§ 6509-e. Additional definition of professional misconduct; mental
health professionals. 1. For the purposes of this section:

a. "Mental health professional" means a person subject to the
provisions of article one hundred fifty-three, one hundred fifty-four or
one hundred sixty-three of this title; or any other person designated as
a mental health professional pursuant to law, rule or regulation.

b. "Sexual orientation change efforts" (i) means any practice by a
mental health professional that seeks to change an individual's sexual
orientation, including, but not limited to, efforts to change behaviors,
gender identity, or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual
or romantic attractions or feelings towards individuals of the same sex
and (ii) shall not include counseling for a person seeking to transition
from one gender to another, or psychotherapies that: (A) provide
acceptance, support and understanding of patients or the facilitation of
patients' coping, social support and identity exploration and
development, including sexual orientation-neutral interventions to
prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices; and (B)
do not seek to change sexual orientation.

2. It shall be professional misconduct for a mental health
professional to engage in sexual orientation change efforts upon any
patient under the age of eighteen years, and any mental health
professional found guilty of such misconduct under the procedures
prescribed in section sixty-five hundred ten of this subarticle shall be
subject to the penalties prescribed in section sixty-five hundred eleven
of this subarticle.