Re: Steven Hassan's new book -- critical review by psychologist
Date: September 18, 2012 12:45PM
Yasmin, I don't think there are any "established" fees except taking into consideration what others of equal education, credentials, and experience dictate. My point about fees is that Hassan generally charges much more than I or anyone else does, and I have a PhD in psychology, plus a license, plus extensive counseling and a long proven track record of testifying in court and assisting lawyers in forumlating their cases for hearing or trial. The point is that one cannot claim expert status unless someone does something expertly, and that does not include writing books with the ideas of others that you claim as you own.
I do not have an active website and do no advertising except for one stagnant forensic website, and I use my reputation to get referrals based on word of mouth. I am disclosed on Rick's site here as a resource. I do not maintain a commerical website like Hassan does where there is no opportunity to question his material there, and the site is used strictly to garner business for Hassan's various enterprises. Rick's site does a real service in that it contains media information and articles that have been gleaned from many areas, and there is not the self serving contention that Hassan has that is guided primarily to get him media appearances and lots of business. Even though I've been contacted lots of times, I rarely speak to the media and don't believe that someone should work on a case and then talk about it unless there is a compelling educational purpose.
Cambridge College is listed as a college granting master's degrees in counseling related areas. Please note that these degrees are M.Ed degrees, not MS or MAs. This means that they are focused on educational degrees in counseling or counseling education. If you mean "psych" counseling as psychiatric counseling or psychological counseling, this is not the degree offered. Yes, Hassan has a degree from a regionally accredited college, although it is a not a well known program.
Yes, I am aware of what Hasan advertises on his website; however, this does not necessarily mean that these are his fees in every circumstance. He currently has a license as an allied mental health professional in Mass., in this case, a licensed mental health counselor. The process one must take to obtain licensure is complicated and too detailed to go into here. However, there are various kinds of licensure, and not all are equivalent.
There is no "customary" fee for counseling or interventions or legal work, per se. I charge for legal work the same amount I have charged for over 10 years without change and that is $200 per hour, plus a much lesser fee for preparation. I charge a nominal fee for travel, etc. Many doctoral level individuals charge much more than I do. I have done my share of pro bono work or working with a sliding scale. However, the difference between a master's degree and a doctoral degree is astronomical. Again, being qualified to testify in legal cases is difficult and the preparation and testimony is grueling. I also do counseling, but for a much reduced fee. I also don't exclusively do cult-related work, I have a practice that includes general psychological or mental health cases.
Yes, from time to time, I will do an intervention if the circumstances are right and I think I can be of assistance to the family because I know something or a lot about the group in question. I have never done an involuntary intervention or deprogramming and never will. In 1999, I did an intervention with Hassan that was the result of my first time client asking me to help in the intervention because it was her daughter that was involved. It was a very troubling experience for me and I thought Hassan's behavior was so overbearing and unprofessional that I was totally sure that I could not do interventions that way. I assisted as a "content" expert on another case with Hassan becaus it was the group to which I had once been affiliated (I don't use the word "join"), and that's the end of that. For 9 years, I moderated the freedom of mind dicussion group on line which was associated with Hassan's site and had over 1,200 participants, and I terminated it in early 2009 mostly because Hassan's behavior toward the list was so destructive that I shut it down. I was not going to let him use the discussion group as a minefield for potential business, and we had ex members and professionals both posting on the listserv. There were also many other issues which I will not go into here. Please note, however, that anyone that knows me knows that I do not play nice or withhold feedback when I see something I view as wrong. It is totally false that Hassan does not know what my issues are with him, and I have told him innumerable times in person, over the phone, or via message. He knows exactly where I stand, whether he admits to it or not.
I have no real opinion as to who should do interventions, but I do know that the person doing them should not combine counseling with the intervention, especially if informed consent is not obtained in advance for counseling, and people are allowed to refuse counseling or refuse to even sit in the room and talk to me when an intervention is done. Interventions should be well planned out and should be done with the utmost respect for the family, not to make a lot of money.
These are complicated issues. My main points are that counseling and interventions should be a transparent process to the family involved, there should be no coercion, individuals licensed or not should charge fees requiste to their level of experience and education, and that people should not making huge amounts of money intervening in cases where it is possible that there is not even a cult operating.
When I testify in court, as I stated before, I do not just use research on cults only. I draw from a vast collection of social psychological research involving indoctrination methods, influence, coercive persuasion, and other related psychological processes present in cults. Again, there is not enough cult specific research out there to rely on exclusively, but there is psychological research that speaks to the general issues. As a real expert (not just a self proclaimed one), I have also educated myself on the research that cult harm may not exist, and make sure that I stay current, skeptical, and try to honor my education and experience, not use it to make myself King of the World or make a ton of money. I refuse most cases that are offered unless I can investiage objectively and make sure that I have data and opinions that are sound and acceptable to the rule of law.
Additionally, most of my legal work involves child custody, so I bring extra skills in that I evaluate the child and testify about how the cult or group affects the child.
You keep using the term NRMs, which does not apply in most cases. Many cults are not religious at all, and those that are religious are not necessarily "new". NRMs is a term used by sociologists of religion and does not include the psychological damage incurred, so it is diversionary to even use that term.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2012 01:06PM by Cathleen Mann, PhD.