After reading another thread I've decided to post how I find a therapist.

I know people are concerned about going to a therapist that is pro LGAT or has a LGAT influence. This is a valid concern. When I was in Landmark I met a guy trying to become a therapist so he could take his Landmark teachings and apply them to his practice. I also know of a Ph.D. Clinitian that is actively involved with Landmark.

What I do is pretty simple. I interview them! I straight up ask them if they've ever heard of Landmark / EST (or insert your own LGAT). If they say no, great!. If they say they have, I ask them about how they know about Landmark / EST and their opinion of the group. If they approve of them, I haul ass. If not and they give me an answer that passes my BS meter I consider them a Therapist that I can trust. I'll go as far as to ask round about questions to see if I can catch them on something before I trust them. Finally, if they know nothing of Landmark and LGAT's I ask them if they would like to know more about them. If they seem uninterested I'll move on. If I can see they are interested I deem them worthy and willing to help.

This is what I've done when I evaluated my Therapist. I was able to do this while I was in a Paranoid Haze after leaving Landmark.

Would anyone else like to give advice? This could be useful to people coming out of an LGAT.

Good advice!

It can be very hard to find somebody that know about mindcontrol and the treatment of victims of manipulation.
It helps if the therapist knows about landmark and ideally they should have studied LGATs to be able to help you.

I would (and did) go to Wellspring Ohio. They know all about this. aybe they can refer you to a therapist close to you if you can't afford to go to Ohio.

I went to Wellspring 8 years after leaving landmark to make sure that I had broken the spell. What I found out was that they have an extensive knowledge and library of books and videos that cover most manipulative groups.
I wish I would have gone earlier.

I agree that using an INTERVIEW process can work well.

First, do some research about the TYPE of therapy you might want, there are different kinds. I prefer Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, but there are various types, some listed here. (I would suggest staying away from the Freudian type psychoanalysis).
[www.mayoclinic.com]

Then get a list of REGISTERED and ACCREDITED therapists, best from a referral from a trusted source like a university institute.
Anyone can call themselves a "therapist" with no training at all.

You can then GOOGLE the therapists name, and many are now coming up on sites that rate therapists. This one rates psychiatrists.
[ratemds.com]

But put their name in QUOTES and Google it.
"Dr. Joe Blow" and just search the name. If you are worried about a cult like Landmark, add that word after the quote.
"Dr. Joe Blow" Landmark.
or
"Joe Blow" therapy landmark.

Just keep searching like that.


INTERVIEW IN PERSON:
Then call them up, say you have Insurance for ______ number of sessions, or a certain therapy budget, etc. (this is so they know you are serious and have some money, if its not covered).

THEN, ask for a FREE 15 minute interview, to ask them some questions, and meet face to face. About 50% of therapists will go for that, if they have time.
Many of them won't, and instead will just have you book one PAID session or half session, which is reasonable. Determine the rate beforehand, of course, just like any other service.

But its critical to use some Critical Thinking in this process as well, as lets face it, there are some really bad therapists out there as well, even sexual abusers, and financial manipulators.
The tricky thing though, is you are going to ultimately have some "transference" with the therapist, and have to deal with issues of "trust", and that is where it can get very tricky.

Here is a link about how to find a Cognitive Therapist.
Notice they have a link about using CAUTION.
[mindovermood.com]

Good info here too.
www.beckinstitute.org



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2008 04:18AM by The Anticult.

Great ideas. The link that Elena posted on the "Beliefs" thread is also good. The writer discusses needing therapy for the effects of the lgat, specifically, vs. therapy that delves into childhood.

Maybe someone could transfer that other link over?

To be honest, from my experience, finding a registered therapist with specific training in dealing with the after-effects of a cult or LGAT, would not be easy, even in a large city.
Its hard enough to find one for something more mainstream like PTSD.

I personally would be quite skeptical of a non-certified, non-psychologist who even would use the word "cult" in what they treat. That would ring alarm bells.

That being said, as mentioned, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies generally are not the typical..."tell me about your childhood" talk therapies. They deal more with present problems, beliefs, behaviors.

But again, there are all these different types of therapy, and has been mentioned by the major theorists in the field, many of them directly contradict eachother! But there are studies being done that show certain therapies are more effective than others.

A good balance might be finding a good mainstream therapist, and do some other stuff on the side about LGAT's and cult, books, etc?
People like Rick Ross have materials that would probably supplement a good therapist?

I find that the Cognitive-Behavioral therapies are useful, as its about becoming more realistic, accurate, flexible in ones thinking and beliefs. Basically the exact opposite of cultic thinking.
For example, there are the 10 Cognitive Distortions.
[www.uwec.edu]


Here's another link of tips for finding a therapist.
[feelinggood.com]
And there is some evidence that sometimes its a good therapist which is more important than the techniques!

on a humorous note...

if your therapist calls himself Dr. Phil, and wants to put you into a Dr. Phil House with 10 other people, and then enrage everyone, film it with 37 cameras, while he watches from home, then HEALS you by berating and humiliating you by yelling.... YOU EITHER GET IT OR YOU DON'T...

that's not good!

Most people don't know that Dr. Phil is NOT registered anymore to do therapy.
He probably did that on purpose, so he could not get sued. He's not licensed, so its just entertainment.
I think Dr. Phil picked up a few tricks from EST, in terms of abusive confrontation.



Its too bad they could not put a decent therapist on TV. I can't recall ever seeing one. I guess the loud-mouth screamers are the ones who attract attention.

According to other posts at this message board Dr. Phil was evidently involved in an LGAT called Discovery.

I find the Dr. Phil House is literally a mini-LGAT...
crossed with Big Brother and Jerry Springer.

Dr. Phil recently had an official complaint made against him by a registered therapist, about him doing therapy without a license.
But I doubt anything will come out of it. Dr. Phil is too rich now, he can fight it off on technicalities.

But talk about unethical.
Dr. Phil constantly "refers" people to his partner, Dr. Frank Lawlis and his neuroplasticity clinic, which does all sorts of quackery treatments, for huge fees.

[www.franklawlis.com]

[baudenergetics.com]

Is it not a conflict of interest to refer patients to your business partner?

So Dr. Phil might be a good model of the type of "therapist" to avoid.
He is LGAT in the sense of looking for quick fixes, being abusive, and trying to cross-sell you treatments and products from his business partners.