TV interviews with sexual reorientation specialist Richard Cohen.

Press Release

We are pleased to announce InterVarsity Press’s release of Gay Children, Straight Parents: A Plan for Family Healing, written by sexual reorientation specialist Richard Cohen (Fall 2007).

If you are a parent, family member or friend looking for guidance and wise counsel about how to improve your relationship with your loved one who experiences same-sex attraction (SSA), Cohen has written this book for you. Gay Children, Straight Parents is authored by a trained psychotherapist who was once gay and has experienced the trials and transformation he writes about. Over the past 17 years, Cohen has helped hundreds of parents, family members and friends who have loved ones dealing with SSA. This important book describes a powerful and effective 12-stage plan to create more loving and intimate relationships within the family and community. In this book, parents share wonderful stories of restored relationships and family healing as they help their SSA sons and daughters realize their heterosexual potential.

Gay Children, Straight Parents is a gift for the entire family, as well as for anyone who wishes to understand how to love SSA men and women. Pastors, priests, rabbis and ministry leaders will find this an invaluable resource to help in their ministry work.

Mr. Cohen is available for media interviews by contacting Krista Carnet of InterVarsity Press at (630) 734-4013 or by emailing: kkcarnet@ivpress.com.

To order your book, press here:
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Our Beliefs about Homosexuality:

● There is no compelling evidence that anyone is determined from birth to have same-sex attraction (SSA).

There is no conclusive scientific data that proves there is a simple biological or genetic cause for homosexuality. Scientific research indicates that although biological and genetic factors may play a part, homosexual desires stem from the complex interaction of psychological, environmental and temperamental influences along with those factors.

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● No one simply chooses to have SSA.

These desires are very often the result of unresolved childhood wounds and unmet love needs. Choice is clearly involved in the decision whether or not to act on the desires.

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● People can be hopeful in their choice to seek a change from a homosexual to a heterosexual orientation.

Research demonstrates that the claim that no one can change is false. Change is possible for some.

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“People can and do change their sexual orientation.

I’ve done it, and I’ve helped others do the same.”

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Responses to commonly asked questions about IHF and Richard Cohen:

Licensure as a psychotherapist

Richard Cohen has always practiced within the legal requirements of the state. Recently, he retired from counseling to focus on public speaking and training other professionals. His passion is to spread the word that no one is born with same-sex attraction (SSA), no one chooses to have SSA, and that people can choose to change and come out straight. He devotes much of his time to training therapists, coaches, clergy and ministry leaders about the process of sexual reorientation.

For many years, Maryland did not have a licensing requirement for psychotherapists. When they added one, Cohen was eligible to be grandfathered into licensure but as he was taking a sabbatical from counseling at the time, he did not pursue it. Upon resuming practice several years later, Maryland did not require him to be licensed because his clients did not pay him for his services. Instead, Cohen was paid by the non-profit, International Healing Foundation.

Because of extensive requests to train other therapists, clergy, coaches, and ministry leaders, Cohen changed his focus in 2006 from counseling individuals and families to training and certifying others as sexual reorientation coaches. He is now a guest speaker at many venues throughout the world, teaching about the causes and healing of unwanted SSA. Cohen is a recognized specialist in sexual reorientation, and is the author of Coming Out Straight, Alfie’s Home, and Gay Children, Straight Parents.


American Counseling Association

Cohen was a member of the American Counseling Association (ACA) from 1990 to 2002. The ACA is not a licensing organization. It is a voluntary membership group with no legal authority. The ACA has become a stridently pro-gay trade organization over the past decade.

Its expulsion of Cohen was a blatant act of political correctness and bigotry. It was based on flimsy complaints by a single client. The ACA stated that Cohen’s most egregious offense was that he recommended that his client read his book and attend his healing seminars—a common practice among many professional therapists and counselors. Cohen chose not to appeal their complaints, as he saw no professional benefit to remaining a member of this group.


Healthy Touch in the Healing Process

Some men and women with unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA) experienced touch deprivation while growing up. Healthy touch is a legitimate human need. Cohen has suggested that these individuals find heterosexual family members, friends and mentors to offer healthy touch, as this is not the role of the therapist. Chapter 12 of Coming Out Straight describes the use of healthy touch between SSA strugglers and their heterosexual mentors. Ashley Montagu of Princeton University, in his landmark book, Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin, discusses the indelible need for healthy touch throughout our lives.