International Healing Foundation

The International Healing Foundation directed by Richard Cohen, M.A., calls homosexuality a Same-Sex Attachment Disorder (SSAD) and has developed a program of reparative therapy to help homosexuals who wish to transition to heterosexuality. Cohen initially based his ideas on the teachings of the Unification Church, but in the late 1990s he announced a break with the church and recast his ideas in almost purely psychological terms.

The following outlines the IHF's theory of the meaning and causes of homosexual orientation and their four-stage model of recovery.

Table of contents 1 Meaning and Causes 1.1 Hidden meanings of same-sex attractions 1.2 Basic causes 2 Four-stage model of recovery

Meaning and Causes

Hidden meanings of same-sex attractions

1. need for same-sex parent's love
2. need for gender identification
3. fear of intimacy with the opposite sex.

Basic causes

1. heredity
2. temperament
3. hetero-emotional wounds
4. homo-emotional wounds
5. family dynamics / sibling wounds
6. body image wounds
7. peer wounds
8. sexual abuse
9. cultural wounds
10. intrauterine influences and other factors

Four-stage model of recovery

1. transitioning
2. grounding
3. healing homo-emotional wounds
4. healing hetero-emotional wounds

According to IHF, this program has helped many men, women and adolescents come out of homosexuality.

External Link:

• IHF website (http://www.gaytostraight.org/)