Jack Drescher
Jack Drescher (born 1951) is an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst known mainly for his work on sexual orientation and gender identity.[1]
Education and affiliations
Drescher earned his B.A. in Biology from Brooklyn College in 1972 and his M.D. from University of Michigan Medical School in 1980. He completed his internship in psychiatry at St. Vincent’s Hospital & Medical Center and his residency at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Drescher trained in Psychoanalysis at the William Alanson White Institute where he is a Training and Supervising Analyst. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at New York University and is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at New York Medical College.[2]
Drescher is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, the American College of Psychiatrists and the New York Academy of Medicine. He is an elected member of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality and the International Academy of Sex Research, and he is President of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry.
Ex-gays and conversion therapy
Drescher is a critic of the ex-gay movement and conversion therapy, calling it "questionable in its efficacy" and citing potential harms of therapy to suppress or change sexual orientation.[3] In addition to writing about the ethical concerns,[2] Drescher has likened attempts to suggest there is a professional debate about this to creationism: "You create the impression to the public as if there was a debate in the profession, which there is not."[1] Drescher was one those who spoke out after Robert Spitzer published his findings that some gay people can alter their orientation.[4]
Gender identity
Drescher is a member of the American Psychiatric Association DSM-5 Workgroup on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders. He is also a member of the World Health Organization Working Group on the Classification of Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health which will address sex and gender diagnoses in WHO's forthcoming revisions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).
Selected publications
- Treating Transgender Children and Adolescents. Drescher J. & Byne, W., editors (2012), New York: Routledge.
- The LGBT Casebook. Levounis, P., Drescher J. & Barber, M., editors (2012), Washington DC: American Psychiatric Publishing
- Queer Diagnoses: Parallels and Contrasts in the History of Homosexuality, Gender Variance, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). Archives of Sexual Behavior (2010), 39:427–460.
- Homosexuality, gay and lesbian identities, and homosexual behavior. Jack Drescher, William Byne. In Sadock BJ, Sadock VA, Ruiz P (Eds), Kaplan and Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, Ninth Edition (2009). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD, pp. 2060–2090.
- When Politics Distorts Science: What Mental Health Professionals Can Do. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health (2009), 13(3):21-226
- Childhood Gender Nonconformity and the Development of Adult Homosexuality. Mathy, R. & Drescher, J., editors. (2009), New York: Routledge.
- A History of Homosexuality and Organized Psychoanalysis. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry (2008), 36(3):443-460.
- From Bisexuality to Intersexuality: Rethinking Gender Categories. Contemporary Psychoanalysis (2007), 43(2):204-228.
- Transgender Subjectivities: A Clinician's Guide. Leli, U. & Drescher, J., editors. (2004), New York: Harrington Park Press.
- Addictions in the gay and lesbian community. Jeffrey R. Guss, Jack Drescher, editors. New York: Haworth Medical Press, c2000. ISBN 0-7890-1038-0
- British lesbian, gay, and bisexual psychologies: theory, research, and practice. Elizabeth Peel, Victoria Clarke, Jack Drescher, editors Binghamton, NY : Haworth Medical Press, c2007. ISBN 0-7890-3251-1
- Crystal meth and men who have sex with men: what mental health care professionals need to know. Milton L. Wainberg, Andrew J. Kolodny, Jack Drescher, editors. New York: Haworth Medical Press, c2006. ISBN 0-7890-3247-3
- Ex-Gay Research: Analyzing the Spitzer Study And Its Relation to Science, Religion, Politics, and Culture. Jack Drescher, Kenneth J. Zucker (Editors). Harrington Park Press ISBN 1-56023-557-8
- Gay and lesbian parenting. Deborah F. Glazer, Jack Drescher, editors. New York: Haworth Medical Press, c2001. ISBN 0-7890-1350-9
- A gay man's guide to prostate cancer. Gerald Perlman (Editor), Jack Drescher (Editor) Binghamton, NY: Haworth Medical Press, c2005. ISBN 1-56023-553-5
- Handbook of LGBT issues in community mental health. Ronald E. Hellman, Jack Drescher, Binghamton, NY: Haworth Medical Press, c2004. ISBN 0-7890-2309-1
- Mental health professions and homosexuality: international perspectives. Vittorio Lingiardi, Jack Drescher, editors. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Medical Press, c2003. ISBN 0-7890-2058-0
- Psychoanalytic therapy and the gay man. Jack Drescher. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press, 1998. ISBN 0-88163-208-2
- Sexual and gender diagnoses of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM): a reevaluation. Dan Karasic, Jack Drescher (Editor). New York: Haworth Press, c2005. ISBN 0-7890-3213-9
References
- 1 2 Luo, Michael (February 12, 2007). Some Tormented by Homosexuality Look to a Controversial Therapy. New York Times
- 1 2 Drescher, Jack (2001). "Ethical Concerns Raised When Patients Seek to Change Same-Sex Attractions". Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy 5 (3/4): 183. Haworth Press.
- ↑ Associated Press (July 10, 2007). Psychologists to review stance on gays. USA Today
- ↑ Duin, Julia (May 9, 2001). New psychiatric study says gays can alter orientation. Washington Times