A persistent theme I have noted in posts on this board is the frustration people have encountered when they brought LGAT abuses to the attention of members of their larger communities. Responses have seemed to run on a spectrum from "you are crazy", to disbelief that an organization would behave this way, to rationalizations of one kind or another.

I would assume that people injured by these organizations have shared their experiences with people in a variety of positions: friends, counselor/therapists, work colleagues, academic advisors, attorneys, or even the police.

I am interested in the responses you received, if you care to share them. No need, of course, to name any names, but it would be useful to know the position of the person you confided in, in your life, and in the community.

TXH

Here's a thought about the inaction of the therapeutic community, and I think it has been brought up previously on the boards:
Since these organizations are NOT comprised of professionals, and they have no license, they would not be under the jurisdiction of the APA. Maybe they, (the APA), just think it's not their problem. There IS no regulating board for these organizations, and no code of ethics to follow.

If therapists don't believe the worst abuses, then the patients reporting them are assumed to be having mental health issues, which just reverts it back to the therapist advising them to stop going, and treating the alleged mental health issue. It's a vicious circle.

The person reporting the abuse is treated for an illness they probably don't have, and NOTHING is done about the LGAT.

Then, I think that some therapists may sort of be afraid of repercussions to their own credibility, if they were to actually pursue some of the wild stories they hear, even if the person reporting these seems otherwise credible. Also, it's probably really hard to report mind-fuck. I am not sure that even highly organised mind-fuck is officially a crime, (even though I think it should be). First, we have to prove that it is indeed, without question, thought-reform. I don't know the law around that. Is it officially illegal? I hope that this whole NXIVM thing might inspire some new laws?

kdag Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's a thought about the inaction of the
> therapeutic community, and I think it has been
> brought up previously on the boards:
> Since these organizations are NOT comprised of
> professionals, and they have no license, they
> would not be under the jurisdiction of the APA.
> Maybe they, (the APA), just think it's not their
> problem. There IS no regulating board for these
> organizations, and no code of ethics to follow.

Agree that LGAT's slip through regulatory cracks, BUT, their negative impact on populations is not insubstantial. An analogy might be found in the medical profession. I think most MD's have a reasonable idea of what quack technologies are being practiced in their communities.

>
> If therapists don't believe the worst abuses,
> then the patients reporting them are assumed to be
> having mental health issues, which just reverts it
> back to the therapist advising them to stop going,
> and treating the alleged mental health issue. It's
> a vicious circle.

Well, coming out of legal services, I would not choose not to believe a client without investigating what the client is reporting, especially when there is significant data available that indicates that highly unsavory things may go on in these groups.
>
> The person reporting the abuse is treated for an
> illness they probably don't have, and NOTHING is
> done about the LGAT.

YEP.
>
> Also, it's probably really hard to report mind-fuck. I am not sure that even highly organised mind-fuck is officially a crime, (even though I think it should
> be).

First, we have to prove that it is indeed, without question, thought-reform. I don't know the law around that. Is it officially illegal? I hope that this whole NXIVM thing might inspire some newlaws?

I think that enlisting your clients as unpaid volunteers to build for profit enterprises is an actionable mind-fuck...Landmark was already taken to task for this by the Department of Labor.

Issue would seem to be that the mind-fucked need to organize themselves and take action.

Bakkagirl wrote:

"Issue would seem to be that the mind-fucked need to organize themselves and take action."

Yep. Trying.