July 10, 2007
Beverly Greene, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology has been
appointed by the American
Psychological Association to serve on a task force charged with
reviewing the most current research on therapeutic responses to
sexual orientation.
Greene joins five other scholars selected to the task force,
scheduled to begin its review later this month at APA’s Washington,
DC, headquarters. The group will analyze scientific literature on
clinical approaches to sexual orientation, giving special attention
to research published since 1997 — the year APA passed its most
recent resolution on that topic. At the end of this year, the task
force will deliver a report to the APA president and board of
directors making recommendations on how to revise the 1997
resolution to include the most appropriate and efficacious
therapeutic approaches.
A practicing clinical psychologist, Greene is an expert on
multiple-marginalization, which affects individuals who are members
of more than one socially marginalized group, such as
African-Americans, women, gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender
individuals. Her research gives special credence to ways in which
members of these communities experience marginalization within
therapeutic environments, making her a logical selection for the
task force.
Greene says that, contrary to public belief, many abuses and
acts of prejudice are carried out by therapists in clinical
settings. “It’s more prevalent than we’d like to see,” she says,
noting that therapists often misattribute the behaviors of
marginalized individuals to certain pathologies. “It’s critical
that therapists get as much information as possible about how to
avoid recapitulating the marginalization people already experience
outside of therapy inside of therapy, because it further damages
them. And our highest ethical goal is that we do no harm to our
patients.”
Greene’s appointment has received several enthusiastic nods of
approval from colleagues in her field. “For years, Beverly Greene
has been one of psychology’s most prominent commentators on issues
of gender and sexual orientation, so I’m not surprised that she was
chosen to participate in such and important task force,” says St.
John’s psychology Professor John Hogan, Ph.D., a longtime APA
member and current Section Editor of American Psychologist,
the APA’s flagship publication. “It’s a joy for me to work with
her,” he adds.
Anneliese Singh, President-Elect of the Association of Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in Counseling, adds that her
organization “is excited and confident that [Greene] will make
significant contributions to this task force."
With more than 148,000 members, the APA is the world’s largest
association of psychologists.
According to an APA press release, the task force will address
topics such as children and adults who express a desire to change
their sexual orientation; adolescent inpatient facilities that
offer coercive treatment designed to change sexual orientation; the
training of therapists; and treatment protocols that promote
stereotyped gender-normative behavior.
Greene observes that the goals of the task force hew neatly to
the University’s Vincentian mission of serving underprivileged
members of society. “It’s directly applicable,” she notes. “We’re
focusing on people who are members of groups that are marginalized
and discussing the therapies that develop the healthiest kinds of
responses to their marginalization.”
Greene has been an APA fellow for 15 years and in 2006 became
the first African-American honored with the APA’s Florence Halpern
Award, bestowed annually to individuals who make significant
advancements within the field of psychology. She is the founding
co-editor of the APA’s Division 44 book series titled
“Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Issues”
and the recipient of several APA honors, including the Outstanding
Leadership Award from the Committee on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual
Concerns (1996) and the Distinguished Leadership Award from the
Committee on Women in Psychology (2003).
The author of more than 75 articles and seven books, including,
most recently, What Therapists Don’t Talk About and Why:
Understanding Taboos that Hurt Us and Our Clients, Greene
currently is editing two books: Phenomenal Women: Psychological
Resilience and Vulnerability in High-Achieving Black Women,
and A Minyan of Women, a collection of narratives by
female Jewish psychotherapists. The latter includes a contribution
by St. John’s Associate Professor of Psychology
Andrea Bergman, Ph.D.