Counselors' Attitudes Toward Homosexuality: A Selective Review of the Literature

A selective review of counselors' and psychotherapists' attitudes toward homosexuality is presented. Analysis of the patterns emerging from published survey literature reveals considerable division and contradiction in the attitudes reported. The author proposes the source of such inconsistency to be the mixed messages mental health personnel receive from their professional organizations, which affirm gay self‐determination, and society‐at‐large, which is generally gay‐negating. Recommendations are offered for practitioners working with homosexual clients.