Anastasyia (Stacy) Esposito, LCMHC, of Brookline is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and owner of Healing Roots, LLC in Amherst. Harvey Feldman, LCMHC, of Concord, is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and owner of Harvey Feldman Counseling LLC.
We are writing to share our strong opposition to HB 1077, which would repeal the ban on conversion therapy for youth that New Hampshire passed in 2018. We write as two licensed therapists in private practice, both specializing in work with the LGBTQIA+ community. Harvey Feldman (he/him) has worked with LGBTQAI+ youth, families and adults since 2019, and Stacy Esposito (she/her) has worked with LGBTQIA+ adolescents and adults since 2016.
We are very aware of what is at stake if this bill were to pass. We are all too familiar with the devastating consequences of conversion therapy, not only through our work with clients but also through the vast amount of research demonstrating the significant distress imposed by such practices, including increased anxiety and depression, reduced self-esteem, and significantly higher rates of self-harm and suicide. Conversion therapy, including methods only utilizing talk therapy, has been rightfully condemned by mental health licensing boards, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Association of Social Workers, among many others. The proposition to repeal the ban is alarming and disheartening.
If passed, HB 1077 would send a message to youth and their families throughout New Hampshire that having an LGBTQIA+ identity is shameful and in need of “correction.” We understand that families who seek out conversion therapy likely have good intentions, and may do so out of a sense of concern for the safety and welfare of their children. They might believe that if their child can change or alter their identity, their life will be easier.
However, conversion therapy has profoundly negative and detrimental effects on youth who are subjected to it. Well-intentioned but unaware families are vulnerable to misinformation and exploitation, and a repeal of this ban would increase that vulnerability significantly.
As professionals specializing in this work, we are guided by ethical codes which, above all else, require us to act in the most protective and least harmful ways with our clients. Work with youth and families includes providing research and best practices regarding treatment decisions. A therapist acting within their code of ethics is obligated to share statistics regarding treatment outcomes, such as those included in the Trevor Project’s 2021 report of youth mental health.
This survey indicates that 27% of respondents who were exposed to conversion therapy attempted suicide the same year. Additional findings from a cross-sectional study published in 2020 of 27,715 U.S. transgender adults suggest survivors of childhood conversion therapy focused on GICE (gender identity conversion efforts) experienced significantly higher psychological distress and increased suicide attempts throughout their lifetime. It’s important to note that GICE practices are primarily talk therapy, which this bill would allow.
Families who want the safest outcomes for youth should be able to use this data to shift their thinking away from conversion efforts, but what about the “therapist” who does not inform families of empirical research and willingly engages in dangerous, damaging practices because state law allows it? Individuals seeking therapy are often vulnerable; LGBTQAI+ youth and their families are even more so, by a significant magnitude. A “therapist” who leverages that vulnerability to harm youth should not be able to call themselves by that title, and yet HB 1077 will invite them to do so.
In 2018, New Hampshire’s rate of youth suicide was 50% higher than the national average. This bill would only increase the risks facing young Granite Staters. We urge New Hampshire lawmakers to uphold the existing ban on conversion therapy in the state, not allow for more suffering and the potential loss of lives, and send the message to New Hampshire LGBTQAI+ youth that they are valued, and most importantly, safe.