Rating: 
Summary: Sexuality Is More Complicated Than This
Review: The reason why so many right-wing Christians, among others, believe homosexuality is a choice, and thus why it can be "corrected" through religious therapy like this, is because the vast majority of human beings are bisexual to some extent. On this one needs to read the Kinsey Report and other medical reports on sexuality to better comprehend the data. In short, 80% of human beings are bisexual to some degree. If you are one of these people *and* you are religious *and* you wish to fight off same-sex tendencies in your sexualities, this book may offer you some help. HOWEVER, if you are actually in the 10% of human beings or so whose sexuality is 100% gay, then there is absolutely nothing you can do about it--this book nor any other reparative therapy can change that. God made you that way, and your best bet is to address your religious convictions in a gay-friendly atmosphere (which this text is not particularly). So buyer beware: if you are truly 100% gay, you cannot change your orientation, and this book will only make you more unhappy, not less.
Rating:
Summary: Sexuality Is More Complicated Than This
Review: The reason why so many right-wing Christians, among others,believe homosexuality is a choice, and thus why it can be"corrected" through religious therapy like this, is because the vast majority of human beings are bisexual to some extent. On this one needs to read the Kinsey Report and other medical reports on sexuality to better comprehend the data. In short, 80% of human beings are bisexual to some degree. If you are one of these people *and* you are religious *and* you wish to fight off same-sex tendencies in your sexualities, this book may offer you some help. HOWEVER, if you are actually in the 10% of human beings or so whose sexuality is 100% gay, then there is absolutely nothing you can do about it--this book nor any other reparative therapy can change that. God made you that way, and your best bet is to address your religious convictions in a gay-friendly atmosphere (which this text is not particularly). So buyer beware: if you are truly 100% gay, you cannot change your orientation, and this book will only make you more unhappy, not less.
Rating: 
Summary: The definitive book on reparative therapy
Review: The review by Daniel Sinclair on this page says what the book is, very well; I'll add that it's eerie how well this book, and none I'd read previously, described me. I will also say what it isn't, so people can get past the reviews here and elsewhere:
* Nicolosi doesn't recommend shock treatment or any other aversion therapy
* He doesn't say Christianity is the cure
* He doesn't say change is impossible
* He doesn't say it's possible for everyone
What he does say is that change, when possible, can be effected by improvements in gender-related self-esteem and same-sex friendships. Even if it didn't change attractions (and it has; see Richard Cohen and John Paulk as examples), these are wonderful things to develop! How could any man needing self-esteem and friendship pass this up?
Rating:
Summary: What a joke
Review: This book is a joke. It is time to stop pretending we can stop homosexuality with out-dated techniques and time we just accept it.
Rating:
Summary: Reparative Therapy is a ridiculous sham
Review: This book is helpful for those who seek change because of theri values and who do have strained relationships with their same sex parent, or siblings or peers. This was the case for me and I applied the theories in this book and have gone from being 100% gay to 100% heterosexual. It has taken three years, but it is done. I also became much more healthy psychologically. This book does not address adequately child sexual abuse which can be a doorway into homosexuality for some. If you have experienced childhood sexual abuse I recommend DNMS therapy - Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy. This form of therapy changes the brain patterns caused by an abusive environment into the brain patterns of someone who grew up in a loving environment. Positive feelings, thoughts, and behaviors then follow. As for the present medical opinions of the APA and the AMA, they are not God and therefore are not infallible, although they are politically correct. They are making a big mistake in not endorsing reparative therapy for those who fit the pattern of broken relationship with same sex parent, siblings, or peers. When I went through reparative therapy it was not stressful. It filled me with hope. It must be realized that reparative therapy does not challenge my values, but supports them. I suggest that if you do not value the thought of being heterosexual that you don't waste your time trying to change. But if you value heterosexuality, and fit the pattern, then reparative therapy can work for you. Do it for you, if you do it at all.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I Could Give This Book ZERO Stars
Review: This book is nothing but a bunch of pseudo-science jibberish, pretending to be science. Sadly, there are some gay men and lesbians in our society who desire to "become" straight because they can't handle the homophobia in our society and the discrimination that they face in their daily lives. Dr. Nicolosi, a wolf in sheep's clothing, purports to give them the answer, "hey, you can change if you read my book and get in touch with your real masculinity and feminitity!" In other words, he presumes that we are all somehow "damaged" goods, and based on that flawed premise, he purports to tell us how we can fix the "damage" that caused us to become straight. Let's be clear. Dr. Nicolosi's theory is based upon a lie, pure and simple. That is the no spin truth.
I am a gay man, and I am just as masculine as the next guy. I have a great relationship with my father, and I have lots of straight male friends. I was not abused as a child, nor have I ever had any "gender identity" issues. The simple fact of the matter is that I was born gay, period. No "environmenal factors" caused me to be gay. No one made me gay. I never sat down and made a choice to be gay. Heck, I can remember back in the first grade telling my best friend on the bus ride home from school that I loved him. We laughed it off, but I meant it. It was the same form of puppy love that the straight guys in my class were starting to have for our female classmates. I came out when I was 13 to my parents, siblings, and friends, all of whom accepted me for who and what I am. I was blessed to have such a loving and accepting family, and I feel so sorry for gay kids who don't have such a good support system. As for me now, I am in my late-20s, and I am married to a wonderful man, my soul mate. We plan on having kids in the next ten years. And, we are no different from straight married couples in terms of our "lifestyle." We work hard, pay taxes, eat, sleep, watch tv, go the movies, and hang out with our friends, just like straight married couples do. We are NO different. I hope this brief account of my life can be helpful to anyone who is considering purchasing this sham of a book. Dr. Nicolosi is NOT the answer that you seek! Find a therapist (if you need one) who is gay-positive and who will help you accept who you are. This is America! You have the right to be who and what you are! You have the right to live the life that you were meant to live and to love the person that you were meant to love! Do not let Dr. Nicolosi and his ilk tell you otherwise!!
Rating: 
Summary: Finally - clinical therapy rather than "conversion" therapy
Review: This book, now apparently back in print, is THE best treatment of recovery from homosexuality I have read. Although I did not come out of that lifestyle, I have friends who have (and friends who have tried and not succeeded), and have had many of the emotional precursors to homosexuality in my own history. Reading books such as this have helped me become a healthy man. In my own journey, I have had to painstakingly cull the truths in this book from many religious books, which has not been fun. This book clearly presents the basic ideas behind reparative therapy without resorting to preaching - the only book on this topic that I have ever seen. Most gay recovery books are written by evangelical Christians who force you to convert (i.e. become "born again") in order to heal. The problem with this, imho, is two-fold. First of all, the authors often neglect some of the deep emotional issues that need to be explored or systematically examined by saying "just commit yourself to Jesus and his love will heal you." Experiencing the love of God and developing a spiritual life certainly may heal the injured soul, but this is often a copout for lazy pseudo-psychologists who know little of the science of emotional development and the psyhological tools for exploring and healing the wounded soul. The second problem with conversion therapy is that it shuts out many people who are not ready or don't want to convert to Christianity, when many, if not most, of the tools for healing homosexuality can be employed independently of faith - things like understanding true masculinity v. the false masculinity that many men have rejected, etc. Most human characteristics have both biologic and environmental causes (a.k.a. nature and nurture), but the ratio may not always be 50/50. I believe that the same holds true for sexuality, i.e. the factors that contribute to a homsexual orientation are probably both biologic and environmental. People who want to choose either/or here usually have a personal issue involved, and are not genuinely interested in finding the truth, but rather, are entrenched in their own position, defensively mocking or striking out at the fools on the other extreme. The real questions are:
- is homosexuality a disorder or not? How do you determine what is a disorder? This is a long discussion (which I would love to have)
- are there different types of homosexual? - are some types of homosexuality influenced primarily by genetic or biologic factors? If so, what are they, and what is the proposed mechanism?
- are some types of homosexuality influenced primarily by environmental factors? - of this group, are some caused by environmental factors during development? If we assume this, by what mechanism? If bad or absent parental role models are the proposed cause, what corrective method is suggested? How well does it work? I believe that reparative therapy says "yes, some, perhaps most cases of homosexuality are mainly caused by external relational factors that affect gender identity development, and can be corrected through therapy." Nicolisi paints in the details of this hypothesis with clarity and at least the appearance of scientific rigor, and documents results (albeit only the good ones ;) in his other book, mentioned below. Overall, this book is a great reference for those who want to study the perspective of reparative therapy. Other useful books, not as scientific or complete as Nicolisi's are listed below. However, all but the first two of these invoke Christianity and doctrine (a.k.a. "conversion therapy"), where Nicolisi's book remains mostly clinical and psychological in outlook. Being and Loving by Althea Horner (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - she endorsed Nicolisi's book) Healing Homosexuality : Case Stories of Reparative Therapy by Nicolisi Counseling the Homosexual by Saia Pursuing Sexual Wholeness by Comiskey (great chapter on gender identity malformation and healing)
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