Most professionals carry "errors and omissions" insurance as well.

I know psychotherapy has gotten a bad reputation in certain cultures due to things beyond anyone's control in quite a few countries and a few states on this end. I can tell you with some degree of accuracy that many in the field do not fall for the LGAT/guru trap.

Even if jail or a messy court case is the only deterrent. The APA wants people to do research for consumers on LGATs (or wanted to, anyway) but-- in most situations today, the conditions for conducting such research are illegal, per whatever self-help cult flavor you happened to bite into. The only incentive for such research is in specializing to treat former cult members to re-integrate back into their former lives or providing warning for consumers. A therapist can really open themselves up to harrassment going these routes. I wouldn't see myself taking that up if I were in the position to. The APA expelled one of their own for giving them research they didn't like (RE: Margaret Singer.) Who wants to be sued for an opinion?

Many therapists aren't in it for the money. Probably because most people would rather throw money at an LGAT, church, or some get rich quick scheme than actually accepting that therapy is not only healthier, but cheaper. Therapy carries a stigma, and every person attending an LGAT implicitly endorses that stigma whether they'd like to admit to it or not. Rick, I'm not victim-blaming here, I'm just stating the mindset that leads to people making unhealthy choices. Most therapists aren't in it for the money because hey, there's not much money to be made anyway. Educators are paid more in the states and it's damn near impossible for a teacher (especially one with tenure) to be fired. I'd argue educators sexually abuse people more often than counselors, at least with the treatment in the press and the layman's press I like to call "word of mouth." Counselors can be fired pretty easily on the other hand.

Any counselor worth their profession will GIVE you a standards & practices letter BEFORE therapy starts. One signs the document and gets a copy. No sign, no therapy, no harm, no foul. They should be able to discuss their education and training freely with you. It's a consumer-driven market. If someone can't do those things, another person a block away will do it gladly. People skip bills on the client end all the time but they are not harrassed like LGAT participants. It's so common, the non-payment, no one takes insurance anymore. This has not persuaded anyone this writer knows to go the guru/cult route.

If you can find a person practicing with no malpractice insurance, you can nail them on that easily. There's also the internet, which allows you to alert others about quack therapists. It works, trust me.

I don't understand why other countries have no regulatory boards, but I'd surmise they've never deemed them a necessity. And really, screw those places. Who wants to live somewhere in which those providing care have no accountability? ;P

The average therapist, screw that- all the therapists I know are mandated to complete courses for continuing education and there's an ethics component included in this. Employers don't pay for this mostly, the professional does, outta pocket. Still with me? It's to keep everyone current, professional, and ethical. When a treatment modality doesn't work (this is an entirely new thread topic, btw, so I'll keep if brief), its use is generally stopped. There are more treatment modalities than I can count, but I can count on the fact that if you tell a therapist it doesn't work for you, they will change it or give you a referral to someone better suited. The short answer (I don't like it either) is that ANY modality will give you roughly the same outcome, but it's not an endorsement to run out and do ANYTHING. Generally if you're looking for a specific type of treatment, you can find it. Some clients actually prefer old-style Freudian psychoanalysis. True.

Any questions, ask. I'll have an answer same or next day. But don't paint the helping profession in broad strokes. Save that for LGATs and cults because the picture you paint will probably be representational.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2010 05:38AM by Vic-Luc.

PS- $cientology did more damage to the field than I can calculate, in whatever incarnations they appear in. I'd put LGATs at a close second. The most damage to the field? The "why would I see a shrink, I'm not crazy!" person. People in therapy aren't crazy. It's true. Mental illness isn't really contagious, either. But to each his own. Some find a chaplin or priest to be the best "counselor" for them.

In the end, the more people do stupid things, the less people in the mental health field have to worry about retirement. Pay for it now or pay for it later. There are no shortcuts to change or "transformation," or whatever people are looking for quickly that takes time.

I can tell you another thing therapists go through--they spend a lot of time battling insurance companies and dealing with forms.

Real therapists network with colleagues and deal with constant frustration. They have to know how to liase with social workers, know how to talk with people's prescribing psychiatrists if their client is on medication.

There are a lot of frustrations to being a good therapist. You cannot get by with just charisma.

If you are a real therapist and keep the alliance clean, your clients feel able to resist, drag their heels, and in some cases, your clients may project their tough stuff onto you and call you an uncaring hunk of shit. If you are a good therapist, your clients will feel FREE to resist your suggestions or test you or poke at your boundaries.

So it can be damned tempting for charismatic, immature people who have the gift of gab to bypass the real work, the real frustrations of professionalism and instead become snake oilers who, unlike therapists who give clients the the freedom to be resistant, will be manipulative, will screen out rebellious people and instead recruit only those who are malleable, and who will make em look good.

The best therapists will have clients scream at them, call them uncaring hunks of shit, may have to visit their clients in hospital if their clients are hospitalized. Its tough work. And professional therapists carry malpractice insurance.

The human potential snake oilers control the environment at all times, take only those persons who feed their egos, and fob all legal responsiblity onto the subjects by getting subjects to sign release forms--paperwork that a real therapist NEVER gets clients to sign.

And though the California Board of Behavioral Science is far from omiscient, it manages to do its thing. A social worker buddy told me that her social work association newsletter lists people whose therapist licenses have been suspended or yanked or surrendered.

But there is no regulatory agency at all for LGATs and they have sometimes (cough cough cough) tried to shut down the few venues where persons feeling harmed by LGATs can sustain an ongoing discussion that will not be derailed by trolls.

By contrast, my friend's social work newsletter has not been shut down for printing the lists of persons whose licenses have been suspended, or surrendered. Open communication, baby. Thats part of professionalism.

Actually, to put it in a nutshell, doing therapy not only entails working long hours, it also entails enduring affronts to ones self esteem that most human potential gurus would be unable to endure.

Shrinks have to keep the process private and confidential to protect their clients. They have to be very grounded persons themselves. A person who is a total hog for endless admiration is not suited to function as a professional psychotherapist--if one serves as a therapist, one's narcissism is constantly poked at and challenged. You cannot throw a tantrum at your client, you cant refuse to go to work--your clients are counting on you.

A real therapist cannot hide behind an entourage, either. Its a very highly regulated profession. One has to keep records, and stay up to date on privacy law and issues.

And if your client utters threats to another persons welfare, a therapist is under legal obligations to warn those concerned.


LGAT leaders and gurus can shuffle away from all this, and shift blame to subjects if anything goes wrong.

Real therapists have both moral and legal responsiblities that scare the crap out of LGATs and gurus--which is why LGATs usually find ways craft release of liability forms that shift responsiblity onto the subject, and away from the LGAT.

I'm not in Australia or Asia. But to keep things clear, let's limit our argument to the USA.

Vic-Luc, even with all the licensing boards and malpractice insurance and codes of ethics and all of that, there are still many cases every year of therapist misconduct. The fact that you can go online and check out a therapist's history of complaints etc proves that. And again - those are only the cases that come to light. Many clients do not file formal complaints. So the actual number of cases is far greater. No one really knows how big the problem is. No one knows what "most" therapists actually do in session. Most of the literature on problems with psychotherapy comes from American scholars. That literature goes back decades.


So I'm not sure what your point is. Is it that in the USA psychotherapy is so well regulated as to prevent therapist misconduct? Clearly the evidence does not support that conclusion; therapy is still a risky undertaking. If your point is that in the 190-odd other countries of the world, psychotherapy regulation still leaves much to be desired, then I expect most posters on this thread would agree with you.

To whom it may concern:

The topic here is "Clinical psychologist promoting lgat and referring patients."

The topic is not therapist misconduct/malpractice issues generally.

Please stay on topic.

I'm really not sure what your point is. You're off-topic and posting in the wrong forum.
And for the sake of debate, I need some numbers to back up your statements. It is apparent you don't work in the field and only know the anecdotal. From a country you're not from. And you shed no light on what your country or area of origin is so I can make a decent comparison.
And I think you're not here to discuss LGATs, I think you have other motives. That's just my hunch. You dropped the LGAT topic really quick to harp on psychotherapy. Take them up in the appropriate places.

Quote
margarets
I'm not in Australia or Asia. But to keep things clear, let's limit our argument to the USA.

Vic-Luc, even with all the licensing boards and malpractice insurance and codes of ethics and all of that, there are still many cases every year of therapist misconduct. The fact that you can go online and check out a therapist's history of complaints etc proves that. And again - those are only the cases that come to light. Many clients do not file formal complaints. So the actual number of cases is far greater. No one really knows how big the problem is. No one knows what "most" therapists actually do in session. Most of the literature on problems with psychotherapy comes from American scholars. That literature goes back decades.


So I'm not sure what your point is. Is it that in the USA psychotherapy is so well regulated as to prevent therapist misconduct? Clearly the evidence does not support that conclusion; therapy is still a risky undertaking. If your point is that in the 190-odd other countries of the world, psychotherapy regulation still leaves much to be desired, then I expect most posters on this thread would agree with you.

To whom it may concern:

There is a very narrow intersection of discussion here concerning LGATs and therapists, i.e. mental health professionals that recommend LGATs.

Other than that topic specifically this is not the place to discuss therapy or therapists generally and your grievances regarding mental health professionals.

As stated earlier in this thread, if you want to discuss therapy go to that titled subsection.

See [forum.culteducation.com]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2010 01:39AM by rrmoderator.

Margarets-

Stop PMing me and stick to the board threads. Thanks!