Same old story, different side of the ocean.
Counselor is fundamentalist Christian, counselor behaves in a way that violates the standards of her profession by trying to “help” a gay man become straight, counselor faces disciplinary action, counselor cries discrimination, counselor should get job where the standards aren’t so hard/professional, etc.
Mrs Pilkington was targeted by a gay journalist who persuaded her to help him change his sexuality. Patrick Strudwick attended sessions with her with a tape recorder strapped to his stomach and then published a critical article about her in the Independent newspaper.
Payout: Peter and Hazelmary Bull were found to have acted unlawfully by banning a gay couple from staying in their hotel
She is now appearing before a professional conduct panel of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and faces losing her accreditation if she is found to have breached its rules.[…]
The ‘conversion’ therapy practised by Mrs Pilkington, 60, is held in contempt by gay lobby groups.
Mr Strudwick runs a campaign called the Stop Conversion Therapy Taskforce, and has said: ‘Every major mental health organisation in Britain and America is opposed to attempts to change someone’s sexuality. There is good evidence not only that it doesn’t work but that it is harmful.’
Mrs Pilkington has treated ten patients over the past decade using a programme called Sexual Orientation Change Efforts. She says that her gay son is among those she has been able to help.
Poor gay son. It must have been awful to grow up with that sort of mother.
Michael Jones at Change.org provides essential context to Pilkington’s sob story:
“We say everybody is heterosexual, but some people have a homosexual problem. Nobody is born gay. It is in the upbringing,” Pilkington told the Sunday Telegraph.
Ah, but therein lies a bit of a problem for Pilkington. That’s because her position that homosexuality is a problem rightly runs counter to ethical standards and codes of conduct put forward by the British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy (BACP). This week, the BACP will determine whether or not to strip her of her psychotherapy credentials.
They should.
Pilkington is entitled to hold whatever religious beliefs and principles she wants. But by championing and practicing the destructive concept of “conversion therapy,” she’s violating in very clear terms the mission statement and objectives put forward by the BACP for its accredited psychologists.
Exactly.
