Subscribe to the CT4F Newsletter to stay informed!
What is conversion therapy?
UPDATED 4/1/2026
When your child tells you they think they might be transgender or questioning, your heart can pound right out of your chest. You want to do right by them and be in integrity with your faith. Many of us in that position are told something called “conversion therapy” (sometimes dressed up as “exploratory therapy” or “therapy first”) can fix things. But it can’t.
And now, with the Supreme Court's ruling in Chiles v. Salazar weakening the state laws that protected children from these practices, parents need to understand what conversion therapy actually is, and isn't, more urgently than ever.
We collected evidence and real stories here so you don't have to see for yourself how ineffective but also harmful conversion therapy can be. We also offer tips and resources on alternatives to conversion therapy that honor both your child's life and your faith.
You don’t have to choose between one and the other.
What is “conversion therapy” and why am I hearing it discussed so much lately?
Conversion therapy refers to any effort to change a person's sexual orientation or how they see themselves. It goes by "change efforts" in some places. There are no verified claims that conversion therapy can make someone not be transgender, but practitioners say otherwise, preying on parents who they know are desperate for guidance.
"Exploratory psychotherapy" is being promoted as a first-line response to a child saying they are transgender or questioning their gender. But "exploratory psychotherapy" is just another name for conversion therapy, repackaged to mislead you and increase the odds that you'll buy into this sinful practice in a moment of fear or confusion.
You're hearing about it more right now because of the Supreme Court. On March 31, 2026, the Court ruled 8-1 in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado's ban on conversion therapy for minors, as applied to talk therapy, violates the First Amendment. The case was brought by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a lobbying organization that has signaled plans to challenge bans in more than 20 additional states. The ruling didn't declare conversion therapy safe or effective. It didn't change the medical consensus. But it weakened the legal protections that stood between your child and a practitioner selling false promises.
That's why being informed right now isn't optional. It's how you protect your family.
“We were promised help.
Instead, our family fell apart.”
For many Christian parents, the decision to seek help when a child comes out as transgender or questioning isn't made lightly. It's made out of love, and fear. Parents are promised that programs rooted in "faith" or "healing" will bring peace to their families. Instead, countless parents say those promises left them with heartbreak that will never fully heal.
Dusty Farr, a father in Oklahoma, says the pressure to send his son to “therapy first” nearly destroyed their bond. “We were told it was the only way to keep him safe and faithful. It did the opposite. It broke his spirit.”
A Christian mother raising her family in Alaska looks back with regret at having believed that sending her teenage daughter Lillian to a residential treatment center for conversion therapy would “fix” things. The Lennon family has never fully healed, she said.
In a series of sworn statements submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, other parents shared how conversion therapy devastated their families. Linda Robertson wrote about how her family "taught Ryan to hate himself" before learning to love him unconditionally. Joyce Calvo told the Court: "I cry out to God every day, not only for the loss of Alana, but for the destruction that conversion therapy causes to the most sacred of relationships."
Another mother, Paulette Trimmer, whose son barely survived his conversion therapy experience, urged the Court to protect families from making the same mistake.
“We thought we were choosing faith,” she said. “But faith would have chosen love.”
Each of these parents believed they were doing the right thing. Each discovered too late that “conversion therapy,” no matter how softly it’s repackaged, tears families apart, not because of a lack of faith, but because of misplaced trust.
(We’ll continue adding verified parent testimonials as we find them. if you have one to share, please consider reaching out to us via email at contact@conversiontruthforfamilies.org)
If “conversion therapy” is so bad,
why isn't it illegal everywhere?
It was moving in that direction. More than 23 states and Washington, D.C., had enacted bans on conversion therapy for minors by licensed mental health professionals. Those laws were backed by every major medical association in the country and had broad bipartisan support, with Republican legislators supporting these bans more than 1,000 times since 2012. A majority of Americans (56%) believe conversion therapy should be illegal for minors.
But on March 31, 2026, the Supreme Court's ruling in Chiles v. Salazar changed the landscape. The Court held that Colorado's ban, as applied to talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint and must be reviewed under strict scrutiny, the toughest legal standard. Most laws fail that test. Every existing ban is now vulnerable to legal challenge.
The ruling did leave an opening: Justice Kagan's concurrence noted that viewpoint-neutral versions of these laws could raise a harder constitutional question. States may be able to redraft protections. But for now, the legal guardrails are weaker than they were.
And even in states with protections still on the books, unlicensed providers may operate outside the reach of these laws. So no matter where you live, the responsibility falls on you to be informed about who is treating your child and what methods they use.
We did our own research. The science matches the human experience.
Experts from all over the country say they’ve found no proof that conversion therapy can really do what practitioners say it can. But it’s not just false advertising. Conversion therapy is a sinful and sometimes deadly harm.
The U.S. SAMHSA concluded in its federal report: "No available research supports the claim that SOGI change efforts are beneficial to children, adolescents, or families." They also found that "available research indicates that SOGI change efforts can cause significant harm."
Research from Dr. Caitlin Ryan's Family Acceptance Project found that young people subjected to both parent-initiated and therapist-led conversion efforts had a 63% attempted-suicide rate. Minors who experience high levels of family rejection are 8.4 times more likely to attempt suicide.
A 2022 study in JAMA Pediatrics estimated the total economic burden of conversion therapy on young people in the United States at $9.23 billion annually.
The Supreme Court's ruling didn't dispute any of this science. The American Psychological Association expressed deep concern about the ruling's implications, warning it could have "far-reaching implications for consumer safety and professional regulation." Justice Jackson, the sole dissenter, cited the medical consensus extensively in her 35-page dissent, warning that the ruling "opens a dangerous can of worms."
Red flags parents should watch for:
As you navigate this challenging period and search for guidance you can trust, walk away if you see any of these:
Promises to change or "resolve" identity (even softly worded)
Pressure to "test" your child's identity through stress or deprivation
Shame-based tactics that frame a child's identity as moral failure (including moral failure by you, the parent)
Lack of verified, evidence-based safety plans to reduce suicide risk
Marketing the practice under rebranded names like "exploratory therapy," "gender exploratory counseling," or "faith-based realignment"
Requesting large upfront payments for multi-session "programs"
Discouraging your child from sharing what happens in sessions with you
For a deeper dive into what to look for and what questions to ask, visit our conversion therapy FAQs and myths vs. truths pages.
What can we do instead?
(Safer, faith-aligned first steps)
Choose therapists who focus on family connection, coping skills, and safety:
Build a home safety plan that's consistent with your beliefs and your child's dignity. Elevated suicide risk is very real; loving presence and support matter.
Stay rooted in faith and facts. Plenty of Christian families have found ways to keep both. Read their stories.
Be selective with who you choose to trust in this difficult moment. If you decide that professional counsel is right for you, choose support from certified therapists who focus on family connection, coping skills, and safety, not charlatans who level shame and blame tactics at both your child and you.
Download our free Christian Family Companion guide, designed to walk you through the first 24 hours, first week, first month, and first year after your child shares their struggle.
Learn who is really behind the legal campaigns to weaken protections for children, so you can recognize when an organization is using your family's situation to advance a political agenda.
FAQs
Is conversion therapy safe if it's just "talk therapy"?
No. The Supreme Court's Chiles v. Salazar ruling centered on exactly this question, treating talk therapy as protected speech under the First Amendment. But a legal ruling doesn't make a harmful practice safe. Even "talk-only" change efforts are associated with higher rates of depression, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts and behavior in peer-reviewed research. Safety isn't about the tool (talk vs. something else); it's about the goal (change/suppress vs. support). As Justice Jackson warned in her dissent: "The Constitution does not pose a barrier to reasonable regulation of harmful medical treatments just because substandard care comes via speech instead of scalpel."
Is "exploratory therapy" different?
It depends on intent and practice. Health policy experts warn that "exploratory" models can enable conversion practices if they're organized to discourage or delay acceptance of a child's identity. Vet carefully and ask direct questions. If the therapist's approach has a predetermined outcome in mind, that's conversion therapy under a different name. For more on how to tell the difference, visit our FAQs page.
Do major medical organizations still oppose conversion therapy after the Supreme Court ruling?
Yes. Every one of them. The American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and more than a dozen others continue to condemn these practices. The Court's ruling was about constitutional law, not medical science. The science hasn't changed.
Is conversion therapy legal in my state?
State laws are in flux right now. Before the Chiles v. Salazar ruling, 23 states and D.C. had bans in place. Those bans are now vulnerable to legal challenge. Check a live policy map for the most current status, and read our full breakdown of the ruling to understand what it means for your state.