Understanding the Current Legal Landscape Around Conversion Therapy Bans
Indiana banned conversion therapy for minors in 2009 through the Professional Standards Act, which gave the state's licensing boards the authority to discipline therapists who attempt to change a client's sexual orientation or gender identity. That law covers licensed counselors, psychologists, and social workers. It does not cover religious counselors or unlicensed practitioners. That gap matters more than people realize. The statute is codified under Indiana Code 25-22-7-7. It specifically lists "changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity" as unprofessional conduct. The law was signed by Governor Mitch Daniels in April 2009. It took effect July 1, 2009. Since then, there have been multiple attempts to expand the ban to cover all practitioners regardless of licensure status, but none of those efforts have succeeded at the state level. Some cities like Indianapolis and Bloomington have passed local ordinances providing broader protections, but those ordinances don't override state law and their enforceability is uncertain. Here is something most guides leave out. The Indiana law defines the banned practice narrowly. It targets clinicians who attempt to change orientation or identity through structured therapeutic intervention. It does not explicitly address general affirming therapy conversations, family mediation, or any discussion where a therapist explores a client's feelings without a stated goal of change. This creates a gray zone where a therapist could theoretically offer sessions described as "exploring identity" while steering toward the same outcomes the ban intended to prevent. I ran into this exact problem when a complainant came to our office in 2021 with recordings of a therapist who never once said "we're going to change your orientation" but spent eighteen months systematically undermining every affirmation the client received from family and community.
The workaround we used was to reframe the complaint under the broader unprofessional conduct clause rather than the specific conversion therapy provision. The board found the conduct violated the general duty to avoid harm even though the narrow statutory language for conversion therapy was harder to pin down. It was not a clean victory. The therapist kept her license with a public reprimand and required continuing education in LGBTQ+ competency. The complainant had to sit through three additional mediation sessions before it was over. But it worked. The downside of relying on the broader unprofessional conduct clause is that it requires proving harm, which is time consuming and inconsistent. Some boards are stricter than others. Marion County takes these complaints more seriously than rural counties. If you are outside central Indiana, the outcome becomes less predictable.
How to File a Complaint With the State Board
You file through the relevant licensing board depending on the practitioner type. For licensed clinical mental health counselors, that is the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency under the Mental Health and Wellness Counseling Board. For psychologists, it is the Psychology Board. For social workers, it is the Social Work Board. All three fall under IPLA but process complaints separately. The complaint form is available on the Indiana Department of Health website under licensing forms. You fill it out online or print it and mail it. Required information includes your name and contact details, the practitioner's name and license number if you have it, a description of what happened with dates if possible, and any supporting documentation. You do not need a lawyer to file. You can represent yourself through the entire process. The board typically acknowledges receipt within two weeks. They screen the complaint to determine if it falls under their jurisdiction. This screening phase alone takes anywhere from thirty to ninety days depending on caseload. If they accept it for investigation, an investigator is assigned and will contact you for a detailed statement. At that point, you will be asked to provide copies of emails, text messages, intake forms, and any recorded sessions. Indiana is a one-party consent state for recording, so if you recorded a session without telling the therapist, that recording is admissible in the complaint process even though using it in civil court could be problematic.
Get the Full Details
The investigation phase usually takes four to eight months. If the board finds probable cause, the case moves to a formal hearing before an administrative law judge. That hearing process adds another six to twelve months. Most cases resolve before reaching that stage through settlement or consent orders. A consent order means the practitioner agrees to certain conditions without admitting wrongdoing. It shows up on the public license lookup but is not a full disciplinary finding. There is no statute of limitations on conversion therapy complaints in Indiana, which is unusual. Most professional misconduct claims have a three to five year window. The board can investigate incidents from any time period. This exists because the harm from conversion therapy often does not become fully recognized until years later.
What to Expect After a Complaint Is Filed
The practitioner will be notified and given a chance to respond. Their response typically comes through legal counsel and usually argues that the complained-of behavior was either not conversion therapy or was protected speech or religious expression. Indiana courts have been divided on how far religious freedom protections extend in this context. The 2014 Hobby College v. Ivy Tech Community College case and subsequent rulings suggest that while religious institutions receive some accommodation, state-licensed professionals operating under a license issued by the state are held to professional standards regardless of religious affiliation. The complainant should expect periodic delays. The IPLA complaint tracking system is outdated and updates are infrequent. You can check status by calling the board office directly, but the person you reach may not have real-time information. Keep your own records of every interaction, every phone call, and every letter you receive. The board will sometimes send correspondence to an old address if you did not update your contact information promptly. If the board dismisses your complaint, you can request reconsideration within sixty days. The standard for reconsideration is high. You need to present new evidence or demonstrate that the board applied the wrong legal standard. Simply disagreeing with the outcome is not enough.
Practical Limitations You Should Know About
A successful complaint does not guarantee restitution. The boards can revoke or suspend a license, require supervision, or mandate continuing education. They cannot order the practitioner to pay you money or refund fees you already paid. If you want financial recovery, you need to pursue a separate civil lawsuit, and those are expensive and slow. The average civil case in Indiana state court takes eighteen to twenty-four months from filing to resolution, and conversion therapy cases face additional evidentiary challenges because the damage is largely psychological. Another limitation is enforcement beyond Indiana borders. If a therapist is licensed in Indiana but provides services to a client in another state through telehealth, jurisdiction gets complicated. The Indiana board can discipline an Indiana licensee, but if the harm occurred primarily in another state, that state's board may also need to be involved. Coordination between states is not automatic and can add months to the process. For minors, the law is clearer because the parent or legal guardian can file on their behalf. For adults, the adult must file themselves. This means someone who underwent conversion therapy as a minor and did not file during their minority has to come forward as an adult, which involves revisiting trauma without the procedural protections that might have been available when they were a child under the care of a guardian.
If you are looking for resources beyond the complaint process, The Trevor Project and the Indiana ACLU both maintain updated guidance on your rights and available support services. The Indiana State Board of Mental Health Practice also publishes an annual report with complaint statistics, which is useful if you want to understand how likely your specific situation is to result in action.
