Arizona’s board that licenses therapists considers conversion therapy “unprofessional conduct,” but so far has not prevented it.
Despite local counselors advertising different kinds of conversion therapies online, no one has been investigated for it.
For more than two decades, Floyd Godfrey advised young men not to act on their same-sex attractions as a licensed therapist in the state of Arizona.
But last year, Godfrey lost his license after the state board that oversees counselors opened an investigation into him for allegations of unprofessional conduct. But the investigation wasn’t a look into his practice of trying to change people’s sexuality, which is considered a violation by the state board.
Instead, he was accused by two of his employees of sexual harassment. Godfrey voluntarily gave up his license before the investigation could be completed, and the board revoked his ability to practice in the state.
Specific details of investigations made by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners are confidential. But had they looked into Godfrey's practice, generally, they would have seen his history as the founder of Family Strategies Counseling Center in Mesa, which employs therapists who advertised themselves as being able to treat “unwanted same-sex attraction.”