Occupation Psychologist Name Joseph Nicolosi | Role Psychologist | |
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Born January 21, 1947 (age 77) ( 1947-01-21 ) People also search for Charles W. Socarides, Lucy Freeman, Benjamin Kaufman, Paul Cameron Organizations founded National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality Books Reparative therapy of male hom, Healing Homosexuality: Case Stor, Shame and Attachment Loss: The, A Parent's Guide to Preventin, Shame and Attachment Loss: The | ||
Andrew Comiskey reflects on influence of Joseph Nicolosi
Joseph Nicolosi (January 24, 1947 – March 8, 2017) was an American clinical psychologist, founder and director of the Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic in Encino, California, and a founder and president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). Nicolosi advocated and practiced reparative therapy, a practice that he claimed could help people overcome or mitigate their homosexual desires and replace them with heterosexual ones.
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Biography
Nicolosi described his theories in Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality: A New Clinical Approach (1991) and three other books. Nicolosi proposed that homosexuality is often the product of a condition he described as gender-identity deficit caused by an alienation from, and perceived rejection by, individuals of the subject's gender. He held a Ph.D. from the California School of Professional Psychology. Nicolosi was a founding member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) and was its president for some time. NARTH is a professional association that promotes the acceptance of conversion therapy. He was an advisor to, and officer of, NARTH.
In 2012, California passed a law that banned the provision of conversion therapy to minors, including some of Nicolosi's existing patients. Nicolosi was named as a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the law on constitutional grounds but the law, effectively barring Nicolosi's clinic from taking on patients under the age of 18, was subsequently upheld.
He died in March 2017 at the age of 70 "from complications from the flu".