Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #351353 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

From Library Journal
In this self-help book, which contains a foreword by Dr. Laura Schlessinger, ex-gay therapist Cohen (the author of Alfie's Home, a children's book about a sexually abused boy) writes for gays and lesbians who want to transition to heterosexuality. His comprehensive, well-written, well-organized, and heavily referenced guide views homosexuality as a symptom of disrupted affiliation with the same-sex parent and incomplete feelings of maleness/femaleness, building on the psychological theories of Joseph Nicolosi and Elizabeth Moberly. At least 30 ex-gay platform books are in print, most religious but some primarily psychological see the web site of Exodus/Regeneration Books (www.exodusnorthamerica/org/resources) and NARTH, Nicolosi's organization (www.narth.com). Cohen's approach is sympathetic and rational and leans mostly on psychosocial factors, but he also assumes nondenominational religious affiliation. The ex-gay movement is highly controversial and its activities considered both damaging and misleading by many medical and psychological professional groups and by most gay/lesbian rights proponents. This book is thus recommended for libraries with large gender collections covering different perspectives, which should also stock Calculated Compassion: How the Ex-Gay Movement Serves the Right's Attack on Democracy (a report from Political Research Associates, 1998), Finally Free: Personal Stories; How Love and Self-Acceptance Saved Us from "Ex-Gay" Ministries (Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 2000), and Mel White's Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America (S. & S., 1994). Martha Cornog, Philadelphia
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gay activists' remonstrations have made therapy intended to make homosexuals heterosexual newsworthy and, they hope, notorious. To read ex-gay counselor Cohen is to wonder why they don't adopt a live-and-let-live stance. Yes, Cohen believes homosexuality is not inborn but the result of emotional traumas and developmental miscues in childhood that can be countered effectively by the therapeutics he lays out in the book's big second part and endorses with patient success stories. But in the third, concluding part, he writes that homophobia must be healed, too, and that homosexuals who don't want to shouldn't be coerced to change; rather, families and friends should continue in loving relationship with them, hoping for change. As an ex-gay, he acknowledges the truth in many homosexual advocates' complaints, and as a Christian, he pleads personal and social compassion for gays. Call this stance mistaken, especially since it is based in part on social science as dubious as the gay-supportive studies Cohen debunks. It isn't malicious. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Richard Cohen, M.A., a psychotherapist and educator, is one of the leading experts in the field of sexual reorientation. He has personally made the transition from homosexuality to heterosexuality and has helped thousands of men, women, and adolescents make the change.

Cohen has worked in child abuse treatment services, family reconciliation services, general counseling, and support groups. He spent three years as an HIV/AIDS educatior for the American Red Cross.

Founder and director of the International Healing Foundation (IHF) based in the Washington, DC area, Cohen's work with IHF includes counseling, education, and consultation. His unique healing seminars deal with issues such as marital relations, communication skills, parenting skills, sexual reorientation, abuse and addictions. A frequent guest lecturer on university and college campuses, therapeutic and religious conferences, he also travels extensively throughout the United States and Europe conducting healing seminars and educational programs.

Cohen has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs including 20/20, Larry King Live, and Ricki Lake to mention just a few. He is a member of the American Counseling Association, the American Association of Christian Counselors, and the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. He is also a board member of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays. In addition to "Coming Out Straight," Richard Cohen is also the author of "Alfie's Home," an illustrated children's book dealing with with several causes of same-sex attractions.

Cohen resides in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with his wife and three children.