Oh, by the way, Glenn Gabbard once visited the psychoanalytic training center where I did the two-year psychoanalytic psychotherapy program. He was doing a presentation on this topic. You know why it happened? Because I told my story to the director of that center. I told him that I had a co-joined session with my ex-T and one of their analysts, who completely invalidated my experience and was defending my ex-T. He listened to me, but didn't help me in any way. However, very soon after that conversation took place, I looked at their website and saw that they were hosting Glenn Gabbard who was going to talk about boundary violations in psychoanalysis. I just connected it to the fact that I brought that issue out in the open.

When I learned about his upcoming visit, I wanted to contact him and ask him if I could participate in the presentation and bring my perspective since I was someone who was directly affected by professional boundary violations. I decided to consult with someone before contacting him. The person I sought advice from was a therapist who was one of the TELL responders. They were also a therapist and a someone who was harmed in therapy. Well, guess what? They talked me out of asking Gabbard about participating in his presentation because according to them it was "disrespectful". So, turns out that when you are a survivor of abuse it is "disrespectful" of you to take place at the table where your abuse is being discussed and to tell everyone about your first hand experience. The most amazing thing was that the person who thought this was also a survivor. But, as a therapist, they chose to protect the authority of a person who was well-known in professional circles over the well-being of a fellow survivor. Needless to say, I didn't contact Gabbard after that conversation because it became clear to me that he'd deny me an opportunity to speak publicly about this issue.

So, I am wary of professionals who talk about this issue without bringing survivors along with them and giving them their rightful place at the table. People who were harmed in therapy should LEAD this conversation, not professionals who are trying to confine it into the parameters they define. I have not come across professionals, with rare exceptions that include myself, who would challenge the entire system and the way it trains people and who would convey the idea that the system itself creates great conditions for all kinds of predators to thrive in it.