Almost all of the studies promoting treatment for homosexuality talk about treating people who are distressed by being homosexuals. These studies are backed up by religious and similar groups.

The president and the vice-president of the National Association for Research and Therapy for Homosexuality (NARTH) wrote in 1994:
We are a humanitarian organization devoted to the therapy and research of homosexuality and its alleviation through psychotherapeutic measures when the patient so requests and under suitable conditions, with possibly good therapeutic outcome. Our aim is the healing and protection of those who in desperation seek our help. We wish to be free to treat...only those patients who seek and are suitable for treatment. Our treatment methods are devised for those who voluntarily seek our help and who wish to search for the source of their disorder...we are also well aware that in certain types of homosexuality, it is inadvisable to attempt extensive change, even when the patient so desires.(1)

It is evident from the above quotation that the NARTH focuses on the voluntary aspect of this "treatment". Critics of NARTH have focused on the fact that this organization continues to refer to homosexuality as a disorder which is not consistent with the official psychiatric and psychological guidelines. They also argue that talking about "treatment" for homosexuality and experimenting on homosexual subjects creates an additional pressure and additional discrimination against them. In fact, most of the psychological symptoms present in homosexual people are directly related to societal pressure and bias and that the "treatment" should really be offered to homophobic individuals rather than homosexual people.

Lewin and Meyer mentioned several important issues which are often overlooked. The first point is that the 'marketing" of a "treatment" for homosexuality indirectly serves in reinforcing the false idea that homosexuality is a mental illness. The authors also talk about the negative effects on the health of homosexual people in general that result from discrimination and homophobia. They classify these effects in to four categories: increase stress, marginalization of homosexual people's health issues in public health issues, ill treatment of homosexual people, and increased barriers to health services.(2)

The WHO, the APA and the National Association of Social Workers have all issued official statements against the proposed "treatment" for homosexuality.

References:
1- Charles W. Socarides, MD, Benjamin Kaufman, MD.1994.Reparative Therapy. American Journal of Psychiatry . Vol 151(1) p157-158.

2- Simon Lewin and Lian Meyer. 2001. Torture, ill-treatment, and sexual identity. Lancet vol 358 (9296). pp 1899-1900.