Ask DOPL to Protect All Utah Teens

We certainly need to protect LGBT youth from any potential aversive or coercive therapy, but we also need to protect the right of all teens to discuss freely their concerns, questions, and values regarding any confusion they may be experiencing related to sex and gender.

I feel a therapist should have the right and ability to counsel youth under 18 y/o regarding their gender and sexual orientation. Where are our freedoms going....probably the same place our morality is going....out the window. Please don’t take away our freedom to have children counseled the way we feel they should be counseled regarding these moral issues. Let us have our religious freedom.

This licensing requirement goes too far and has the potential to be extremely damaging to youth striping away protections.

Thank you, Laura, for making us aware of these issues.

I have a gay brother and several gay friends and am concerned about their vulnerability. However, NYC passed a similar bill and then repealed it, finding it to be a "gross intrusion into the fundamental rights of counselors and clients." Please. We don't need to go there.

I have a gay brother and nephew, so I feel I have exposure to this issue. In watching the different ways they have approached gender confusion from their youth, I can affirm it is crucial we allow therapists to talk through long term issues of this choice and options they can look at if they really don't know what to think and aren't sure if they want to just declare themselves lgbtq. Please allow therapists to be able to share ideas consistent with what they and the child's parents feel are appropriate in each case!

I feel DOPL is grossly overstepping it's authority to attempt to infringe on the rights of people seeking treatment, after our Utah legislature just upheld those rights earlier this year.

Parents should be able to seek for the best therapy for their child - including talk therapy - without restraint.

We definitely should have the option to "work with [a] licensed professional therapist of [our] choice who will honor [our] freely chosen values".

I oppose this wording.

Let parents have their right to decide what’s best for their child.

Please do not take away our freedom to choose what is best for ourselves and our children. There should always be freedom on both to seek what help you desire.

I oppose the Psychology Licensing Act Rule.

Keep parental rights in tact as they are.

Please find new language to protect our teens.

Children need our protection.

Opposed.

Everyone should have the right to self-determine all aspects of their health care (including mental health) with unrestricted competent medical advice. Forcing medical practitioners to conform to popular cultural norms instead of science is not only incompetent, but unethical.

Protect all teens by rejecting the language proposed by the Board of Psycologists.

Please reject proposed language! Patients should have a right to choose the kind of counseling them want