In reading the threads about the therapists and their lack of comprehension of N-issues or, at worst, being bad therapists....reminds me of a situation that I encountered at a John Bradshaw workshop back in 1992. Mr. Bradshaw is a careful person in arranging safety nets throughout his workshops because he is aware that painful triggers can and will be set off. The problem arose from a group of licensed, professional therapists who LIED to him and created a mess! Mr. Bradshaw was depending on these professionals to be available for crisis intervention in the event that any attendees experienced emotional overwhelm. What he did not know, and neither did us attendees know, these "therapists" demanded EXTRA payment, on the spot, BEFORE they would talk to an attendee. (This was never mentioned in any of the brochures and advertisements for this workshop which resulted in several of us left twisting in the wind!)
One particular incident stands out in my memory when another attendee went into crisis and started exhibiting symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Back in 1992, it was still called Multiple Personality Disorder. She approached one of the therapists, begging for help and his response was to announce he was going to lunch! He blew her off and LEFT! (Can we say unethical patient abandonment?) I was standing there, slack-jawed, as I witnessed this! At the time, I had achieved my Bachelor's degree only three years before, was not working as a professional therapist, and my crisis intervention skills was about 20 years old. I couldn't walk away and leave this person alone in her crisis. I felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants doing face-to-face crisis intervention and praying hard that I was saying and doing the right things. I was painfully aware of how this could easily go horribly wrong and having NO professionals willing to assist! Somehow, she was able to reintegrate all of her personalities. Needless to say, I was ANGRY at the way these professionals LIED to everyone. I realize now that they simply used Mr. Bradshaw to further their own selfish agendas. What made me angrier was realizing that if something bad had happened, Mr. Bradshaw would have been held responsible/legally liable/potentially sued because these professional therapists were acting as his agents and they let everyone down!
