This is absolutely horrifying. You’ve documented the problem well, and I can only hope that your profession takes its dedication to patient care seriously enough to see the harm that this kind of activism will ultimately do to patients already feeling vulnerable. I hope you are listened to.
My experience with National University was almost identical to this. They tried twice to force me out of the program, but as a disabled combat vet, I was able to lawyer up and terrify them with the prospect of a civil rights lawsuit.
You must use their own tactics against them because they are stupid and thoughtless people.
This is an outstanding analysis of the problem, Leslie. And to think of those suffering moral injury at the hands of people they trusted to help them, potentially passing along those viewpoints to future generations, well, the future is frightening.
On the note of "treating all intellectual disagreement as emotional overreaction", this was painfully evident and ironic to me while going through my program and ordeal. Any professor would have groaned and lambasted Freud's self-fulfilling idea of "resistance". That's this crazy--now well known to be absurd--idea of Freud's where he interpreted any pushback from the patient as proof that his interpretation of their state was correct. How chauvinistic! How could he say what was going on within his own patients' consciousnesses?? Our texts documented the final triumph over this way of thinking and pointed out that modern counselors move away from this "expert" role of prescribing their insight upon their patients... Yet, this was the exact social justice playbook. No one said anything. Apparently no one else noticed. And therapists are supposed to be people of insight...
Thank you for this, Leslie. All of this is very real in the UK too, as some of the case studies above demonstrate. Critical race theory, gender ideology and 'sex positivity' (which involves accepting any sexual act, however damaging, as normal and 'not yucking someone else's yum') dominate training, and also the ethical frameworks of the professional membership bodies. Fortunately, I trained before this was an issue – but I left school counselling because I refused the rush to 'diagnose' and medicate children, without care or curiosity and often based on careless assumptions, and I do not accept that any child is 'born in the wrong body'.
Viewing entire groups of people as a 'bloc', and judging them according to one narrow world view, is part of 'othering' and dehumanising individuals – and throughout history, it has created the seed-bed for atrocities, most obviously on a vast scale in the twentieth century.
Leslie, you are describing the very methods used by the Nazi Party of Germany to sway a civilization to commit atrocities on their friends and neighbors. And when done there, go out and attempt to convert the world. This process that has polluted the entire teaching profession is by design the chosen method to bring America down…Something that bombs and bullets could never do. Our destruction is proceeding by our own hand.
I hear you. Glad you were able to finish your program! Along with licensed counselors, non-licensed providers like yourself are welcome in our Solid Ground Provider Consult Group, if you could use collegial support and case consultation!
While pursuing an MA in experimental psychology I experienced something similar, although not as extreme on your grounds.
I believe you'd enjoy the book The Mind-Body Politic by Maiese & Hanna (2019). Although some of the content examples in it might rub you the wrong way, I believe the overall theses (e.g. institutional) problems described vividly echo your own story you've presented over the years.
It's proposed solutions, I think, you'd find inspiring. One of the central ideas is that institutions develop a mind of their own that is detached from it's own constituents, and then begins to behave as a system unto itself (without human input) that strips people's sense of autonomy, agency, free-will, free-thinking, and replaces these with the (toxic) view that all humans are helpless, passive recipients of external forces who must be "re-programmed", and then the view that we cannot trust our own senses anymore, either (dehumanization). That is, it's a study in what causes institutional gaslighting and societal divisions, but without adherence to any particular political ideology.
I have suggested this book to you because, in my experience, being armed with such a framework (Enactivism) will instill fear in your opponents.
That's a horrifying story. I'm so sorry things have reached this point. My wife worked in addiction counseling for 25 years and I'm sure she didn't have to run such a gauntlet to get certified. I'm glad you found an alternative path -- life coaching -- to do the kind of work I'm sure you're gifted at. Thanks for putting this all in one place as a documentary resource. It has historical relevance.
I'm too old for that. Not in age as much as in exhaustion. I want to work part time, grow my garden, and work on my ceramics, not write legal briefs and argue all day. 😅
This is absolutely horrifying. You’ve documented the problem well, and I can only hope that your profession takes its dedication to patient care seriously enough to see the harm that this kind of activism will ultimately do to patients already feeling vulnerable. I hope you are listened to.
Thank you, Andrew. I hope so, too. The trend isn’t looking good.
My experience with National University was almost identical to this. They tried twice to force me out of the program, but as a disabled combat vet, I was able to lawyer up and terrify them with the prospect of a civil rights lawsuit.
You must use their own tactics against them because they are stupid and thoughtless people.
I'm glad you were able to push back effectively!
This is an outstanding analysis of the problem, Leslie. And to think of those suffering moral injury at the hands of people they trusted to help them, potentially passing along those viewpoints to future generations, well, the future is frightening.
Thank you, Brian- I agree!
On the note of "treating all intellectual disagreement as emotional overreaction", this was painfully evident and ironic to me while going through my program and ordeal. Any professor would have groaned and lambasted Freud's self-fulfilling idea of "resistance". That's this crazy--now well known to be absurd--idea of Freud's where he interpreted any pushback from the patient as proof that his interpretation of their state was correct. How chauvinistic! How could he say what was going on within his own patients' consciousnesses?? Our texts documented the final triumph over this way of thinking and pointed out that modern counselors move away from this "expert" role of prescribing their insight upon their patients... Yet, this was the exact social justice playbook. No one said anything. Apparently no one else noticed. And therapists are supposed to be people of insight...
Thank you for this, Leslie. All of this is very real in the UK too, as some of the case studies above demonstrate. Critical race theory, gender ideology and 'sex positivity' (which involves accepting any sexual act, however damaging, as normal and 'not yucking someone else's yum') dominate training, and also the ethical frameworks of the professional membership bodies. Fortunately, I trained before this was an issue – but I left school counselling because I refused the rush to 'diagnose' and medicate children, without care or curiosity and often based on careless assumptions, and I do not accept that any child is 'born in the wrong body'.
Viewing entire groups of people as a 'bloc', and judging them according to one narrow world view, is part of 'othering' and dehumanising individuals – and throughout history, it has created the seed-bed for atrocities, most obviously on a vast scale in the twentieth century.
Yes, very well said Lucy. Thank you.
Leslie, you are describing the very methods used by the Nazi Party of Germany to sway a civilization to commit atrocities on their friends and neighbors. And when done there, go out and attempt to convert the world. This process that has polluted the entire teaching profession is by design the chosen method to bring America down…Something that bombs and bullets could never do. Our destruction is proceeding by our own hand.
Yes. It is extremely concerning.
This was also my experience 2015-2020. I did graduate but chose not to become licensed. I have no desire to be policed by this currupt institution.
I hear you. Glad you were able to finish your program! Along with licensed counselors, non-licensed providers like yourself are welcome in our Solid Ground Provider Consult Group, if you could use collegial support and case consultation!
Thank you Leslie! I am appreciative of your work, voice, and community. 🙏
While pursuing an MA in experimental psychology I experienced something similar, although not as extreme on your grounds.
I believe you'd enjoy the book The Mind-Body Politic by Maiese & Hanna (2019). Although some of the content examples in it might rub you the wrong way, I believe the overall theses (e.g. institutional) problems described vividly echo your own story you've presented over the years.
It's proposed solutions, I think, you'd find inspiring. One of the central ideas is that institutions develop a mind of their own that is detached from it's own constituents, and then begins to behave as a system unto itself (without human input) that strips people's sense of autonomy, agency, free-will, free-thinking, and replaces these with the (toxic) view that all humans are helpless, passive recipients of external forces who must be "re-programmed", and then the view that we cannot trust our own senses anymore, either (dehumanization). That is, it's a study in what causes institutional gaslighting and societal divisions, but without adherence to any particular political ideology.
I have suggested this book to you because, in my experience, being armed with such a framework (Enactivism) will instill fear in your opponents.
Thanks for the recommendation! This sounds a lot like what I've observed in the institutional life cycle. It sounds like a useful read.
“A rose by any other name, would still smell sweet” thank you Leslie for raising the alarm and sharing your story. I listened to it all
Thank you, Jonathan!
That's a horrifying story. I'm so sorry things have reached this point. My wife worked in addiction counseling for 25 years and I'm sure she didn't have to run such a gauntlet to get certified. I'm glad you found an alternative path -- life coaching -- to do the kind of work I'm sure you're gifted at. Thanks for putting this all in one place as a documentary resource. It has historical relevance.
Thank you, Jess 🙏
If I were you I'd go back to law school.
I'm too old for that. Not in age as much as in exhaustion. I want to work part time, grow my garden, and work on my ceramics, not write legal briefs and argue all day. 😅