Gerald C. Davison completed a bachelor of arts in social relations at Harvard College in 1961. He spent a Fulbright year in Germany at University of Freiburg in 1961-1962. He obtained his Ph.D. in psychology at Stanford University in 1965.[1]
He has authored more than 150 publications dealing with topics such as experimental analysis of psychopathology, therapeutic change and the links between cognition and a variety of behavioral and emotional problems.[citation needed] Davison has co-authored the textbooks Abnormal Psychology,[3]Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology[4] and Clinical Behavior Therapy.[5]
In 2018, he was featured in an episode of a Radiolab podcast, UnErased where he spoke about his seminal role in 1974 in arguing against sexual reorientation (aka conversion) therapies for gay individuals.[6] “Conversion” (2022) is a one-hour biographical documentary film based on the podcast and is on Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, iTunes, and YouTube.[7]
^Hernandez, Greg (June 27, 2022). "Unlikely hero in LGBTQ+ history is back in the spotlight". USC News. The movie was an early cut of the documentary Conversion, which tells the story of how Davison went from being a young psychologist practicing a form of conversion therapy on gay men to publicly speaking out against the practice at a national convention before about 1,000 of his peers.