Psynister Psychologists: III-Psychology and Diagnosis as a Weapon

More and more instances arise of Psychology being used as a weapon, sometimes with the intent of financial gain or control over a person's life in one form or another, and too often for political reasons, but most sinister of all is the use of psychological treatment and diagnosis againt religious practice and doctrine.

What is important to realize though, in all the 'agendas' or motives for the misuse of psychology as a weapon, is that the unethical use is almost always semi-sereptitious, outside of ethical bounds established by professional organizations, and involves degradation, which may be used later to intimidate and even extort. When the consumer of psychological services and general public are made aware of suspect practices, then they are less susceptible to them. This column will explore some of those 'ruses' which may even take place by 'licensed' psychologists under the context of 'therapy'. It is the 'legitmacy' we have ascribed in our culture to the 'therapeutic milieu' which is also it's downfall for misuse, and can undo lives, careers, families and testimonies.

I. The Psychologist as "Life" Expert

One of the first mistakes the general public makes is in perception of the Psychologist as a sort of 'all knowing' person about life and the human condition. We also entertain an underlying and unquestioned assumption that psychologists are stable, mature people who 'have it all together', but the question must be asked if that is true at all. The first misunderstanding is in what psychological training involves. I hold a doctorate in Personaity Psychology, and in our department, the academic/research area of Personality was paired with the Counseling Psychology program, where over half of the students went into Counseling Psych and the other stayed training for teaching and research. I know the coursework because up till practicums, internships and a few 'applied' courses, the coursework was exactly the same. Practicums, internships etc, are merely 'onsite' hands on supervised counseling. Does the coursework in any way prepare one to 'counsel'? No: it prepares one in theory, history, and theories of practice, but it does not teach one any special 'voodoo' to 'make people better'. There are a few 'methods' and approaches, but I have taught that also in a medical school, and the teaching of it does not necessarily mean the 'learning of it' nor does it mean the methods are 'effective'.

One counseling student back all those years ago told me that almost none of her training prepared her for one on one counseling, but that she learned practical counseling from working phones at a crisis center. While I am the last to diss training in any field, the practicality of counseling is this: persons are trained in doctoral level theory and concept, but they do not and cannot train wisdom, insight or empathy for the person, and in some cases, in an effort to be 'objective' they teach against such things, although after 27 years in the field having left it for the Christian faith, I find that to be unfathomable. Counseling and Clinical Psychologists have spent a great deal of time in learning, but they may not be 'helpful' people at all, and many are not very good 'diagnosticians', a fact seen in standard, repetitive diagnoses used in 2/3 to 3/4 of a practitioners' practice, partly out of laziness and partly out of a learned pattern.

II.Are Therapists Stable?

Another question must be asked whether the 'helpers' are stable at all. In my graduate school program, back in the good old days, extramarital affairs were rampant among students and faculty- sexual behavior was viewed as 'recreation' and not related at all to maturity or committment. Alcoholism and drug usage were eminent at least among many, most had very liberal politcal views indicating a 'life view' bias which considered other views 'unhealthy', and one or two, well how shall we say were downright insane, and why they ever got into the program was beyond everyone. One fellow I remember did a hallucinogen before a student-faculty/family picnic and went tripping merrily through the participants expousing delusions, as he had done on another occasion. Did the faculty suspend him? No, they rushed him into his practicums and internships where he could 'counsel' others. If one asked the reason for many in the program going into Psychology one heard consistent answers: they wanted to help people, or they wanted to understand themselves better, and the latter is far more frightening. There were academic requirements, but no maturity or even mental health requirements for the program: a high GRE score with good grades , recommendations and extracurricula leadership activities mattered more than whether an individual might even have sinister or psychotic motives.

Most I met, though passive and understanding on the outside, had significant feelings of 'superiority' even over others in academic areas as though there was some invisible departmental 'caste' system of Brahmas and untouchables. I preferred the company back then of the people in cognitive, whose study matter was so boring that it tended to attract only regular people, well, more the forerunner of 'geeks'.

It is not that the people I trained with were all unable to 'counsel' but many had as many problems they could not solve as their clients, of varying degrees, and many had 'control' issues: calm and seemingly meditative listeners on the surface, but often using the area to satisfy their own control issues or even work out their own problems on clients.

This is not an effort to slander those in Counseling and Clinical, but more an effort to create understanding that persons who train in that area are just that: persons, with problems, like all of us, in a field in which ideas about what will make people 'healthy' and 'normal' change every 5 to 10 years. One is not so likely to want a surgeon or bridge builder like that, and if one chooses to avail themselves of such services, one should realize that what is often plied in the therapeutic relationship is not even a result of 'training' but of personal methods counselors devise from their own attitudes towards life, as very few stay with traditional models such as Behavior mod or Client Centered therapy they learn in school for grades. It is more of a subjectivity colored by training than vice versa.
III.
Power and the Control of Persons in Therapy

All that is a preface to considering the dynamics of power in psychological relationships. Companies may use psychologists to keep up morale, but they also use them to dismiss workers, slander whistleblowers, aid families in 'getting rid' of black sheep, and dismissing fervently religious or politically zealous persons as insane. When a person is considered 'insane' [that is not a psychological term] then their beliefs, influence and personhood is challenged and rendered often ineffective, which is a fundamental civil right. Safeguards have so failed us in the US, that psychologists and the field in general is far more a money making business than a healing profession. Books, Quick fixes, and friendship or diagnosis for hire is much more often the fare of the day. It is a multi-billion dollar industry taxing government funds to the max. It pays to treat people, it pays to keep treating people and it pays to use psychology to call persons mentally ill and in need of a multi-billion dollar drug and therapy industry. Just the way it is.

Amidst the formalization of it all, is the very sad fact that many 'therapists' use even legitimate degrees illegimately. So called psychological approaches and treatments can really be ruses to seduce young people into cults and destructive lifestyles, gain sexual fulfillment for wayward and immature therapists (there are plenty), set people up for business and financial purposes such as the gaining of will monies, out of court settlements, etc, or take over businesses, relationships, and the ruin of reputations, copyrights or any number of other things, all of which are grossly unethical and in most cases illegal if one can catch the process in progress.

IV. Warnings Regarding Unethical, Fraudulent or Otherwise Devislish uses of Psychology


One of the most horrible uses of psychology and the 'therapeutic' stance is the use of such to overthrow relationships and family cohesiveness. Spouses going into marital therapy may find the marriage gone because of bad advice or practices or even seductive overtures from therapists. Children with minor problems may come to believe that their families or religious faith is seriously wanting because of a therapist's opinion, and rather than holding on to the security and health of a cohesive family environment, can be plied to accept even opposite points of view, led to believe they will not be 'healthy' without changing, often leading to an irreparable brokenness on the other side, when family realtions and friendships are shattered, and the therapeutic relationship becomes apparent only as the business relationship it really was. Therapists then often 'hide' behind a psychological bravado, assuring 'clients' [the lesser person] of their lack of mental health and need to 'move on'. Following are some warning points of therapy that probably isn't legitimate at all, which if heeded may keep a child even out of organized crime , cults or gangs.

V. Warning Signs

1. If a therapist approaches YOU about your need for therapy rather than you approaching them, it may not be legimate; it is rarely the way things go.

2. If a therapist comes to you with a concern about a family member outside of a professional setting, it is likely not legit. One should always also first check credentials and possible history with the person, e.g. if it is someone your mother or father went to school with, had past business dealings with etc, it should most certainly send up red flages.

3. A therapist is NOT ALLOWED to assess or evaluate a person without their full, written consent, a concept rarely dissensioned. The therapist can be sued or jailed if they attempt to assess without consent.

4. A Psychologist or Counselor cannot FORCE TREATMENT: we have civil rights laws guaranteeing that even severely bizarre individuals get fair hearings and rights.

5. No treatment which is legitimate should ever GO AGAINST YOUR MORAL OR RELIGIOUS MORES. It is a service, not a mandate.

6. Concurrently, no one should ever approach you insinuating that your upbringing is not healthy due to a parent or spouses problems. If you willingly on your own or by referral discuss it with a trained person, that is different, but even then one should be aware that few psychologists see any upbringing as healthy, and certainly not even very effective child raising if it involves controversial issues such as spanking which may all be relegated to child beating these days.

7. Closeness and Loyalty to a parent is not only not wrong, but is the way things have always been. Beware therapists who attempt to keep you away from all but the most violent family members: divide and conquer is a neverending ruse. Some will cajol and claim a child is 'too close' to a parent, but the end of that argument is almost always division or even dissolution of the relationship, harmful to both. While there are 'over-dependent' relationships, the aim of counseling their is repairing, healing and setting right, not destroying and separating. Family members need each other for emotional and societal support against a tough world, even if they have differences and disagreements: the most successful people come from stable families at least at some point.

8. No legitimate therapist will ever insist on treatment outside of professional surrounds, or turning down treatment methods or personnel: not every therapist is right for every client: the client may always turn down therapy.

9. No legitimate therapist will ever use a very vile substance or require an extremely embarassing or degrading practice. While some gestalt therapists may have done things like fighting with foam bats, or role playing etc, some frauds will use horrible 'fear factor' like things , convincing you that you must, e.g. spread a vile substance on your person to feel a certain way, or repeat over and over what you hate about a person, or insisting you mock or ridicule someone you love. These are cult-like techniques designed to breakdown moral structure and boundaries, and are almost never really preliminary to healing, in fact just the opposite.

10. Touching should always be within the bounds of the client not the therapist. Some people just are 'touchers': they have distant body boundaries they feel comfortable with, and this is to be respected and not seen as a need for change. There are cultural differences, as well: some stand close as a sign of politeness and others see that as impolite. While it may be discussed, one should never feel one needs to touch another without comfort, or undress to any degree---ANY DEGREE. That is not therapy and one always has the legal right to say NO.

11. One should never be dragged into the forced treatment of any kind of another individual who did not request therapy. Just not right. This includes drugging a person, hurting or hitting etc. One of the most bizarre I have heard of is standing on the back or head of another person to feel superior. That is not treatment known to any legitimate method or theory--that is criminal assault and may be used to later blackmail important people, who are told the person, usually asleep, consented, which almost none ever would.

12. Along with the above: no therapy should be at night outside professional offices probably even with consent for it opens the way to litigation if any party is dissatisfied. Therapy outside of sex therapy which I have rather strong negative opinions about since it always disintegrates into lewdness, is NOT SEXUAL and no known psychological problem REQUIRES a sexual act to be performed to remedy it. Some children are lead by therapists towards desensitization of their sexual norms instilled by parents and society, with immature therapists claiming they need to 'break away' to 'experience life' etc, but that is a forcing of the therapist's values on the child, not therapy. It is also a ploy of pedophiles and child predators, and can be used to extort later.

13. Hey Kids!!! If approached by someone who feels the need to tell you about what your parent or spouse was like when they were younger, or at work etc, run. I'm not talking about friendly, 'guess what, when your mom was young she could really sing..' kind of stuff, but particularly negative stuff: 'did you know your father was well known for plaigerizing? I had to rewrite every thing he wrote when we were roomates'. That is usually followed by 'help me to get 'my' work back etc etc: it is a ruse.

14.If a therapist begins to suggest that a loved one: girlfriend, spouse, child etc is doing something so opposite than what you know them to be, stand firm and never believe the slander till you see it with your own eyes. Better yet, tell the person what the therapist said: breaking up most relationships is not therapeutic. Healing does not often require severing and encouraging the severing and separation of relationships often leaves not healed but wounded hurting people, too reliant on the counselor.

15. If you see a person under the guise of therapy hurting another person, claiming it has some SYMBOLIC value contact the police department--it may not be a real therapist at all. Therapist are not there to help you sell your house, look at your mail or email, interfere with your business or ministry, etc, they are supposed to be a reflective vantage point, helping you to come to terms with hurtful processes and patterns which trouble you: whether therapy is effective or not is a discussion for another time, but remember YOU have the volition in the client-counselor relationship and it is a CONSUMER RELATIONSHIP, not a bondage where you have to do what they say.
16. BEWARE DIAGNOSES for yourself and others. See a report that says someone is 'bipolar' or has an 'eating disorder'- fallible humans write down on reports what they think they see, and while some are trained to do that, others use diagnoses to work out their own problems. For example, if a counselor always suspects 'incest' it may be because it was in their lives, not the clients, or if all their women clients look 'bulemic' it may be something they struggle with. Don't believe about yourself or others that a diagnosis sets in stone that one has a mental illness, for they are many reasons people diagnose: it proves nothing.

17. Lastly, never let a therapist wrestle you away from your faith. If you change on your own, or through reading or discussions with others, that is one thing, but no therapist has any right to suggest e.g. that you read the Bible too much, or go to church too often, or have an unusual practice such as speaking in tongues, etc. They also may not attribute aspects of your faith to mental problems. Many of them have no faith and their biase is eminent.

While this column strays a little out of the norm, I wrote it having observed these processes recently used to entice kids even into destructive sexual lifestyles, criminal activity, blackmail etc, and many of the ruses may not be done by psychologists or counselors at all. These enticements, which can include gifts to kids whose parents can't afford much, encouraging kids to give up expected responsibilities to pursue carnal pursuits, etc can be used to lead children and adults into situations they can later not get out of, including lifestyle changes, criminal organizations etc. and are not unlike enticements used in the political realm of the Reich era to turn children and spouses on one another for political purposes: it can still happen.

It is always wise when in doubt to check with organizations like APA nationally or local and state licensure boards for one may first find out whether or not the person is a real therapist, and secondly what complaints or lawsuits they may have had against them. In this case though, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. I personally left the field and have seen its abuses first hand, but if one chooses that route, protect your family, friendships, relationships, business and faith: don't be taken in by 'Psynister Psychology'.