'' refers to Nicolosi's postulate that same-sex attraction is a person's unconscious attempt to "self-repair" feelings of inferiority.<ref name="Hicks_1999">{{cite journal |last1=Hicks |first1=Karolyn A. |title='Reparative' Therapy: Whether Parental Attempts to Change a Child's Sexual Orientation Can Legally Constitute Child Abuse |journal=American University Law Review |volume=49 |issue=2 |date=December 1999 |pages=505–547 |url=https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr/vol49/iss2/4/ |access-date=10 June 2023 |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924070611/https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr/vol49/iss2/4/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Bright">{{Harvnb|Bright|2004|pp=471–481}}</ref> After California banned conversion practices, Nicolosi argued that "reparative therapy" did not attempt to change sexual orientation directly but instead encouraged exploration into its underlying causes, which he believed was often childhood trauma.<ref name="ashley_202209">{{Cite journal |last=Ashley |first=Florence |date=6 September 2022 |title=Interrogating Gender-Exploratory Therapy |journal=Perspectives on Psychological Science |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=472–481 |doi=10.1177/17456916221102325 |pmc=10018052 |pmid=36068009 |s2cid=252108965}}</ref>

A phone study by [[Robert Spitzer (psychiatrist)|Robert Spitzer]] reported that "about 66 percent of the men respondents and 44 percent of the women were able to function as heterosexuals after the therapy," while conceding that "his subjects did not constitute a study population representative of the gay and lesbian population in the U.S."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hausman|first1=Ken |title=Furor Erupts Over Study On Sexual Orientation |journal=Psychiatric News |volume=36 |issue=13 |date=6 July 2001  |pages=20–34 |doi=10.1176/pn.36.13.0020 |url=https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/pn.36.13.0020 |access-date=3 June 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref>