Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:173-181
Copyright © 1984 by American Psychiatric Association
The Masters and Johnson treatment program for dissatisfied homosexual men
MF Schwartz and WH Masters
Certain individuals who want to change their homosexual preference can be
helped by a short-term intensive intervention adapted from the Masters and
Johnson model for treating heterosexual disorders. Pretreatment counseling
aims at improving the patient's dating, sexual, and intimacy skills;
creative problem solving; and stress management. Then for 2 weeks the
patient and an opposite-sex partner, living in social isolation, meet daily
with a therapy team to address fears and anxieties about intimacy as they
arise. The directive psychotherapy format alternates between confrontation
of maladaptive belief systems and patterns of relating and support for
finding new ways of coping that foster a positive self-image.
