Jonobie

I was curious about research on conversion therapy bans to see what we know about their effectiveness. While clinical research confirms it is rarely healthy for individuals, the public policy effectiveness is less obvious.

I had some initial skepticism:

- The Religious Loophole: Most bans exempt religious counselors and programs; this is a massive gap.

- The Private Practice "Black Box": Oversight is difficult behind closed doors, and few follow strict manuals. Counselors can "stop" the therapy while still weaponizing personal disapproval.

- Savvy Consumerism: Parents seeking these services are targeted shoppers who might find practitioners already aligned with their worldviews.

Despite these gaps, data shows bans work. Using a natural experiment based on different rollouts, Harrell (2022) found that after state bans, suicide among men under 25 dropped by 8%.

Apr 2 at 4:19pmWeb
Show threadJonobie2d ago

Google searches for “conversion therapy” in those states also declined, suggesting the laws successfully deterred both providers and consumers. Later research by Overhage et al. (2025) expanded this, focusing specifically on high schoolers using the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. In the two years following a ban, the rate of students "seriously considering suicide" was 2.9 percentage points lower (a ~17% relative reduction).

For lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, the impact was even greater: a 4.6 percentage point reduction (an ~11% reduction). Even not-full bans appear to shift the social and clinical landscape enough to protect the most vulnerable.

All that to say, I hope states figure out how to rewrite these laws to work around the “viewpoint-based” constraint. Washington State's similar law (18.130.020) is likely facing a similar fate to Colorado’s, as it is more obviously viewpoint based.

Show threadJonobie2d ago

References:
Harrell, B. J. (2022). Conversion therapy bans, suicidality, and mental health. Vanderbilt University Department of Economics. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f0df932fe24d51944633598/t/636a767467ca3d1c62923e1e/1667921524648/Conversion+Therapy+Bans%2C+Suicidality%2C+and+Mental+Health_10.10.22.pdf

Overhage, L. N., Cook, B. L., Rosenthal, M. B., & McDowell, A. (2025). State bans on sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts and youth suicidality. Health Services Research, 60(1), e14635. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.14635

Show threadJonobie2d ago
Also, I had an error above in the first draft; it's not a 40-47% reduction for LGBTQ youth, it was an 11% reduction. Still significant! But nowhere near as massive. Corrected in the original now.
Show threadJohn Schrag2d ago
@jonobie Even if you take out all the ethical considerations (which of course no one should), there is also the point that conversion ‘therapy’ does not and cannot work. So people offering it are committing either malpractice or fraud.
Show threadJonobie2d ago

@jvschrag Yes, absolutely. One of the things the Strict Scrutiny podcast noted is that the recent ruling doesn’t mean people can’t sue for malpractice. The downside of course is if one is suing for malpractice, they’ve already been harmed. :-(

But I hope that acts as a check on some folks, at least.