The Institute for Effective Therapy of Homosexuality (IETH) was created by the International Healing Foundation "for the purpose of developing, implementing and teaching successful methods for healing homosexuality".

They state:

"We believe that a homosexual orientation represents a developmental (gender identity deficit) disorder. We further believe that by discovering the root causes, healing the wounds and fulfilling the unmet needs, anyone can actualize his or her full heterosexual potential. What was learned can be unlearned."

While the IETH does not formally endorse a religion, its mother organization, the IHF, states that it "seeks to help each man, woman, and child in healing from past and present wounds, and empower them with the understanding of their value as a child of God."

The view that homosexuality is a disease is rejected by the psychiatric community at large. For example, the American Psychiatric Association states on its website:

Homosexuality was thought to be a mental illness in the past because mental health professionals and society had biased information about homosexuality since most studies only involved lesbians and gay men in therapy. When researchers examined data about gay people who were not in therapy, the idea that homosexuality was a mental illness was found to be untrue.

In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association confirmed the importance of the new research by removing the term 'homosexuality' from the official manual that list all mental and emotional disorders. In 1975 the American Psychological Association passed a resolution supporting this action. Both associations urge all mental health professionals to help dispel the stigma of mental illness that some people still associate with homosexual orientation. Since original declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder, this decision has subsequently been reaffirmed by additional research findings and both associations.

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