An affecting account

Like many others, I was affected by reading the personal account of being subjected to the 'treatment' of aversion therapy in the March issue. As a member of the Department of Psychology at Birmingham from 1965-72 I was aware of the work. Dr Phil Feldman joined the Department in 1966 as the head of the newly established Clinical Masters program. 

I was a mere lecturer and so my thoughts on what was actually done in clinical work would carry little weight, especially in light of the fact that Feldman and the then Head of Psychology, Peter Broadhurst were both firmly associated with the Maudsley and its methods. But there were others in the Department, as well as myself, who were not appreciative of the methods nor the ideology.

In my defence, I did write a brief article, published in the journal Behaviour Therapy, on 'Dissonance reduction in the therapist and its relevance to aversion therapy'. Given the title and the journal it is probably surprising that the article ever saw the light of day. In the 50 years since it was published, it has received five citations!

But the thesis was that the process of administering electric shocks to a person repeatedly would induce, according to cognitive dissonance theory, either an enhanced belief in the therapist that the process was beneficial and/or an acceptance that the data would support the efficacy of the process. I still believe that such outcomes could have prevailed, not as an excuse but as a possible reason.

Not everyone associated with the Birmingham Department at the time welcomed the existence of such methods in its heart. Perhaps we should have spoken out more. But the failure to be recognised for my tiny attempt to analyse the methods critically does to a degree indicate that, at the time, any such message would have fallen on deaf ears.

I welcome the development in the BPS of a Challenging Histories Group. There are plenty more challenges.

J M Innes PhD, FASSA, FBPsS
University of South Australia

Twitter responses:
DrRobAgnew @DrRobAgnew1
I don't have the words to describe the impact this read has had on me… Impressed and distressed in equal measure.

Dr Niall Devlin @NiallDevlin17
A must-read and a reminder that psychology is dangerous - distinguish dangerous from bad. The fact that Pauline was later an Educational Psychologist also gives psychology hope.

Jackie Malton @Thursley
Interesting that Prof Jim Orford, who was one of the psychologists involved in administering and later expert in addiction, did eventually realise that for some, including me, there was a correlation between addiction, shame and sexuality.

Rosa Fessler @Rosa_Fessler
That was a disturbing read. Thank you for publishing it, as well as the apology and reflection by the junior psychologist involved, and the BPS's work to examine its past… this will stay with me.

soh #nowar @jonnynovember
By far the best article I've read in years. My biggest respect for courageously sharing her experience of harm caused by misuse of psychology.

Liz Cross @LizCross01
A powerful account of a shameful time in psychology's history. We must learn from it and ensure truth can lead to some kind of reconciliation. A must-read to ensure a strong opposition against conversion therapy.

Daryl O'Connor @healthpsycleeds
What an incredibly brave, powerful & important article

Celia Kitzinger @KitzingerCelia
This is an important and moving account of direct experience of aversion therapy to 'cure' lesbianism… Lucky for me, coming out a decade later than Pauline, I only got 'talking therapy' as attempted cure.

Seb @SebPillon
For those that dismiss LGBTQ campaigns as woke leftism, a stark reminder of what many people alive today have gone through. 

Trisha Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh
This account by a lesbian psychologist of the aversion therapy she received (decades ago) is chilling. 

Dr Pam Birtill @diervilla
This is a devastating article. Aversion therapy is torture.

Poul Rohleder @DrPoulRohleder
A brave and moving account… We need a ban to end these cruel practices once and for all.