A college psychology professor's observations about public policy, mental health, sexual identity, and religious issues
Here is an email I sent to Dr. Ivanka Savic today about the study of lesbians’ response to putative pheromones. My note is in italics and Dr. Savic’s reply is in bold letters. Dr. Savic: The Associated Press story came out today about your study and I think they have reported it incorrectly. First I … Continue reading “Lesbians and pheromones, Part 2. Email from Ivanka Savic”
Reparative therapy information I have done several articles and numerous posts on reparative drive theory and related issues. This page serves to bring those together in one place. The format for now will provide the link and a brief explanation of the post or article. I Am Not a Reparative Therapist – This article was controversial … Continue reading “Reparative Therapy Information”
Of late, I have given several talks to a variety of evangelical groups about the current research on sexual orientation. Along the way, I have been contacted by evangelicals who ask about the current status of sexual orientation research. After the conversations and speeches, many questions come up. One question I hear after almost all … Continue reading “The Evangelical Blackout of Research on Sexual Orientation”
(First posted October 1, 2007) Warning: Long post… This post could be part three of the series on sexual identity therapy and neutrality but I chose this title because I want to focus on one specific issue, at least in my mind, with telling psychotherapy clients that “our bodies tell us who we are.” Saying … Continue reading “Sexual identity: Our bodies tell us who we are”
Yesterday, Focus on the Family’s Citizenlink promoted a new website from the American College of Pediatrics, called Facts About Youth which purports to be a resource created by health professionals to provide policymakers, parents and youth with the most current medical and psychological facts about sexual development. The website makes additional claims about the information presented. … Continue reading “Factsaboutyouth.com: A critical review”
This article about brain plasticity by Neil and Briar Whitehead posted on Anglican Mainstream caught my attention for several reasons. Some relate to classes I teach but for this post, I am interested in discussion surrounding the main reason the Whiteheads wrote about neuroscience: sexual reorientation. I have a few questions. Sex and gender researchers … Continue reading “Brain plasticity and sexual orientation: Train it to gain it?”
This post summarizes a new study by Ivanka Savic and Per Lindstrom, titled “PET and MRI show differences in cerebral asymmetry and functional connectivity between homo- and heterosexual subjects” and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. This is being reported widely in the press. The abstract reads Cerebral responses to putative … Continue reading “Study examines brain differences related to sexual orientation”
A new study released online with Archives of Sexual Behavior and via press release today propose a relatively small role for family attitudes in the direction of sexual attraction, with more of the explanation being factors not shared by siblings. Society’s attitudes have little impact on choice of sexual partner [PRESS RELEASE 16 June 2008] … Continue reading “Multiple factors involved in sexual orientation: New study”
Warning: Long post… This post could be part three of the series on sexual identity therapy and neutrality but I chose this title because I want to focus on one specific issue, at least in my mind, with telling psychotherapy clients that “our bodies tell us who we are.” Saying something like this to a … Continue reading “Our bodies tell us who we are”
As much for my own reference and recollection as anything else, I compiled this top ten list of stories from 2006. Since I am the only voter, the list is subjective and regular readers might arrange them differently or think I should have included another story over one of these. I am interested to hear … Continue reading “Year in review – Top ten stories from 2006”