The American Psychoanalytic Association affirms the following positions:

Position Statement on the Treatment of Homosexual Patients

1. Same-gender sexual orientation cannot be assumed to represent a deficit in personality development or the expression of psychopathology.

2. As with any societal prejudice, anti-homosexual bias negatively affects mental health, contributing to an enduring sense of stigma and pervasive self-criticism in people of same-gender sexual orientation through the internalization of such prejudice.

3. Psychoanalytic technique does not encompass purposeful efforts to "convert" or "repair" an individual's sexual orientation. Such directed efforts are against fundamental principles of psychoanalytic treatment and often result in substantial psychological pain by reinforcing damaging internalized homophobic attitudes.