Atlas›Domain XVI · Historical, discredited & harmful›Guide 067
Guide XVI-067

Conversion hypnosis

Krafft-Ebing, Albert von Schrenck-Notzing1895Munich
A 31 · L 56 · M 1320 interventions in the Trinity explorer
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[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: the historical record of hypnotic "treatment" of homosexuality in Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis (Chaddock's English translation, Project Gutenberg eBook 64931), Schrenck-Notzing's Therapeutic Suggestion in Psychopathia Sexualis (Chaddock's translation, 1895) and Roper (1967, CMAJ), read against the current positions of the American Psychological Association (2021 resolutions), the UK Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy (version 2, Revision A), the UN Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity (A/HRC/44/53, 2020) and the Independent Forensic Expert Group statement published by the IRCT's Torture Journal (2020). This guide covers the psychotherapist's own work; it describes the practice only in observable terms, for recognition, and gives no induction methods or suggestion wording.

Conversion hypnosis is the use of hypnosis or hypnotic suggestion with the aim of changing a person's sexual orientation (in nineteenth-century terms, "contrary sexual instinct") and, in present-day variants, gender identity. It is a conversion practice and is not recommended. Its proponents held that suggestion given in a hypnotic state could weaken same-sex attraction and redirect desire. Krafft-Ebing's textbook contains a chapter on the "diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of contrary sexuality", and his translator wrote that the work "demonstrates, in the results of hypnotic suggestion, how important mental therapeusis must ultimately become" [source: Krafft-Ebing, Chaddock translation, Gutenberg 64931, translator's preface and contents]. Albert von Schrenck-Notzing (1862-1929), a Munich physician, wrote a whole monograph on suggestive therapeutics for "psychopathia sexualis", translated into English by Charles Gilbert Chaddock in 1895 [source: Online Books Page record]; the German original's date is [uncertain: not verified]. In 1967 the Canadian Medical Association Journal published P. Roper's "The effects of hypnotherapy on homosexuality", reporting 15 men treated, of whom the author rated 8 as markedly improved, 4 mildly and 3 not at all, and claiming that outcome tracked the depth of trance [source: CMAJ 96(6):319-327; PubMed 6017544]. These were the authors' own ratings.

Today's professional and international bodies state the opposite of those claims. The APA's updated resolution states that research supports the conclusion that there is "no evidence of sexual orientation change" [source: APA press release, 2 March 2021]. The UN Independent Expert reports "there is no sound scientific evidence that innate sexual orientation can be changed" (para. 20), finds the practices "inherently humiliating, demeaning and discriminatory" (para. 55), and lists hypnosis among the methods reportedly still used in several countries (para. 44) [source: A/HRC/44/53]. The UK MoU signatories regard conversion therapy as unethical and potentially harmful [source: MoU v2 Rev A]. For the psychotherapist, change happens elsewhere: in an affirming, non-directive relationship in which the client can explore orientation, gender, faith and family without an agenda, process what was done to them, and rebuild trust and self-worth [synthesis, drawing on MoU v2 and APA 2021].

Cross-references: Domain VI hypnosis rows (legitimate clinical hypnosis); Domain XVI aversion therapy and covert sensitisation rows (063, 064), which belong to the same history.

2. Framework

Historical phases of the practice (outline). (1) Late nineteenth-century sexology: Krafft-Ebing and Schrenck-Notzing presented hypnotic suggestion as a treatment for "contrary sexual instinct" within a medical model that treated same-sex desire as pathology [source: Gutenberg 64931; Online Books Page]. (2) Mid-twentieth-century clinical reports, such as Roper's 1967 case series, which claimed improvement on the clinician's own ratings [source: PubMed 6017544]. (3) Professional repudiation: the APA discouraged sexual orientation change efforts in 1997 and 2009 and in February 2021 adopted resolutions opposing both sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts [source: APA press release, 2021]; UK bodies signed the MoU [source: MoU v2]; the UN Independent Expert called for bans in 2020 [source: A/HRC/44/53]. (4) The present: hypnosis is still reported among methods used (UN para. 44; the IFEG statement also lists hypnosis), sometimes under other names or "hidden within mainstream practice", as the MoU puts it in paraphrase [source: A/HRC/44/53; IFEG 2020; MoU v2].

Phases of the psychotherapist's work. Session counts and durations are not fixed; pacing follows risk and the client's goals [synthesis].

  • Phase 1: Recognition and assessment. Goal: learn whether the client went through, is considering, or is being pressured into change efforts (hypnotic or otherwise); map current distress, suicide risk, faith, family and support. Move on when the history is known well enough to plan safety and the client has chosen what they want from therapy [synthesis].
  • Phase 2: Safety and safeguarding. Goal: a working safety plan; for a minor or someone at risk from others, safeguarding action. Move on when acute risk is managed and any required report has been made [synthesis; UN para. 74 and 87(b) on children].
  • Phase 3: Exploration and processing. Goal: an affirming, non-directive space to explore orientation, gender identity, shame, minority stress and the experience of being hypnotised to change. Move on when the client can speak about the experience without being flooded and has their own account of what it meant [synthesis; UN para. 87(d); MoU v2].
  • Phase 4: Integration and repair. Goal: work on faith, family, relationships, grief for lost years, and trust in helpers. Move on when the client's goals for these areas are met or consciously set aside [synthesis].
  • Phase 5: Advocacy, reporting and follow-up. Goal: support any complaint or legal route the client chooses, close therapy with a relapse and crisis plan, and act on duties toward any practitioner still offering the practice [synthesis; UN para. 87(a)(iv)].

3. Guiding principles

  • Orientation and gender identity are not disorders. Never frame them as symptoms or treatment targets [source: MoU v2].
  • No agenda on outcome. Practitioners must be "free from any agenda that favours one gender identity or sexual orientation"; explore, never steer [source: MoU v2].
  • Change efforts do not work. Tell clients plainly what the APA and the UN state, without overstating it [source: APA 2021; A/HRC/44/53 para. 20, 70].
  • Validate and normalise. The APA guidelines encourage psychologists "to validate, normalize, and assist" clients in understanding orientation, gender identity and expression [source: APA press release, 2021].
  • Never provide, supervise or refer. The psychotherapist never offers conversion hypnosis, supervises anyone who does, or refers to it, including "gentle" or self-hypnosis versions [synthesis].
  • Hypnosis is not the injury; the agenda is. Legitimate clinical hypnosis exists (see Domain VI); what harms is suggestion aimed against a person's orientation or identity, under unequal power [synthesis].
  • Consent and control are restored, not assumed. With survivors, any relaxation-, imagery- or trance-like method is optional, explained in advance, and stoppable at any moment; often it is better avoided [synthesis].
  • Safety first. Conversion practices are linked with suicide attempts; assess risk early and repeatedly, using safe-messaging (no method detail) [source: APA press release, 2021; synthesis].
  • Children come first. The UN Independent Expert urges urgent protection of children and young people; follow local child-protection law [source: A/HRC/44/53 para. 74, 87(b)].
  • Respect faith. Religious identity is part of the client, not an obstacle; work with cultural humility [synthesis].
  • Historical literacy without endorsement. Know the history so you can recognise its echoes; present founders' claims as theirs, attributed [synthesis].
  • The survivor's account leads. The client decides what is named, when, and whether to complain or go public; survivors are never identified to others without consent [synthesis].
  • Boundaries in shared communities. If you share a faith or professional community with the client or with the practitioner involved, consider multiple-relationship risks under APA Ethics Code Standard 3.05 [source: https://www.apa.org/ethics/code].
  • No moralising. Let the facts carry the weight with clients, families and colleagues alike [synthesis].

4. Intervention inventory

The interventions below are the psychotherapist's own work; steps not drawn from a cited source are marked [synthesis].

None of these is a step of conversion hypnosis. No induction, suggestion wording or hypnotic method is given anywhere in this guide.

4.1 Historical-literacy preparation (for the therapist)

  • Purpose / when: before working with survivors, families or clients drawn to the practice; lets you recognise the claims and their echoes [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Read the attributed history: Krafft-Ebing's chapter on therapy of "contrary sexuality" and Chaddock's framing of hypnotic suggestion; Schrenck-Notzing's 1895 English monograph; Roper's 1967 CMAJ series [source: Gutenberg 64931; Online Books Page; PubMed 6017544]. (2) Note how "improvement" was defined by the clinician, not the patient [source: PubMed 6017544; synthesis]. (3) Read the current statements (APA 2021, MoU v2, A/HRC/44/53, IFEG 2020). (4) Note your own reactions and beliefs about orientation, gender and faith, and take them to supervision [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): (to a supervisor) "I want to check my own assumptions before I see this client, who was hypnotised to 'stop being gay' as a teenager."
  • Watch for: treating the history as curiosity or spectacle; assuming it is purely historical when the UN reports hypnosis still in use (para. 44) [source: A/HRC/44/53].

4.2 Routine screening for past change efforts

  • Purpose / when: at intake with any LGBTQ+ client, any client with religious conflict about sexuality or gender, or anyone who mentions past "hypnotherapy for attraction" [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Ask an open, neutral question about whether anyone ever tried to change or suppress their orientation or gender identity. (2) Ask specifically about hypnosis, self-hypnosis recordings, "trance" sessions and religious counselling, since clients may not call these conversion therapy (the MoU notes other names) [source: MoU v2; synthesis]. (3) Record who, when, age, setting, and whether it was chosen or imposed. (4) Do not push for detail in the first session.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Some people have been through sessions, including hypnosis, aimed at changing who they are attracted to or their sense of gender. Has anything like that happened to you?"
  • Watch for: shame or minimising ("it was only relaxation"); disclosure followed by withdrawal; current pressure from family or community [synthesis].

4.3 Survivor-led history of the experience

  • Purpose / when: once a client discloses conversion hypnosis and wants to talk about it [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Let the client choose the pace and depth. (2) Ask about context (age, who arranged it, consent, payment, beliefs it was framed in) rather than content of suggestions. (3) Ask what effects they noticed then and now: self-esteem, intrusive images, sexual difficulties, distrust, depression, anxiety (harms the UN lists, para. 19 and 56) [source: A/HRC/44/53]. (4) Ask what they were told about failure (for example that it was their fault). (5) Summarise back and check accuracy.
  • Example language (illustrative): "You don't need to tell me what was said in those sessions. I'm more interested in what it was like for you, and what it left behind."
  • Watch for: dissociation or freezing while recalling; re-enactment of the deferential stance the client had with the hypnotist; self-blame for "not responding" [synthesis].

4.4 Suicide-risk assessment and safety planning

  • Purpose / when: at intake and whenever distress rises; the APA reports that LGBTQ young people who experienced change efforts were significantly more likely to report suicide attempts [source: APA press release, 2021].
  • Steps: (1) Ask directly about suicidal thoughts, intent, plans and past attempts, using standard risk assessment. (2) Build a written safety plan: warning signs, coping steps, people and places, professional contacts, and lethal-means counselling limited to safe storage and removal [synthesis]. (3) Give crisis resources: 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (US); Samaritans 116 123 (UK and Ireland). (4) Reassess after any family conflict, religious crisis or contact with the former practitioner [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "When people have been told something is wrong with who they are, thoughts of suicide can come up. Have you had thoughts like that, now or in the past?"
  • Watch for: hopelessness linked to "the hypnosis didn't work, so I can't be fixed"; rejection by family; isolation. Never discuss methods beyond what safety planning needs [synthesis].

4.5 Psychoeducation on what professional bodies state

  • Purpose / when: when a client believes change is possible, or blames themselves for failure [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Ask what they understand about whether orientation can be changed. (2) Share, briefly and in plain words, the APA statement of no evidence of change and the UN finding (para. 20) [source: APA 2021; A/HRC/44/53]. (3) Note that the UK MoU signatories consider the practice unethical and potentially harmful [source: MoU v2]. (4) Separate facts from the client's values; invite reactions.
  • Example language (illustrative): "The major psychology bodies say there's no evidence these methods change orientation. So it didn't 'fail' because of you."
  • Watch for: relief mixed with grief or anger; a sense of being argued with if delivered as a lecture [synthesis].

4.6 A client who asks for hypnosis to change their orientation

  • Purpose / when: a client requests change, from you or from a hypnotherapist [source: MoU v2; synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Decline clearly to attempt change and explain why, without shaming the request. (2) Explore what lies behind it: fear, faith conflict, family pressure, loss, internalised stigma. (3) Offer what the MoU allows: exploring their feelings and helping them live more comfortably, free of any agenda on outcome [source: MoU v2]. (4) Agree goals they can own (for example reducing distress, managing family conflict). (5) Warn, factually, about practitioners who offer change, and about the harms reported [source: A/HRC/44/53; APA 2021].
  • Example language (illustrative): "I won't try to change your attractions, because the evidence says it doesn't work and can hurt. I'd really like to understand what makes you want that, and help with what's underneath it."
  • Watch for: the client going elsewhere to a hypnotist; a hidden third party (parent, partner, leader); rising suicide risk if hope of change is lost [synthesis].

4.7 A client who asks for help to change their gender identity

  • Purpose / when: a client asks for hypnosis or therapy to make them stop feeling trans or nonbinary [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Decline to attempt change; the APA 2021 resolution opposes gender identity change efforts and describes trans and nonbinary identities as "normal variations" [source: APA press release, 2021]. (2) Explore questioning openly without steering in any direction; the MoU covers gender identity and still allows qualified help for those with uncertain feelings and assessment before medical interventions [source: MoU v2]. (3) Address distress, safety and social context. (4) Refer to qualified gender services where the client wants assessment [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "We can look at all of this together, with no outcome decided in advance, including what you hoped hypnosis would do."
  • Watch for: pressure from others; confusing open exploration with persuasion either way; distress linked to reported harms such as loss of relationships and low self-worth [source: APA press release, 2021].

4.8 Exploring internalised stigma and minority stress

  • Purpose / when: in the processing phase, for shame, self-hatred and hypervigilance that change efforts often reinforce; the UN recommends services that address conflicts, minority stress and social support [source: A/HRC/44/53 para. 87(d)].
  • Steps: (1) Name minority stress as a response to stigma, not a personal flaw. (2) Trace where the client learned that their orientation or identity was wrong (family, faith, school, the hypnotist). (3) Identify current self-critical beliefs and their sources. (4) Build self-compassion and connection to affirming community [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "That voice saying you're broken: whose voice did it start out as?"
  • Watch for: the client treating your affirmation as a new pressure; slow change, which is expected [synthesis].

4.9 Working with lingering fears about "suggestions"

  • Purpose / when: a survivor fears that hypnotic suggestions still control them, or experiences intrusive images or phrases from sessions [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Ask what they fear the suggestions are doing now. (2) Offer balanced psychoeducation: the change claims were not borne out, and the client's own choices and values are theirs [source: APA 2021; synthesis]. (3) Treat intrusive memories with standard trauma-informed work at the client's pace. (4) Consider referral to a trauma specialist for PTSD symptoms, which the UN lists among reported harms [source: A/HRC/44/53 para. 56].
  • Example language (illustrative): "What was said to you under hypnosis was someone else's agenda. It doesn't have the power to decide who you are."
  • Watch for: sexual difficulties or disgust reactions linked to sessions; panic when relaxing; magical beliefs about hypnosis that need gentle correction [synthesis].

4.10 Deciding whether to use any trance-like or relaxation method with a survivor

  • Purpose / when: if your usual work includes relaxation, imagery or clinical hypnosis for other goals (see Domain VI) [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Default to not using such methods unless the client asks and understands them. (2) If considered, explain fully in advance, obtain informed consent, agree a stop signal, and keep the client in control throughout. (3) Never include content about orientation or gender identity. (4) Review afterwards and stop if it triggers memories [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "Given what happened before, I won't use anything trance-like unless you want it, and you can stop at any moment."
  • Watch for: compliance rather than choice; dissociation; mistrust surfacing later [synthesis].

4.11 Religious and spiritual integration

  • Purpose / when: when faith and orientation or gender identity are in conflict, or the change effort was faith-based [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Use the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview with its supplementary module on spirituality, religion and moral traditions to map the client's beliefs and community. (2) Where it fits, record "Religious or Spiritual Problem", Z65.8 [source: ICD-10-CM Z65.8 (Unbound Medicine)]; DSM-5-TR wording [uncertain: not verified]. (3) Explore, without steering, the range of ways people of faith hold orientation and identity; the client chooses. (4) Draw on spiritual and religious competencies (Vieten et al. 2013) [uncertain: not verified]. (5) With consent, consider affirming faith leaders as supports [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "Your faith matters to you, and so does being honest about who you are. I'm not here to make you choose between them."
  • Watch for: your own beliefs leaking in; fear of losing community; spiritual abuse themes [synthesis].

4.12 Family work when a parent seeks change for a child

  • Purpose / when: a parent asks for hypnosis or therapy to change a child's orientation or gender identity; the UN calls for awareness work with parents and families on the invalidity and harm of these practices [source: A/HRC/44/53 para. 87(c)].
  • Steps: (1) Hear the parent's fears and values respectfully. (2) Explain that you will not attempt change and why (APA 2021; UN). (3) Separate the parent's distress from the young person's needs; see the young person alone where appropriate, with consent and assent. (4) Offer family sessions focused on safety, communication and acceptance. (5) Assess for coercion or risk to the young person [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "I can hear how worried you are. What I can offer is help for your family to stay connected, not an attempt to change your child."
  • Watch for: plans to send the child to a hypnotist or programme elsewhere; threats of eviction or rejection; rising risk in the young person [synthesis].

4.13 Safeguarding and reporting for minors

  • Purpose / when: a child or young person is being or will be subjected to change efforts; the UN urges urgent protection of children (para. 74, 87(b)) [source: A/HRC/44/53].
  • Steps: (1) Assess immediate risk and the young person's safety at home. (2) Follow your local child-protection procedure and mandatory-reporting law, consulting your safeguarding lead. (3) Record facts, dates and sources. (4) Keep the young person informed, within safeguarding limits. (5) Continue support and safety planning [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "I'm worried about your safety, and I have to share that with people whose job is to protect young people. I'll tell you what I'm doing."
  • Watch for: retaliation at home; withdrawal from therapy; legal limits that vary by place and may have changed [uncertain: not verified].

4.14 When a colleague or hypnotherapist offers conversion hypnosis

  • Purpose / when: you learn that a colleague, a practitioner on a register, or an institution offers change-directed hypnosis [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Never refer, co-work or supervise. (2) If safe and appropriate, raise concerns directly with the colleague, citing the MoU or APA positions. (3) Report through the practitioner's professional body or register; in the UK, bodies such as BACP, BPS, BABCP, COSRT, BPC, NCPS and CNHC are MoU signatories or supporters [source: MoU v2]. (4) In the US, consider the state licensing board for licensed practitioners [synthesis]. (5) Protect client confidentiality; report with consent unless safeguarding overrides it.
  • Example language (illustrative): (to a colleague) "Offering hypnosis to change orientation goes against the MoU your body signed. I'm not able to refer to you, and I'm concerned about clients being harmed."
  • Watch for: unregistered hypnotists outside any body's reach; your own multiple relationships in small communities (APA Ethics Code Standard 3.05) [source: https://www.apa.org/ethics/code].

4.15 A client drawn to conversion hypnosis online

  • Purpose / when: a client is considering, or already using, online sessions or self-hypnosis recordings marketed to reduce "unwanted attraction" or "gender confusion" [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Ask what they have found and what it promises, without ridicule. (2) Compare the promises with what the APA and UN state [source: APA 2021; A/HRC/44/53]. (3) Explore the hope it carries (belonging, relief, approval) and look for safer routes to it. (4) Agree a plan if they continue using it: tell you about effects on mood and risk [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "It makes sense to want relief. Can we look together at what this recording is promising, and what's actually known?"
  • Watch for: escalation to paid programmes; worsening shame; suicide risk when results do not come [synthesis].

4.16 Referral to affirming services and peer support

  • Purpose / when: to widen support beyond therapy [synthesis; UN para. 87(d)].
  • Steps: (1) Check what the client wants (peer group, LGBTQ+ community centre, affirming faith group, trauma specialist, gender service). (2) Vet services for an affirming, non-directive stance (for example MoU signatory membership in the UK) [source: MoU v2; synthesis]. (3) Offer a warm handover with consent. (4) Follow up.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Would it help to meet others who've been through something similar? I can look into options with you."
  • Watch for: services that present change or "suppression" as an option under another name [source: MoU v2].

4.17 Supporting complaints, legal routes and redress

  • Purpose / when: a survivor wants accountability; the UN calls for complaint and support mechanisms giving victims access to reparation, including rehabilitation and legal assistance (para. 87(a)(iv)) [source: A/HRC/44/53].
  • Steps: (1) Explore what the client wants (acknowledgement, a complaint, legal action, nothing). (2) Signpost professional-body complaint routes and legal advice. (3) Inform them that law differs by place and is changing. On 31 March 2026 the US Supreme Court ruled 8–1 in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado's conversion-therapy law, as applied to a counsellor's talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint; it reversed the lower courts, which had not applied sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny, and sent the case back (SCOTUSblog; NPR). Its effect on other states' laws is [uncertain]. Other countries' laws are [uncertain: not verified]. (4) Prepare for the emotional load of a complaint and keep therapy separate from evidence-gathering [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "You don't have to do anything. If you want to complain, I can help you think it through and point you to people who know the law where you live."
  • Watch for: retraumatisation through the process; disappointment with outcomes; your role becoming advocate instead of therapist [synthesis].

4.18 Grief, loss and relationship repair

  • Purpose / when: for years lost, relationships ended, or loss of community linked to change efforts; the APA reports loss of relationships among harms [source: APA press release, 2021].
  • Steps: (1) Name the losses explicitly. (2) Allow anger and sorrow. (3) Explore what repair is possible with family or faith community, and what is not. (4) Support new relationships and intimacy at the client's pace [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "It sounds like you lost a lot of time trying to become someone else. It's okay to grieve that."
  • Watch for: depression; self-blame; pressure to forgive before ready [synthesis].

4.19 Working with a client whose relative was treated historically

  • Purpose / when: a client finds records or family stories of an ancestor given hypnotic or other "cures" for homosexuality [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Offer historical context from attributed sources (Krafft-Ebing, Schrenck-Notzing, Roper) without sensationalising [source: Gutenberg 64931; Online Books Page; PubMed 6017544]. (2) Explore what the discovery means for the client's identity and family story. (3) Respect the relative's privacy and dignity; discuss before sharing names. (4) Point to archives or historians if the client wants to research [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "What was it like to read that? What does it change for you about your family's story?"
  • Watch for: intergenerational shame; activation of the client's own experiences [synthesis].

4.20 Ending and follow-up

  • Purpose / when: closing the work [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Review goals and gains in the client's words. (2) Update the safety plan and crisis resources (988 US; Samaritans 116 123 UK and Ireland). (3) Name likely triggers (family events, religious holidays, news of court cases). (4) Offer a route back [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "If things get hard again, especially around family or faith, you can come back."
  • Watch for: abrupt ending after a family crisis; feelings of abandonment echoing the earlier practitioner [synthesis].

5. Handling problems

All guidance in this section is [synthesis] unless a source is given.

  • Client still wants change despite information. Do not argue; hold your refusal to attempt change and stay curious about the wish. Explore costs and hopes; keep the door open and keep monitoring risk. The MoU permits exploration that helps the client live more comfortably [source: MoU v2].
  • Client leaves for a conversion hypnotist. Respect autonomy for an adult, give crisis resources, and say they are welcome back. For a minor, act under 4.13.
  • Distrust of the therapist ("you're just another person with an agenda"). Name it as reasonable after what happened; invite feedback each session; be transparent about your stance and limits.
  • Overwhelm or dissociation when recalling sessions. Slow down, ground in the present, shift to stabilisation, and avoid any trance-like methods (4.10).
  • Rupture over faith. If the client feels you dismissed their faith, acknowledge it, repair, and re-centre their values; seek consultation if your own views are involved.
  • Family sabotage. Where family pressure undermines work, consider family sessions with consent, or safety planning if pressure becomes coercion.
  • Non-attendance or missed sessions. Check for risk and outside pressure before treating it as disengagement.
  • Suicidal crisis. Follow your crisis procedure, the safety plan and emergency services; 988 (US), Samaritans 116 123 (UK and Ireland). Use safe messaging: no method detail, no glamorising.
  • A client who is also a practitioner of hypnosis. Explore any harm they may have done or witnessed; discuss ethical duties under their professional body; do not take on a supervisory role for their practice.
  • You learn of a current provider. Act under 4.14; for minors, safeguarding under 4.13.
  • Legal uncertainty. Law is changing (for example the US Supreme Court's ruling of 31 March 2026 in Chiles v. Salazar (SCOTUSblog; NPR)); avoid giving legal advice and refer to legal services.
  • Your own reactions. Anger at the practice or at families can leak into sessions; use supervision.

Harm account

What was actually done

From the late nineteenth century, physicians in German-speaking Europe presented hypnotic suggestion as a medical treatment for same-sex desire, then labelled "contrary sexual instinct". Richard von Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis included a chapter on the therapy of "contrary sexuality", and his English translator, Charles Gilbert Chaddock, singled out "the results of hypnotic suggestion" as a lesson of the work [source: Gutenberg 64931]. Albert von Schrenck-Notzing of Munich devoted a monograph to suggestion as therapy for sexual "psychopathia", published in English in 1895 [source: Online Books Page]. The model treated orientation as an illness and the hypnotist as the agent of cure [synthesis]. In the twentieth century the practice continued in clinical settings: a 1967 CMAJ paper reported hypnotherapy for 15 men with a long history of homosexual behaviour, selected from a general psychiatric practice, and claimed most improved, on the author's own ratings [source: PubMed 6017544]. In 2020 the UN Independent Expert reported hypnosis among methods of so-called conversion therapy used in China, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Panama, the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka and the United States (para. 44) [source: A/HRC/44/53], and the Independent Forensic Expert Group also lists hypnosis among practices believed to change orientation or gender identity [source: IFEG 2020]. Present-day offers may be framed as hypnotherapy, coaching or self-hypnosis audio and, as the MoU notes, may go by other names [source: MoU v2]. Other organisations are part of the wider history: the Associated Press reported that a New Jersey jury found JONAH liable for consumer fraud in June 2015 (see 076), and Religion News Service reported Exodus International's June 2013 closure and its president's apology (see 074).

What it looked like to the patient. In the 1967 CMAJ series the patients were 15 adult men from a general psychiatric practice, each with a long history of homosexual behaviour and no organic or psychotic illness; the psychiatrist put each man into a hypnotic trance and, where the trance was judged deep enough, gave him a suggestion aimed at changing his sexual orientation. "Improvement" was then judged by the author from the men's later behaviour and their own reports of their feelings, with no control group, and the author concluded that good hypnotic subjects were the most likely to benefit [source: PubMed 6017544]. To the person in the chair, this meant a doctor, holding the full authority of the consulting room, trying to reach past their conscious wishes to alter their desire; when nothing changed, the model allowed the failure to be put down to the patient as a poor hypnotic subject [synthesis, from the claim that outcome tracked trance depth]. The UK study commissioned by the Government Equalities Office lists hypnosis, alongside electric-shock and nausea-inducing aversion and hormone treatment, among the historical methods of conversion therapy [source: GEO 2021]; the UN Independent Expert reports hypnosis among methods still in use (para. 44) [source: A/HRC/44/53].

How it caused harm

  • It does not work. The APA states there is no evidence of sexual orientation change, and the UN Independent Expert that there is no sound scientific evidence that innate orientation can be changed [source: APA 2021; A/HRC/44/53 para. 20].
  • Psychological harm. In a survey of 940 people cited by the UN Independent Expert, 98 per cent reported damage; reported consequences include suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, loss of self-esteem and PTSD symptoms (para. 19, 56) [source: A/HRC/44/53]. The APA reports emotional distress, loss of relationships and low self-worth after gender identity change efforts, and higher reported suicide attempts among LGBTQ young people who experienced change efforts [source: APA press release, 2021]. Peer-reviewed population studies, such as Blosnich et al. (2020) in the American Journal of Public Health, report associations with suicidal ideation and attempts [uncertain: not verified].
  • Degrading treatment. The UN Independent Expert describes the practices as discriminatory per se and as degrading, inhuman and cruel in their essence, creating a significant risk of torture (para. 59, 83); the IFEG holds that non-consensual practices can be cruel, inhuman or degrading and may amount to torture depending on severity, as cited in para. 62 [source: A/HRC/44/53; IFEG 2020].
  • Hypnosis-specific risks. The power gap and expectancy of hypnosis, the framing of failure as the client's fault, and later distrust of helpers and of legitimate hypnosis are plausible additional harms [synthesis].

Recognising it today

  • Hypnotherapy, coaching or recordings promising to reduce "unwanted" same-sex attraction, "restore" heterosexuality, or end "gender confusion" [synthesis].
  • Change or suppression offered under another name, or hidden inside otherwise mainstream therapy [source: MoU v2].
  • Practitioners outside professional registers, or registrants whose body signed the MoU but who still offer change [source: MoU v2; synthesis].
  • Faith-linked or family-arranged sessions for young people [source: A/HRC/44/53 para. 71-74; synthesis].
  • In clients: past sessions described as "relaxation for my attractions"; shame about "failing"; fear of hypnosis or of relaxing; distrust of therapists [synthesis].

What to do instead and how to help those harmed

  • Supported care. Health-care services that support exploring and affirming orientation and gender identity, addressing conflicts, minority stress and social support [source: A/HRC/44/53 para. 87(d)]; therapy free of any agenda on outcome [source: MoU v2]; validation and normalisation as in the APA guidelines [source: APA press release, 2021].
  • Survivors. Survivor-led history, suicide-risk assessment, trauma-informed processing, faith and family work (4.3-4.11, 4.18). Crisis resources: 988 (US); Samaritans 116 123 (UK and Ireland).
  • Families. Family work focused on safety and connection, and awareness of the invalidity and harm of the practices [source: A/HRC/44/53 para. 87(c)]; see 4.12.
  • Reporting. For minors, child-protection routes and mandatory reporting (4.13). For practitioners, professional-body and register complaints; in the UK, MoU signatory bodies [source: MoU v2]; in the US, licensing boards [synthesis]. Health professionals should take no role in attempting to control sexuality [source: IFEG 2020].
  • Legal routes. The UN recommends complaint mechanisms and access to reparation, including rehabilitation and legal assistance (para. 87(a)(iv)) [source: A/HRC/44/53]. Legal status differs by country and is changing. On 31 March 2026 the US Supreme Court ruled 8–1 in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado's conversion-therapy law, as applied to a counsellor's talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint; it reversed the lower courts, which had not applied sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny, and sent the case back (SCOTUSblog; NPR). Its effect on other states' laws is [uncertain]. Before the ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia barred licensed providers from conversion therapy with minors, as reported then [source: OSV News via America Magazine]; current status and other countries' laws [uncertain: not verified].
  • Survivor organisations. Use survivor-led and LGBTQ+ organisations as they describe themselves, after checking their stance [synthesis].

Sources

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