Professional’s Name
Full Address
Contact information
Date
Legislator’s Name
Full Address
Dear [ Legislator ]
I am writing to seek your support in my campaigns against conversion therapy. These campaigns support the emotional and physical health of all youth, especially those who are trapped in the limitations of pre-determined gender outcomes. Your assistance in proposing legislation to ban conversion therapy will be appreciated highly. Society cannot afford to turn its back on the systematic pressures facing the young generation while disregarding the risk that such negligence poses to their future mental stability. First, it is noteworthy that I mention how the demands and procedures of conversion therapy have crushing, unintended repercussions on the youth.
Conversion therapies are the practices made to change same-sex relations or a person's choice of gender identity. These alterations are made with the aim of promoting heterosexuality as the only preferable outcome. Heterosexuality per se is not a bad sexual orientation, but it is the mechanism of promoting it that have the derailing mental implications on the youths who are not fully congruent to heterosexuality. These therapies are being presented on the false grounds that homosexual attractions and other forms of sexual identities are a show of social incompetence, or sometimes mental illness. In so doing, the victims get mentally disturbed, and the very interventions aimed at liberating them from their purported “mental illness” increases the risk of getting severe mental health conditions.
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The conversion therapies warrant legislative intervention because the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) does not find any evidence to back any therapeutic interventions whose end results would worsen the mental state of the victims ( Adelson & of Child, 2012) . Furthermore, there is no scientific evidence to support the false premises that consider alternative gender identities or gender expressions to be pathological ( Adelson & of Child, 2012) .
I am a certified clinical mental health counselor (CMHC) with a professional obligation to promote positive change at the individual, family, or group levels. I have a deep understanding of social aspects of human life, including developmental challenges and multicultural preferences at both the individual level and in the broader society. With more than seven years of practice experience, I have encountered situations and aided in restoring social normalcy, especially to the victims of social segregation, and from their anecdotal experiences, I am fully aware of the need for advocating for these marginalized populations. I have sufficient scientific training in areas of mental health counseling, crisis treatment, substance abuse and addiction counseling, and behavior-change counseling, all of which have contributed to my understanding of the need to advocate for the marginalized populations.
I make this request in observance of the ethical standards in my profession, which call for professional responsibility and competence. Part of my responsibility is to advocate for the social welfare and concerns of the marginalized groups by sharing knowledge and skills to those in authority ( American Counselling Association [ACA], 2014) . My advocacy should aim at advising those whose decisions, or lack thereof, can impact the value system in society ( ACA, 2014) . At the moment, you hold that prominent role, and your action or inaction with regard to the de-regulation of conversion therapy will significantly impact the affairs of the youths who are the immediate victims of the practice.
From a professional perspective, the aim of therapeutic interventions to childhood crises of sexual identity should encourage all the youth to explore all aspects of identity- including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression- without any coercive influence or pressure from higher authorities. At their best, these approaches would foster healthy development, especially with regard to sexual acceptance and gender diversity. The youth will freely integrate into their preferred sexual orientation and have the full societal support for growth. In the end, the legislation should aim at keeping gender identity open and without any pre-defined outcome or preference.
Failure to make this legislative intervention is comparable to subjecting our youth into a mental prison of identity crises, where they will transit to adulthood without the certainty of who they really are and what role they can play in society. I thank you for your time and response.
Yours Sincerely
Professional’s Name
References
Adelson, S. L., & of Child, T. A. A. (2012). Practice parameter on gay, lesbian, or bisexual sexual orientation, gender nonconformity, and gender discordance in children and adolescents. Journal of the American academy of child & adolescent psychiatry , 51 (9), 957-974.
American Counselling Association. (2014). Ethical & Professional Standards . A Professional Home for Counselors. https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/ethics
