I am a full time adult and general psychiatrist employed by Inland Psychiatric Medical Group (IPMG, private practice group based in California). I have been a psychiatrist for almost 20 years. I started part-time with MindCare Solutions during Covid times in 2020 to break up the monotony of taking care of all my 900 active patients with IPMG from home via telephone calls.
MindCare is a small telepsychiatry group (about seven psychiatrists) and they have a contract with a large national group – Ginger Telepsychiatry. Ginger has about 75 psychiatrists and several hundred therapists and coaches nationwide. Ginger provides mental health care in almost all the U.S. I began work with Ginger on April 1, 2021. Drs. Dana Udall and Jon Kole head Ginger’s department of psychiatry. I dedicated part-time hours to getting to know and help 125 Ginger patients in the past six months.
In mid-September 2021, an LGBT activist (not even a patient) told Drs. Udall and Kole that I am a proponent of therapy that helps those with unwanted same sex attraction to overcome it. They referred to an article in Think Progress, “Ex-Gay Therapist Blames Patients For Their Failure To ‘Pray Away The Gay.’”
The article begins: “Anthony Duk is one of the practitioners of ‘ex-gay therapy’ who is challenging California’s new law banning offering the treatment to minors. He spoke with American Medical News about the suit and explained that yes, his patients have been unsuccessful at changing their sexual orientation, but they’re to blame, not the ‘therapy….'”
The article has a liberal and false slant – I was never gay, thus I am not ex-gay. I am not a therapist, I am a psychiatrist. I don’t blame patients but I do share with them the work they need to do. And I don’t Bible thump or pray with them to overcome their gayness]. I do support SAFE-T (sexual attraction and fluidity exploration in therapy) and the use of authentic therapy to help someone understand why they feel and think, the way they feel and think. I do support helping people with unwanted same-sex attraction to overcome dysfunctional parenting, early childhood peer problems and sexual trauma, to become heterosexual through psychological therapy to help them become authentic people in God’s image.
If sexual orientation shifts result from the therapy, that is a natural byproduct of the therapy, but it is not the intent. And I do support Reintegrative Therapy with Dr. Nicolosi Jr. Reintegrative therapy is done by licensed therapists with the Reintegrative Therapy Association. There are many success stories and it is consistent with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
I do not support conversion or reparative therapy. That is the therapy outlawed by both APAs. That therapy aims to change sexual orientation through unregulated therapy and potentially abusive practices such as shaming, physical abuse, electroshocks, Bible-thumping ‘fire/brimstone’, eyelid taping or forced viewing of videos or porn. That is not what I support.
I am a person of conservative Roman Catholic faith who believes patients have a right to determine their goals in therapy and to live consistent with their faith, and if something has happened to them in their past that they think affects their current fantasies, thoughts and behavior and they want to talk about it, then they need to have that option.
I don’t do reintegrative or SAFE-T therapy but I can refer them out to people I know. I’ve only had two patients with unwanted same-sex attraction in my near 20 years as a psychiatrist; the last one was over 10 years ago. I currently have about 30 LGBT patients, and I don’t mention anything about reintegrative therapy or their same sex attraction. I just accept their choices and work with the issues they present in session with a need for med re-evaluation, problems from substance abuse, issues with depression from Covid/ stressors etc. I deal with what they want to talk about. And I don’t bring up what they don’t want to talk about.
My 4.7 out of 5 stars in online ratings show that I can separate my religious and professional beliefs from my care for patients where appropriate. Ginger has never received any complaints from any LGBT patients of mine. I’ve shown that my religious and professional beliefs on unwanted same-sex attraction do not affect my ability to treat LGBT patients properly. And the added benefit I bring is if a patient of faith wants to address their unwanted same-sex attraction, they can talk with me and I can direct them properly. Having me with Ginger has been a win win.
As long as the fake or planted patients (whom I saw a couple of) were filtered out, the issues with negative publicity would never be a problem. Otherwise, without me, Ginger’s current core values, therapists and psychiatrists would likely tell a patient of conservative faith that if they had unwanted same-sex attraction feelings/ thoughts/ behaviors, they should overcome their internal “homophobia,” change religious beliefs, and stop interacting with the family and friends that are making them feel this way.
I do not believe that is ethical treatment for these patients. Despite presenting my case after accusation by the LGBT activist, I was asked to wrap up patient care in three weeks (impossible to do; Ginger has still not transferred patients and does not even have openings with new psychiatrists) and stop my association with Ginger by October 2, 2021 due to differences with Ginger’s core values.
The above was written by Anthony Duk, M.D. (anthony.duk@inlandpsych.com) and sent to Cal Catholic on October 4. Dr. Duk got his medical degree from Loma Linda University in 2001 and completed the psychiatry program at Loma Linda in 2005. He worked at Kaiser Permanente, Moreno Valley, Sept 2016 to April 2019 and at Inland Psychiatric Medical Group, June 2005 to present.
Too bad. Also too bad that he joined the rhetoric that reparative therapy is electroshock therapy. He knows better.
My friend, I believe we support the same type of authentic psychotherapy that helps people look into their past and see how it relates to their present and how they want to feel, think and act now in the present. Nowadays the group my friend the late Dr Nicolosi Sr started is called the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity. We support therapy called SAFE-T —- it is based off of Dr Nicolosi Sr’s work.
I am not creating the misuse of the terms—- “reparative” therapy has become clumped into all the other types of ‘therapy’ I mentioned above by LGBT activists.
Dr. Duk, thank you for clarifying that. I support ATCSI. I didn’t realize the term reparative therapy was no longer used, except by, apparently, opponents of any possibility of sexual attraction fluidity or change, who usually derisively call it “conversion” therapy (a term I’ve seen used only by LGBTQ+ activists). And, since you don’t practice reintegrative therapy, but only refer out for it, respecting patients’ rights to determine their own therapeutic goals should not be an issue for any secular, non-ideological group. There is obviously another agenda and powerful pressure group involved.
May God bless, protect and provide for you.
Defenders of homosexual practices and lifestyles will do whatever they find necessary to indulge their disordered passions. It’s a demonicaly driven disorder.
…get a lawyer…Start with the Thomas More society…don’t take this sitting down….writing a column to an obscure Catholic website is just preaching to the choir. Bring the fight to them.
I was a contract psychiatrist, not W2 or 1099. They can fire me without much cause. I already spoke with several lawyers.
What next? Will they come after me for helping people who are addicted to alcohol get sober if they want to get sober?
I’ve been sober for 34 years and have encouraged people to be free from addiction to alcohol. That is real freedom, not just “I can’t drink anymore” but “I don’t want to drink. I’m free from that trap!”
Will I be “cancelled” for being an “Anti-Alcoholic”?
The Woke and Mamby Pamby people are forcing their “Mad-scientist” schemes down our throats while we think we should be “nice” or “tolerant”. No, we shouldn’t be nice or tolerant of this evil agenda.
Maybe they need some therapy on how to let go of their urge to control other people.
I could do that. And I’d do it for free.
If we redefine “normal” or “healthy” as The Way God Intended Things To Be, then all of mental health and psychiatry will be turned on its head and a revolution will be started. Right now, what socoety wants or thinks is normal or healthy is made the goal of therapy. Thus whoever is politically and legally stronger will prevail in their definition. This nation needs to be re-evangelized and we lay people can lead that effort.
Congratulations on your sobriety.
Fr. Higgins, what is your opinion of Catholics being involved with AA?
Fr. Higgins: God Bless you. Sadly, for centuries Christians have been in the forefront of using coercion to gain compliance and converts. It is not unique to modern human beings.
We Christians are preaching the revealed Truth from God in the Catholic Church though. We can evangelize and educate but I do agree that coercion is not called for —- patience can be used more.
Lost me when he lumped ECT with shaming, physical abuse, electroshocks, Bible-thumping ‘fire/brimstone’, eyelid taping and forced viewing of videos or porn.
Hi my friend. I did not mention ECT. But there have been reports of unregulated abusive conversion therapy attempts that have used electrical shocks. I was mentioning that I don’t support that type of therapy.
As a violation of your Constitutional right to freedom of religion, insofar as the Supreme Court has interpreted that right in the past, I don’t think this would be legally defensible. The sole reason given for the decision to end your employment cannot be that you are Catholic. I hope you can find the means and will to challenge this injustice. There is more at stake than only your fate, as I’m sure you have already appreciated. God bless you.
Thank you Pearl.