Florence Ashley, “Reparative Therapy” in Abbie Goldberg & Genny Beemyn (eds), The Sage Encyclopedia of Trans Studies, vol. 2 (Thousands Oakes, CA: SAGE Publications, 2021) 713–717
Trans reparative therapy is an umbrella term for sustained efforts that seek to discourage behaviors associated with a gender other than the one assigned at birth and/or promote gender identities that are aligned with the person’s gender assigned at birth. It is predicated on the view that being transgender or markedly gender nonconforming is pathological and that transitioning should be avoided if at all possible. Reparative therapies are known by many names: conversion therapy, reparative practices, the corrective approach, the psychotherapeutic approach, and the pathology response approach. Different terms highlight different aspects and subtypes of reparative therapy. This entry addresses the practices’ current social context, the differences and similarities between reparative therapy targeting sexual orientation versus gender identity, the defining features of contemporary approaches, the practices’ harmfulness and unethicality, and the legal regulation of reparative therapy.
