Survivors of Unethical Therapy

HD7970GHZ · Dec 01, 2019 at 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denise27

Since 2015... I fired about 10 therapist. List of crap I went through: I had therapist sleep during session, call other clients while in therapy, one of them hug me, another one told me to get into all the details about my childhood sexual abuse (male therapist) cheating the time, talking about them all the time, one telling me to snap out of it, don't know what to discuss, don't remember me, and the lateness I can't tolerate. Don't play with me!
Survivors of Unethical Therapy

Omg. Thank you for sharing this! You are not alone and if you need anything, please ask!

Are you currently out of abusive therapy?

I send my heart to you.

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

HD7970GHZ · Dec 26, 2019 at 02:01 AM

A Whole Slew of those Unethical Gutter Trash Professionals are out and about yonder. And I heard just recently - that ANONYMOUS... Yes. Anonymous. Is onto this. Yup. HAHA. Anonymous is now investigating Abuse in the Mental Health Industry. Seriously. HD.

here today · Dec 26, 2019 at 01:09 PM

I recently did another internet search on "harmful therapy", just to see what was out there, and found two articles I hadn't seen before:

Here is What Clincians Should Know About Side Effects of Psychotherapy

Can psychotherapy cause harm? - Brighton Therapy Partnership

Seems like, maybe, the topic is being taken a little more seriously than in the past? Still no major study by, for instance, the APA in the US. And both of these articles are from authors outside the US -- one from Australia and one from the UK. Still. . .

I think looking at "harmful effects" of therapy is a more comprehensive focus than just looking for, and trying to prevent, abuse. I'm not sure that I was a "victim" of "abuse" in therapy per se, but for me the whole set up was exploitative and abusive and a scam. . .leading to wasted time, wasted effort, wasted life, etc. That was harmful.

I very much appreciate the perpective of others who have written on this forum as well as elsewhere about this. It provided me a perspective that I could not see myself, blinded by a pollyanna attitude that I was aware of, cognitively, but which didn't help me see how it blinded me to certain aspects of reality in therapy, as well as other things in life. If you haven't been there, I can understand how it may, even must, seem incomprehensible and incredible but -- look at the history of my long life and my long history of therapy and does it really make sense to someone that I would have subjected myself to that by rational, conscious choice?

When people, even otherwise rational, intelligent adults who make decent decisions in other aspects of their lives, can make such horrible ones when it comes to therapy -- it seems clear to me that it's a problem not just with the person, who is coming to therapy because they acknowledge or suspect a problem with themselves even if they aren't entirely sure what it is.

We now know that smoking, which used to be promoted as something healthful and calming, can have very harmful effects. And there are warnings right on the package. We need something like that for therapy.

Studying abuses and stories about these abuses may help some. But IMO the problem is more than just rooting out and stopping abuse, although that's important. People need to be better informed that abuse and harm is possible in therapy. And the professionals need to accept and be better informed, and curious about it, as well.

Fortunately, I'm pretty well able to stay away from those folks these days. Depression, and a sense of failure in life, sucks and there are some days. . .but I've been harmed so much in therapy, and can see and realize it now, I think I'm going to continue to stay away. Even if there is something else that would be good for me to know about myself, I don't think I'm going to take another chance on being vulnerable with any of those folks.

stopdog · Dec 26, 2019 at 02:59 PM

Thanks for the links. I don't know why it so hard for them to study their failures or to admit it happens without blaming the client.

missbella · Dec 26, 2019 at 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stopdog

Thanks for the links. I don't know why it so hard for them to study their failures or to admit it happens without blaming the client.

Admittedly my unsubstantiated speculation goes no further than my observation. But I see and read therapists feverishly entrenched in own infallibility, apparently tied to their identities as superiors and shamans.

As I client, I serviced the therapists' delusions of omniscience above my own needs.

Freud and analytic descendants to this day use contemptuous name-calling for their dropouts and failures. I wonder if some of their attitudes seep into wider practice.

stopdog · Dec 26, 2019 at 08:22 PM

I completely agree - they really like having their egos stroked and come to expect or demand it

Dec 29, 2019 at 03:07 PM

There are too many bad ones out there.

I'd also like to blow up the DSM.

HD7970GHZ · Jan 16, 2020 at 04:25 PM

I agree with you. There are a ton of really horrible therapists out there and they are getting worse.

The system is simply incapable of treating survivors of abuse in therapy.

Period.

ArtleyWilkins · Jan 16, 2020 at 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HD7970GHZ

I agree with you. There are a ton of really horrible therapists out there and they are getting worse.

The system is simply incapable of treating survivors of abuse in therapy.

Period.

I am a survivor of abuse and therapy very effectively treated and helped me, so that absolute is not quite accurate.

atisketatasket · Jan 16, 2020 at 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArtleyWilkins

I am a survivor of abuse and therapy very effectively treated and helped me, so that absolute is not quite accurate.

I think HD may have meant “survivors of abuse in therapy,” as in people abused within the therapeutic relationship. At least that is how I took it.

stopdog · Jan 16, 2020 at 07:19 PM

There is an exception to every rule.

here today · Jan 17, 2020 at 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HD7970GHZ

I agree with you. There are a ton of really horrible therapists out there and they are getting worse.

The system is simply incapable of treating survivors of abuse in therapy.

Period.

I agree.

What can we here do to help? Seems to me we are on our own -- but not alone, as you have pointed out before.

And specifically, what can we here to help you. Sounds like maybe you are struggling some?

Feel free to PM me, if you would like.

HD7970GHZ · Jan 17, 2020 at 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArtleyWilkins

I am a survivor of abuse and therapy very effectively treated and helped me, so that absolute is not quite accurate.

Hi ArtleyWilkins,

Yes, as Atisketatasket said - I meant that currently, the mental health profession does not have a specific modality that cators to survivors of abuse in therapy, therefore, people who have been abused in therapy should expect difficulty finding effective and ethical treatment.

That is an issue for MANY reasons, not just ethical ones.

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

comrademoomoo · Jan 17, 2020 at 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HD7970GHZ

Hi ArtleyWilkins,

Yes, as Atisketatasket said - I meant that currently, the mental health profession does not have a specific modality that cators to survivors of abuse in therapy, therefore, people who have been abused in therapy should expect difficulty finding effective and ethical treatment.

That is an issue for MANY reasons, not just ethical ones.

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

Do other kinds of abuse have specific modalities dedicated to them? Abuse and trauma are attended to by many different modalities, clients choose the one which they prefer. It's not clear to me why therapeutic abuse would have its own modality. Of course, it has its own painful peculiarities, but then so do all forms of abuse.

BudFox · Jan 18, 2020 at 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HD7970GHZ

Yes, as Atisketatasket said - I meant that currently, the mental health profession does not have a specific modality that cators to survivors of abuse in therapy, therefore, people who have been abused in therapy should expect difficulty finding effective and ethical treatment.

I'd go further. From what i've seen, the system tends to victimize and gaslight and blame people abused/harmed/mistreated in therapy.

And there is an inherent conflict of interest in this scenario. The therapist has a vested interest in defending therapy foundations, while the client is best served by a full and open examination of the entire process and all underpinnings and assumptions. Good luck with that.

HD7970GHZ · Jan 20, 2020 at 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by comrademoomoo

Do other kinds of abuse have specific modalities dedicated to them? Abuse and trauma are attended to by many different modalities, clients choose the one which they prefer. It's not clear to me why therapeutic abuse would have its own modality. Of course, it has its own painful peculiarities, but then so do all forms of abuse.

Hi Comrademoomoo,

You make an excellent point!

While PTSD is typically a standardized treatment, it does include varying modalities.

Internal Family Systems (Parts Therapy)
EMDR
DBT
Regression therapy
CBT

These are known to be effective therapy modalities for trauma. While each could be used to help heal trauma, some are known to be more effective than others. For instance, I have heard that EMDR can be very effective for single trauma PTSD, whereas it has been said that those with multi-traumas (or Complex PTSD) can be more easily retraumatized.

Budfox alluded to some of the complexities surrounding retrauma in therapy, when survivors of abuse in therapy seek out help in subsequent therapy. I agree with 100% with Budfox, which also brings us to the problem.

Why should there be a specific therapy modality tailored to survivors of therapy abuse?

Because the survivor is entering into a traumatic environment from the get go, whereas most clients walk into therapy and believe it is safe. This changes the entire dynamic. Complex problems include things like self-fulfilling prophecies and repetition compulsions, negative countertransference, toxic workplace cultures (fear and intimidation) that carry out Institutional Betrayal smear campaigns in order to suppress and intimidate survivors into silence. Also add in that simply being that vulnerable increases the likelihood of revictimization and or retraumatization. For example: I believe I read a peer reviewed research paper somewhere that states 23% of incest survivors will experience sexual exploitation in therapy; and an additional 23% will be exploited in different ways. So 46% of incest survivors will experience some kind of exploitation in seeking help in therapy.... Care to know why? Because they are vulnerable, and therapists have a position of power with absolutely zero accountability. The reasons for doing this can vary, although, it is primarily legal. Careful supervision, ethical practise, genuine safety and privacy is a MUST for treating survivors of therapy abuse. These are things that the system struggles to maintain. I believe researching abuse in psychotherapy, would force the mental health profession to acknowledge the cultural and systemic corruption, which might shine a spotlight on how the system fails. Well - a trauma survivor cannot heal from abuse in therapy unless the trauma survivor feels safe, and can trust the therapist.

I would recommend an article about this topic on therapyabuse.org. It explores the many problems that survivors face when seeking help in therapy for therapy abuse. It is very complex and highly dependent on individual cases and where and from whom the survivor seeks help. Check out that website it is filled with valuable insights.

This system is simply broken. Think any Government wants to admit to hiring sexual predators? Nope. And they rarely ever do admit, unless there is irrefutable evidence. Pretty hard to do that when one is so vulnerable and the person treating them is literally trained to help OR harm the cĺient, and the only thing standing in the way of helping or harming is mere choice. If they decide to abuse - the majority of the system responds by covering up the abuse, blaming and shaming the victim, and protecting the perpetrator which inadvertently creates a culture that normalizes corruption and abuse.

Healthcare providers have the ability to abuse with absolute impunity.

And they do.

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

HD7970GHZ · 02:50 PM

Read this excerpt from an interesting article written by Chaya Grossberg, found here:

Child Abuse, Mental Health and Mental Illness - Mad In America

Read some of the comments at the bottom of the page! They are absolutely incredible. Riddled with fellow survivor insight and research, etc. It is quite amazing.

Quote:

.................."Psychiatrists have a long way to go in atoning for these malpractices. Numbing the brain of a person who was chronically hit and yelled at as a child is a great way to create the kind of society we are living in now, one where more and more people are able to pretend to be “okay” but very few feel even close to good.

As long as we are protecting abuse practices and keeping old stories of family unity and the mentally ill outcast who has a chemical imbalance for some unknown reason, well, we’ve kept the shelf on its hinges.

This is a great way to keep the chains of abuse locked: don’t talk about the abuse, call it a mental illness, take drugs, protect the abusers.

This sends the message that abusers are protected by society and the victims of abuse are subject to further abuse by psychiatry, so the most important thing is to have the upper hand.

Of course most abusers have been hit themselves. The cycle goes on, until a true psychiatry (literally: medicine of the soul/psyche) emerges, puts down its tools of silencing and advocates for us all to speak out about who hit us, when, where and how often. And what were they saying or shouting when they did so?

And are they the same people invested in creating a diagnostic distraction to point the spotlight away from their crime?

The truth will set us free.

Abusers retain guilt for their blows and either feel it or, more likely, check out themselves. Facilitating dialogue and amends-making processes would bring consciousness to these dynamics. It would be liberating for all parties.

It would be a true psychiatry."

Well said Chaya. Well said!

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

HD7970GHZ · Feb 05, 2020 at 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BudFox

I'd go further. From what i've seen, the system tends to victimize and gaslight and blame people abused/harmed/mistreated in therapy.

And there is an inherent conflict of interest in this scenario. The therapist has a vested interest in defending therapy foundations, while the client is best served by a full and open examination of the entire process and all underpinnings and assumptions. Good luck with that.

BudFox,

I just had to quote this - because it is so well said!

Reword it a bit, and I think this could become the skeleton and preface for a pamphlet...

What do you think?

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

HD7970GHZ · Feb 05, 2020 at 11:15 AM

Institutional Gaslighting; Investigations to Silence the Victim and Protect the Perp
Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo | April 5, 2019

The excerpt below is from the Brown Political Review, it can be found here :

Institutional Gaslighting; Investigations to Silence the Victim and Protect the Perp - Brown Political Review

Quote:

When interpersonal injustice – discrimination, harassment, or assault – is perpetrated within the context of an institution such as a workplace or school, the institution often responds with action intended not to understand the transgression, but rather to protect itself by silencing the victim or survivor. While the individual is already vulnerable due to the precipitating harm, “institutional betrayal” often causes the victim to feel doubted and unsupported. This betrayal is uniquely poignant because it is often committed by a team of esteemed people who are framed as the arbiters of justice. In reality, that respected team is intended to protect its institution. In effect, the goal of those who investigate the wrongdoing is not to decipher the truth or dole the consequences, but rather to silence the victim, consequently enabling the predator. When a group of respected people within an institution are posed as investigating on the victim’s behalf, but in actuality act to belittle or deny the reality of the harm committed in order to protect the institution’s reputation, the institution can cause the victim to question their own perceptions of reality, feelings, instincts, and even sanity. When an authority figure incites self-doubt in the victim, they are employing a tactic of emotional abuse referred to as “gaslighting, a term coined in reference to domestic abuse.” Perpetrators, whether they are individuals or institutions, use “gaslighting” to get what they want, typically “without ever taking responsibility for their actions or even [their] precipitating desires.” When an institution gaslights a victim in order to protect its own reputation, the institutional betrayal silences, invalidates, and harms recent survivors in their most vulnerable states.
The more shameful the transgressions are, the more likely an institution is to gaslighting the victim to silence and bury the issue that occurred within its contexts. In accordance, institutional gaslighting is prevalent in many interactions in the aftermath of sexual assault. Tales of student interactions in Title IX offices across the country are defined by dismissal and gaslighting tactics. The perpetrator of gaslighting causes the victim to question their own perceptions of reality, feelings, instincts, and sanity through various tactics. Some of such tactics include “withholding”, which occurs when the abuser refuses to listen to the victim. Another tactic is “countering”, which occurs when the abuser questions the victim’s memory of events, even when the victim remembers them accurately. The abuser employs the tactic of “diverting” when the abuser questions the victim’s thoughts to distract from the issue at hand. “Trivializing” is when the abuser makes the victim’s feelings seem unimportant. Lastly, “denial” is when the abuser pretends that they are not aware of what actually occurred. Institutions commonly betray their members through their use of gaslighting to inspire doubt, disbelief, and dismissal. These abusive tactics culminate beginning with the first steps after an interpersonal injustice is realized.
The interpersonal injustice of sexual assault is frequently met with institutional gaslighting throughout the duration of reporting. A person confides they have recently been violated to their core and discloses that their bodily autonomy was stripped of them, used, and disposed of. Instead of being met with empathy or reassurance to restore a sense of security, the student is met with degrading questions to shift blame. The victim is often asked if they were drinking, and subsequently often met with disdain, doubt, and discouragement. If the student still questions whether they may pursue the case, a Title IX university representative will usually say that the student will need to read through an inch-thick stack of paper filled with legal jargon and policy loopholes. The near sixty pages plopped on the table, if read, will likely lead a student to conclude that no satisfactory action to prevent reoffense will actually be taken. The college’s sexual assault officers will rarely forget to emphasize that the student should not go to the police or involve anyone but the school itself. In these interactions, an institution essentially tells the still-shaken survivor that the institution lacks concern for the violated. The institution trivializes the survivor’s pain while simultaneously dehumanizing the survivor. When the institution works to bury cases of harassment instead of working to understand the story, the institution degrades the vulnerable.
"When trusted institutions take action to underplay the crime and silence the victim, the institution causes significant harm against the healing of the victim and proves that one can perpetrate harm without their being held accountable for the offense."
When someone expects to trust the judgment of an institution, but the institution then betrays justice, survivors are gaslighted. For instance, Harvard University’s Office for Dispute Resolution (ODR) was created to pose as an impartial investigative process to Harvard students, faculty, and affiliates, particularly for sexual or gender-based harassment. The premise on which Harvard’s ODR was founded is in itself manipulative and deceiving, as, in reality, Harvard pays the salaries of the ODR’s employees thereby creating an incentive to protect the institution. The Harvard ODR’s inclination to minimize and suppress the report of the wrongdoing is demonstrated by their biased language. The ODR refers to the victim as the “complainant,” and the person who was reported for committing a discriminatory act as the “respondent.” This subtle characterization, along with microaggressive questions about dress, drinks, and double standards is all indicative of an insidious doubt. When genuine harm has been committed and an institution concludes that the harm is less significant than in fact it was, an already vulnerable student, who has already felt abused, is then undermined and unsupported by the institution. For instance, Harvard’s ODR relayed a police report for an arrest for domestic abuse to the college as a report of a physical altercation. The Harvard office investigators countered reports by Cambridge City Police and the Massachusetts District Court when finding a male student innocent, a student who the city, district, and state had charged with domestic assault. One of the strongest predictors of if a survivor of sexual assault will be revictimized is the level of hostility or respect an institution gives survivors. Therefore, when trusted institutions take action to underplay the crime and silence the victim, the institution causes significant harm against the healing of the victim and proves that one can perpetrate harm without their being held accountable for the offense.
The prevalent pattern of institutions discounting the credibility of reports of assault and dismissing survivors has tremendous consequences on healing. A 2016 study found that among veterans exposed to military sexual trauma, perceptions of institutional betrayal correlated to victims attempting suicide and self-harm. First, the institutional betrayal echoes the abuse a survivor may just be escaping, which leads to further emotional and psychological distress. Second, the commonplace devaluing of a victim’s testimony hinders the victim at every step for safety and justice. Third, the psychological consequences of institutional gaslighting after a sexual assault are likely immense. In order to dissuade a perpetrator from reoffending, help survivors heal and lower the likelihood of revictimization, and end the systemic pattern of gaslighting the vulnerable, institutions need to prioritize truth in investigations over institutional expediency.
In order to support those in the wake on an interpersonal injustice, individuals need to reassure survivors that many institutions act in self-interest, as opposed to acting on the principles of unbiased justice. Although institutional gaslighting is pervasive, it often takes decades of reports of injustices for any large-scale action to be taken, as demonstrated repeatedly with cases of systemic injustices over history. Therefore, individuals can feel alone in being targeted and continuously victimized by institutional gaslighting, which is why the reassurance of friends and family is of utmost importance. Survivors deserve to be believed and supported in their desired course of action, without being intentionally intimidated. Survivors and supporters should be reassured by their truth and their status on the progressive, compassionate side of history. While institutions shamefully engage in abusive tactics of gaslighting, every survivor in the wake of injustice has stood up and told their truth to the best of their ability at the time being and has, therefore, propelled the journey towards justice.

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

here today · Feb 05, 2020 at 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HD7970GHZ

Read this excerpt from an interesting article written by Chaya Grossberg, found here:

Child Abuse, Mental Health and Mental Illness - Mad In America

Quote:

. . .Of course most abusers have been hit themselves. The cycle goes on, until a true psychiatry (literally: medicine of the soul/psyche) emerges, puts down its tools of silencing and advocates for us all to speak out about who hit us, when, where and how often. And what were they saying or shouting when they did so?. . .

Read some of the comments at the bottom of the page! They are absolutely incredible. Riddled with fellow survivor insight and research, etc. It is quite amazing.
. . .
HD7970ghz

For me, since there is no "help" out there and the perpetrators continue in their unconsciousness and denial and self-defense and justifications, what I have is my PAIN and injury. That's what I have. "They" may or may not change or respond to me, based on my pain and injury and the fact that I think it's their job to help. But if/when they don't, what I am left with is what I have -- pain and injury. And that feels like more of a nothing or even a negative, but it's all I've GOT. And, yes, sometimes as a result I may want to cease to exist. Why I do continue to try to put one foot in front of the other I'm not entirely sure, but for right now I do. . .

I'm not sure that a true psychiatry/medicine of the soul is needed as much as more people in general "waking up" to their/our numbed out pains, which leads to perpetrations and then accusations, even if the accusations are justified. It's just that accusations. . .are they really effective?

It seems like what would be a "medicine of the soul" for me is if somebody could sit with me in my pain. The last therapist terminated me because she didn't "have the emotional resources" (her words) to do that. Maybe/probably she hadn't felt or dealt with her own pain. And there are no certifications or licenses that a client can depend on to find a therapist who can.

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stopdog underdog is here Member Since Sep 2011 Location: blank Posts: 34,726 (SuperPoster!) 12 1 hugs given	Dec 26, 2019 at 08:22 PM #546 I completely agree - they really like having their egos stroked and come to expect or demand it __________________ Please NO @ Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. Oscar Wilde Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
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Anonymous44612 Guest Posts: n/a	Dec 29, 2019 at 03:07 PM #547 There are too many bad ones out there. I'd also like to blow up the DSM.
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stopdog underdog is here Member Since Sep 2011 Location: blank Posts: 34,726 (SuperPoster!) 12 1 hugs given	Jan 16, 2020 at 07:19 PM #551 There is an exception to every rule. __________________ Please NO @ Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. Oscar Wilde Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
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