conversion therapy
noun
plural conversion therapies
: the use of any of various methods (such as aversive stimulation or religious counseling) in an attempt to change a person's sexual orientation to heterosexual or to change a person's gender identity to correspond to the sex the person was identified as having at birth
Note: Conversion therapy is generally regarded as having no scientific basis and as being both ineffective and harmful.
Conversion therapy is both pointless and painful. At its best, it can inflict considerable psychological damage on a child without changing their sexual orientation or gender identity whatsoever. At its worst, it can lead to suicide …—
Samantha Allen
Samantha AllenMomentum has been building in legislative sessions this spring for the bans, which prohibit state-licensed mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy for anyone under 18.—Susan Miller
Susan Millercalled also reparative therapy
Examples of conversion therapy in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Language warning travelers of conversion therapy practices in some countries has been pared down, and a section for those with an X gender marker on their passports has been removed almost entirely.
—Nathan Diller, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2025
The Republican attorney general last week also teamed up with a group of Christian counselors in a federal lawsuit challenging conversion therapy bans enacted in Kansas City and Jackson County.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 14 Feb. 2025
In 2012, the Rabbinical Council of America representing Modern Orthodox rabbis withdrew support of Jewish conversion therapy organization JONAH.
—Yonat Shimron, Sun Sentinel, 6 Feb. 2025
His father was Psycho star Anthony Perkins, who had relationships with men until undergoing conversion therapy.
—EW.com, 19 Dec. 2024
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Nathan Diller, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2025
The Republican attorney general last week also teamed up with a group of Christian counselors in a federal lawsuit challenging conversion therapy bans enacted in Kansas City and Jackson County.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 14 Feb. 2025
In 2012, the Rabbinical Council of America representing Modern Orthodox rabbis withdrew support of Jewish conversion therapy organization JONAH.
—Yonat Shimron, Sun Sentinel, 6 Feb. 2025
His father was Psycho star Anthony Perkins, who had relationships with men until undergoing conversion therapy.
—EW.com, 19 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for conversion therapy
Cite this Entry
“Conversion therapy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conversion%20therapy. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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