jchpiper:

What cult-recovery therapist are you referring to that has an upcoming licensing board hearing?

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rrmoderator
jchpiper:

What cult-recovery therapist are you referring to that has an upcoming licensing board hearing?

Hmmm....I'll send you a PM, if that's ok.

I'm a bit hesitant to post his name on your board until after the hearing and the disciplinary action is determined.

I tend to oppose protecting the guilty. ~Fred Poole

I just sent a PM but I'm not sure it went through. If you don't get it, just let me know and I can resend.

Thanks

I tend to oppose protecting the guilty. ~Fred Poole

jchpiper:

Got it.

Thanks.

The hearing regarding my ex-therapist took place mid-November. He did not show for the hearing.

It will be a few more months before disciplinary action (if any) is determined.

My ex-therapist's name is John Knapp. He now also has a stage name, Johnny Profane.

He has stated in the past year on his FB and Twitter pages that he no longer offers therapy.

However, his LinkedIn page stated he was a therapist up until mid-November, 2012. He apparently took down his LinkedIn page shortly after the hearing.

I, for one, do not trust him and would never recommend him for cult-recovery or any other therapy.

I tend to oppose protecting the guilty. ~Fred Poole

Hi again Hellocat, hope this message reaches you.

I started this thread 7 months ago, and I feel closer than ever to leaving this therapist. It's been 3 years now, and I told myself I'd re-evaluate at 3 years anyway. Rereading your posts here, I notice that he fits almost every trait of a bad therapist. I feel kind of sick inside. Like how do I keep ending up in these types of situations. Like I said earlier, he has good intentions and is certainly nothing compared to the abusiveness of the guru. But I don't think it's a coincidence that I happened to end up with a controlling, authoritarian therapist. I probably needed this element in my life to feel safe somehow. But I actually do have a support system in place now, and I'm thinking I'm going to finally quit.

I feel good about this decision now, especially because I just got some good input and support about it and how it is so vitally important for me to learn to trust myself and my own experience, and this just isn't happening there.

Still, I feel really scared and like I might chicken out when the time comes, as I have sort of been doing for the past several months. (I didn't have any firm date to quit, but I kept wanting to and then caving in.)

I really appreciate all that you wrote and just wonder if you or anyone else is still around to see this thread. :)

Quite relevant, I just read this online:

from [sageplace.com]

A controlling therapist is too much like the abuser to be helpful.

We often threaten survivors when we assume control of the therapeutic process. Many Survivors have been told what to do for much of their lives, and voluntarily surrendering now to the mandates of yet another feels all too often uncomfortably familiar. Survivors need to be empowered to act in their own best interests, to make their own decisions, and communicate their needs effectively. Attempting to acquire these abilities in the presence of a controlling "expert" is hardly conducive to producing these results.

Hey figlady...

I am still following this thread. :)

Congrats on continuing to grow in trusting yourself. It sounds like you are doing great in regard to the process of becoming your own best friend, so to speak.

I empathize (as do others) with feeling the fear. I'm sure as you take the steps (one step at a time) to move away from this therapist, that you will feel more and more empowered. Fear can paralyze us at times, or at least it can do that to me. Glad to read you have a support system in place as you make the break from the therapist.

I once read, "Feel the fear and do it anyway." Sometimes that works, other times not. But most of the time it works for me.

[I hope you also got the PM response I sent. :) (I don't always trust technology, so not sure if you got it or now.)]

************

I tend to oppose protecting the guilty. ~Fred Poole

Hi and thanks for the support. I didn't get any private message today so perhaps it didn't go through? Or do you mean one from a while ago? I will go check again.

Hi Figlady,

I got a notification that you responded. I'm really happy to hear that you are trusting yourself and your judgment.

It's been quite a while since I first wrote and in that time I've had a few experiences that have quite honestly left me with an incredibly bad taste in my mouth for the entire therapy/psychology profession.

I do think that there are some good counselors out there, but honestly they are few and far between. I would now say that I think most people are better off talking to good friends and family members and staying away from therapists all together.

Attitudes of coercion, "therapist knows best," and fostering dependency and an ethos of "mental illness" are endemic in this profession. It is almost impossible to avoid. Even the most well-meaning counselors get sucked into the game of viewing clients as broken objects to be fixed. To resist this culture requires phenomenal insightful, compassion, and a great willingness to buck the system that most people simply don't possess.

I am currently of the opinion that the only non-culty modes of counseling are Rogerian, possibly some forms of existential counseling based on Victor Frankl's work, possibly Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, possibly some styles of Reality Therapy, Brief Solution Focused Therapy (actually a very nice client-as-expert and short term approach), motivational interviewing (short term, client as expert), and some forms of short-term Cognitive Behavioral Therapy... and that's about it. And even with those, the shorter the course of counseling the better (I'm thinking 10 sessions or less).

I will graduate in May with my masters in counseling but am thinking I am going to return to my former profession (which was teaching) and focusing on my family and loved ones.

Here are some other therapeutic ideas you may want to try out as you work towards getting yourself more independent -

Do you exercise regularly? Sleep 8-9 hours a night? Eat healthy? Take vitamins or other brain/emotional helping supplements like omega 3s? I've read some interesting accounts of women who were in abusive therapy situations and how exercising regularly gave them mental strength and self-confidence to make other important life changes.

How are you investing your time? Are you putting in into the things that matter most to you? We should all of us aspire to live lives centered on our values. When we are doing what is important to us it can be amazing how all the other "issues" seem to just fade into the background.

The bottom line, there is so much you can do without a counselor. I understand wanting to keep a safety net and wanting to prepare yourself for that transition. Whatever way you decide to manage this situation, I am confident that you can do what you need to do. And in the mean time, there is no time like the present to clarify and live according to your values.