A case study of ethical and political change in the history of sexual orientation conversion efforts in cognitive behavior therapy.

I review the role I played in discouraging sexual reorientation efforts (SOCE) in the mid-1970s and the social, ethical, and legal context of societal attitudes to such change programs. A key distinction in these developments is the importance of Can versus Ought. That is, just because we might be able to engage in a certain activity does not mean that we ought to. Psychotherapy is an inherently moral enterprise, and therapists exert great influence on the goals that they help their clients work toward. I argue that it is a serious problem to ignore this.