Question:
Would someone please explain to me why CJ thinks my therapist is incompetent? I can be rather dense at times, but I cannot find any logic behind CJ’s critisim. My therapist has been in practice (social work) for numerous years dealing with the abuse of children. She has recently completed her Ph.D. and is now a post doctoral fellow and is looking for a teaching position when her fellowship is complete. CJ says my therapist has an agenda that might be detirmental to my recovery. I don’t know how she can come to this conclusion since she doesnt know me or my therapist. CJ does not know why I went into therapy at this time, nor does she know anything about me except for the fact that I beleive that pseudo-memories can and do exist. I fully support the APA’s current position on repressed memories of child sexual abuse.
Response:
Would someone please explain to me why CJ thinks my therapist is incompetent? I can be rather dense at times, but I cannot find any logic behind CJ’s critisim.
And I cannot find any logic in your attempt here to fan a flamewar, encouraging people to take sides against each other. — Ami ***** The bigger the Net gets, the smaller the fish it catches … – R. E. Childs
Response:
And I cannot find any logic in your attempt here to fan a flamewar, encouraging people to take sides against each other. — Ami ***** The bigger the Net gets, the smaller the fish it catches … – R. E. Childs
Do not want to fan the flames, only to understand why CJ would make such a comment about someone she does not know. She has repeatedly told me that me therapist is incompetent yet she does not say why although it could have something to do with MPD/DID diagnoses and recovery from sexual abuse. And, it does get my gander up when other survivors try to get me to agree with their sentiments regarding memory of our experiences.
Response:
Would someone please explain to me why CJ thinks my therapist is incompetent? I can be rather dense at times, but I cannot find any logic behind CJ’s critisim. My therapist has been in practice (social work) for numerous years dealing with the abuse of children. She has recently completed her Ph.D. and is now a post doctoral fellow and is looking for a teaching position when her fellowship is complete. CJ says my therapist has an agenda that might be detirmental to my recovery. I don’t know how she can come to this conclusion since she doesnt know me or my therapist. CJ does not know why I went into therapy at this time, nor does she know anything about me except for the fact that I beleive that pseudo-memories can and do exist. I fully support the APA’s current position on repressed memories of child sexual abuse.
It is sometimes very difficult to determine the competency of therapists. Since your therapist is a social worker, you might want to consider the following: 1. Does she have an M.S.W. degree from an accredited University? 2. Is she a member of NASW or other professional organizations? 3. Does she have a current State license? 4. What field is her PhD in and what Institution granted it? 5. Is she a Board Certified Diplomat in Clinical Social Work? 6. Has she ever been sanctioned by a professional organization? 7. Are you comfortable with her and do you trust her? I hope that these thoughts are helpful to you. It takes a strong person to ask for help.
Response:
Shall I assume that APA means American Psychiatric Association? First, the hidden agenda issue goes all the way back to Freud. Some of his ‘theories’ were made up in response to overwhelming evidence of sexual violation and abuse. As a Psychiatrist operating in society, he chose to reinforce societies’ view that everything was OK. The same sort of denial is OFTEN linked to attitudes and perceptions of the ‘helping’ profession. In general it is wise to assume that the therapist (a human being like yourself) may be operating under a number of unquestioned assumptions. These may have a detrimental effect on your recovery because when you come to your issues, it inflames their issues, and the ‘helper’ is usually distracted, It doesn’t mean that all ‘helpers’ are egotistical, power-mad, and self absorbed. It just means that the ‘helping’ profession offers distinct possibilities for that mentality. Richard
Response:
One important area I haven’t seen addressed – which doesn’t necessary mean it wasn’t here, I could have missed it. When one starts to question the competancy of their therapist it may be time to switch. The therapeutic relationship relies on trust. If the client questions what the therapist is suggesting, that trust is broken. It doesn’t hurt a therapist’s feelings if a client decides to switch. Well, hopefully not. But generally the therapist has enough of an intact ego to deal with it. The bottom line is, the client must make sure he/she is in a therapeutic relationship that is most beneficial him. Just as we don’t like all the people we meet, there is no reason a person must like the first or second or third therapist they meet. A brief comment on Freud. I tend to shy away from Freudian theory. He started the behavioral movement and must be respected as such, but I think Adler and Rogers, etc. have much better theories. LadyD
Response:
Pat seems to get help from her therapist which in my book is what counts.. Peter
Thank you. You are exactly right. I followed the train of thought in the wrong direction. Lady
Response:
I can’t know what CJ meant. But having read one of your responses to her, I’d just like to point out that PTSD in veterans of war (which is what the VA specializes in, I assume) is different than PTSD from chronic child abuse within the home.
I agree with your there. PTSD in veterans is totally different that PTSD in abuse victims. CJ came on like a banshee… telling me that my therapist was incomptent. She is very much aware of abuse issues. She worked for 10+ years as a social worker involved with families where child abuse was occuring. She completed her PhD last year and is now a post graduate fellow and looking for a teaching position. (snip) And, from what I remember of your original post, it sounded like your therapist was really minimizing the prevalence of abuse by saying recovered memory therapy "had run its course."
First off, I don’t have recovered memories. Don’t do hypno, don’t do psych drugs. Like everything it seems, there comes a time with a particular theory has "run its course." I was discussing the validty of recovered memories with my therp. I said, I have doubts about recovered memories, false memories, inaccurate memories. Even if she doesn’t believe in repression, we do know there is a very high incidence of child abuse.
Not according the the APA’s recent statment regarding repression. 80 something percent remember… And that child abuse causes problems in adults. It seems to me that a concerned therapist should be trying to address this uinstead of buying into the denial that this kind of therapy is part of
And furthermore, I did not go into therapy at this point in time to discuss the issues of my childhood abuse. I went into therapy in an effort to get my mother and the rest of the wackadoos into therapy so that I could drop the part of the "slut who broke up her mama’s marriage" but most importantly to get my mother to understand that when some ass hole points a gun at her and says hes going kill her then he fires that damn thing and all she can say is it was an accident — it as not an accident — he meant to kill her. I do give a shit about children who can’t stand up because both their legs are broke. We talk about how bad our lives were… I tell you this, I wouldn’t trade my afternoons under Jesse to live Pakistan sewing footballs…. or to be sold to the highest bidder for child prostitution. At least, I had a warm bed and food to eat. Thats more than most a lot of children ever can say. an "hysteria" that exaggerates the prevalence of abuse, rather than as a response of trying to cope with the problems resulting from this prevalence. And it did sound like she was minimizing the prevalence of PTSD and DID, too.
My diagnosis is PTSD, with depression. I am not DID. I am not MPD. I AM THE ONE WHO IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE PREVELANCE OF DID/MPD ASSOCIATED WITH SEXUAL ABUSE. When I first went into therapy there was no Michelle remembers, no courage to heal and not to many people with MPD/DID as a diagnosis. Please, check out the APA’s press release about childhood sexual abuse and repressed memories. It makes good sense to me.
Response:
I can’t know what CJ meant. But having read one of your responses to her, I’d just like to point out that PTSD in veterans of war (which is what the VA specializes in, I assume) is different than PTSD from chronic child abuse within the home. See Judith Herman’s most recent book on trauma for a descriptrion of the differences and similarities. She thinks PTSD in cases of child abuse should be a different diagnosis, and believes it will be added to the DSM—-she said this several years ago, so it may have already been added, I don’t know. You might want to read Herman’s book and ask your therapist if she agrees with the distinction, and why or why not. And then come to your own conclusions. And, from what I remember of your original post, it sounded like your therapist was really minimizing the prevalence of abuse by saying recovered memory therapy "had run its course." Even if she doesn’t believe in repression, we do know there is a very high incidence of child abuse. And that child abuse causes problems in adults. It seems to me that a concerned therapist should be trying to address this uinstead of buying into the denial that this kind of therapy is part of an "hysteria" that exaggerates the prevalence of abuse, rather than as a response of trying to cope with the problems resulting from this prevalence. And it did sound like she was minimizing the prevalence of PTSD and DID, too. Does she think child abuse always results in PTSD? Or almost never? I think her answer to this would indicate something. Unfortunately, as you probably know, credentials mean little in terms of competence (IMO, of course.) Accountability, yes, if there are credentials and memberships, then the therapist can be held accountable. But there are incompetent and ignorant therapists *with* credentials, and competent helpful therapists with minimal or no credentials. And I think this is true regardless of what kind of therapy or philosophy one thinks is helpful.(or whether one is pro or anti FMS for that matter.) Its just very difficult to objectively measure the kinds of skills that go into being a good therapist. (Well, yes, I expect to be flamed for this, but I also think a whole lot of therapists would agree with me on this. ) I think the best indication of whether a therapist is helpful is if *you* think she’s helping. if you think so, then she probably is. But if you think, as a lot of people do, well, it *must* be helping(even if your instincts say its not), she has x number of degrees and knows what she’s doing—-then she probably isn’t helping *you*, no matter how big her reputation, or many other people she may have helped. I don’t mean you, specifically, here. I mean all of us patient/clients out there. The problem I have with the FMSF people is, among other things, that *they* want to decide what helps us, and lo and behold, what they say helps *us* also benefits *them.* They’re just quarreling over *who* should be the authority over our lives—and think the client isn’t competent to decide for him/her self. I think we’re our own best judge of who is helpful to us. Your e-mail reply to this message WILL be *automatically* ANONYMIZED.
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