Mautner Project Slams Magellan Health Over Throckmorton Appointment

NEW YORK, April 28  –  The re-appointment of Dr. Warren Throckmorton to the National Professional Advisory Council of Magellan Health Services has been attacked by the America’s lesbian health organization The Mautner Project.

Magellan Health is the largest mental health provider in the USA.

“We are shocked by the re-appointment,” commented Kathleen DeBold, executive director of the Mautner Project, said in a statement issued today.

“Throckmorton is widely known to practice a controversial and scientifically discredited therapy called ‘heterosexual-affirming reparative therapy’ that intends to change the sexual orientation of lesbians and gays,” Ms DeBold said.

“He was originally invited to participate on Magellan’s council in September of 2004 but was dropped as a candidate five months later in February 2005 for sparking a heated debate over his advocacy of ‘reparative therapy,’ she explained.

“Professional mental and behavioral health associations such as the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association have consistently discredited ‘reparative therapy,’ the kind of therapy promoted by Throckmorton.

“In our 15 years of providing support and service to lesbians in crisis, the Mautner Project has experienced firsthand the damage and trauma caused by reparative therapies such as the kind Throckmorton promotes.

“As the nation’s largest mental health provider, Magellan’s announcement of Throckmorton’s reappointment should raise a red flag about the provider’s agenda and future effectiveness in serving the mental health community.

“The Mautner Project insists that Magellan void this irresponsible and dangerous appointment, Ms DeBold insisted.  “We challenge Magellan to staff their National Advisory Council with health professionals who are qualified and unbiased in their views about providing quality behavioral health services to LBGT as well as non-gay individuals.

“The Mautner Project, which has trained thousands of healthcare providers across the country, also offers to train Magellan’s board, staff and participating providers to deliver culturally competent services to their LGBT clients,” she concluded.

■  The Mautner Project is named after Mary-Helen Mautner, a lesbian who died of breast cancer in 1989.

LINK

The Mautner Project website
Nation's Largest Mental Health Provider Quietly Re-appoints Anti Gay Therapist, by Mike Rogers.  In a reversal of a decision first reported by RawStoryQ, Erin Somers a spokeswoman for Magellan Health Services has confirmed that the company has decided to reappoint reparative therapist Dr. Warren Throckmorton to its National Professional Advisory Council. (RawStoryQ report from April 28)

28 April  2005