10/17/2021 08:11:36 AM Andrea Morris CBN News

A legal battle over trauma therapy and same-sex attraction is being launched in California’s court system.

Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, Jr. and his lawyers say two men who published an article attacking his method for treating trauma are actually “misleading the public” in the same manner as LGBTQ activists.

Reintegrative Therapy® was created by Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, Jr. as a treatment method to identify and resolve past traumatic memories. Nicolosi reports this type of therapy has also been shown to cause a shift in sexuality as a side-effect for some clients whose sexual issues were connected to trauma.

The authors who oppose his method, Dr. Travis Salway and David Kinitz, published an article alleging that the treatments are a type of “conversion therapy.” That’s a blanket term used by LGBT activists to belittle therapy for patients who are seeking freedom from undesired same-sex attraction.

Salway and Kinitz directly labeled Reintegrative Therapy as fake. 

They wrote, “‘Conversion therapy,’ sometimes referred to as ‘reparative therapy,’ ‘reintegrative therapy,’ or ‘reorientation therapy,’ refers to a set of pseudo-scientific, discredited practices that aim to deny and suppress the sexual orientations, gender identities, and/or gender expressions of sexual and gender minorities (SGM).”

On behalf of Dr. Nicolosi, attorneys with the Thomas More Society have filed a lawsuit against the authors, accusing them of making disparaging statements. They argue that the article attempts to deceive the public into thinking that Reintegrative Therapy is only aimed at altering sexual attraction.

The lawsuit states, “Reintegrative Therapy® does not seek to change a person’s sexual orientation. Rather, Reintegrative Therapy® uses evidence-based interventions designed to resolve traumas and addictions. The treatment methods utilized in Reintegrative Therapy® are the same regardless of whether the client is a female client with a binge eating disorder or a male client with sexually compulsive behaviors.”

Thomas More Society Special Counsel Paul Jonna said, “These political activists need to be held accountable. They are masquerading as objective scientists and deliberately misleading the public by presenting lies as scientific truth.”

“By falsely misrepresenting Reintegrative Therapy® and the Reintegrative Therapy Association in an open-access medical journal, they have defamed and injured the practice of this evidence-based treatment,” Jonna added. “Reintegrative Therapy® clients deserve the same rights and freedoms as anyone else—to have access to accurate medical information, and to have therapists who understand them and support them in their journey.” 

The attorney says newly released long-term evidence shows the treatment is safe and effective. And Dr. Nicolosi emphasized that the goal of the treatment is not to change a person’s sexual orientation, but rather to free the client from painful memories.

“Contrary to the false claims made by Salway and Kinitz, Reintegrative Therapy® uses evidence-based interventions which treat traumatic memories,” the doctor said.