Interventions or practices directed at changing, suppressing or preventing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity because one outcome is presumed preferable. They may be presented as therapy, counselling, prayer, discipline or support.
Sources and evidence type
Manual claim and limitation notes are shown where an individual source audit is complete. Other evidence-type labels are a publisher aid awaiting source-by-source confirmation.
Illustration created using generative AI; not documentary evidence.
In brief
Predetermined suppression or change is not neutral therapeutic exploration.
Conversion practices are rejected by major UK health and therapy bodies as unethical, ineffective and potentially harmful. They differ from open-ended, affirming exploration that does not prescribe a heterosexual, cisgender or other predetermined outcome. The UK legal position is fragmented and changing; specific conduct may already engage criminal, safeguarding, professional or civil law even without one simple UK-wide offence label.
Forms and warning signs
Practices may include one-directional talking therapy, aversion, coercive prayer, isolation, shame, threats or attempts to enforce gender expression. The setting or religious framing does not determine whether the purpose is conversion.
Warning signs include promises to cure identity, blaming family or trauma without evidence, demanding celibacy only for one orientation, and defining success as concealment.
Status
Detailed editorial draft
Publisher
The UK Kink Guide
Reviewed
Structured draft present; individual review date not recorded
Evidence
3 cited sources · types labelled below
Jurisdiction
UK-focused general education
Read the rest: evidence, law, safety and sources
Conversion practice
Work premised on changing or suppressing orientation or gender toward a preferred outcome.
Affirmative therapy
Support that accepts identity diversity and explores wellbeing without directing the conclusion.
Exploratory therapy
Open-ended reflection on feelings, identity, values or options without a predetermined identity result.
Behaviour support
Help with specific lawful, consensual behaviour or distress without treating identity or attraction as the problem.
Evidence and harm
Professional consensus does not support reliable change of sexual orientation or gender identity through such interventions. Reported harms include shame, anxiety, depression, damaged relationships and delayed appropriate care.
Most evidence is observational and terminology varies, but those limitations do not establish effectiveness or ethical acceptability.
What legitimate care can do
Therapy can explore uncertainty, faith, relationships, sexual behaviour, dysphoria, transition options or distress while leaving identity outcomes open. A client may also choose behavioural boundaries for personal reasons.
Consent to therapy is not meaningful if risks, practitioner aims or alternatives are concealed, or if family, community, housing or spiritual threats remove freedom.
Safety, complaints and law
Check professional registration and complain through the regulator or employer when appropriate. Safeguarding services or police may be relevant where conduct includes abuse, assault, coercive control, threats or risk to a child or vulnerable adult.
Legal reforms and scope vary across UK nations and over time. Obtain current jurisdiction-specific legal advice rather than assuming every harmful practice has one identical offence.
Non-graphic examples
What the umbrella may include
A therapist promising to make a gay client heterosexual.
Coercive prayer intended to suppress a trans identity.
Open-ended discussion of identity without a preferred answer.
Supporting a client's chosen celibacy without condemning orientation.
Reporting assault or coercion separately from the conversion label.
Prepare for an appointment
Questions you could ask a professional
Which diagnostic criteria are relevant—and which are not?
Is distress intrinsic, caused by stigma, or both?
How are consent, risk and impairment being assessed?
What evidence supports the proposed approach?
These prompts do not replace assessment and do not imply that every reader needs professional care.
Continue learning
Take the next step from definition to context.
Continue with independent guidance connecting conversion practices to evidence, consent, safety, uncertainty and practical decisions.
The UK Kink GuideEvidence-led glossary