Home / Health / NHS Apologizes for Brutal Conversion Therapy
NHS Apologizes for Brutal Conversion Therapy
6 Dec
Summary
- Woman subjected to electric shock aversion therapy in 1965.
- Doctors offered to change her sexual orientation with cruel treatment.
- A psychologist finally issued a long-awaited apology decades later.
In 1965, Pauline Collier, then a student, hid her attraction to women, a secret she believed doctors at Crumpsall Hospital could 'change'. Despite being offered work if she underwent treatment, she submitted to electric shock aversion therapy, a conversion practice involving electric shocks administered while viewing erotic images. Ms. Collier described this as punishment, not therapy, where she was forced to associate pain with women and relief with men, a treatment that ultimately failed to alter her orientation.
This brutal therapy left Ms. Collier deeply depressed and unable to focus on her studies, impacting her energy and self-perception. She later pursued a successful career as an educational psychologist, but the trauma lingered. Years after confronting one of her former psychologists without an apology, she met Dr. Jim Orford, who offered a sincere apology on behalf of the profession for the cruel and sadistic treatment they administered.
While electric shock aversion therapy is no longer practiced in NHS hospitals, other forms of conversion practices remain legal in the UK, with a ban still pending. Ms. Collier's experience underscores the urgent need for formal government and NHS apologies and the swift passing of legislation to protect LGBT+ individuals from ongoing abuse. The University of Manchester has expressed regret for its involvement in the unethical experiments.
