Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Troubled Teen Industry

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Oz girl:
I have a question.Lets say a family is having genuine issues getting along & a kid is acting out, or not coping with a blended family, divorce etc. How is a parent able to decifer a genuinely helpful & caring family therapist from one that is getting kickbacks from an ed con or who also doubles as an ed con? How can the credentials and professionalism of a therapist be guaranteed?

Anonymous:
It isn't as simple as the qualifications of the therapist, it's also the environment in which they work -- the program and the employer. Good therapists may sometimes be duped into taking a job that turns out to not be what they thought it would be, just as caring parents are duped into sending their kids to abusive programs. That might be one reason why staff turnover is so high in some programs -- the good staff, the therapists who care and want to help patients, realize they made a mistake in taking the job and they find themselves a different job.

A simple rule of thumb for parents is to read the warning signs on the ISAC web site: http://www.isaccorp.org/warningsigns.asp

If a program being considered by a parent violates one or more of these warning signs, red flags should go up. The more warning signs violated, the more likely it is that the program is an abusive 'tough love' facility or a cult that may harm rather than help a child.

Nihilanthic:

--- Quote from: ""Pls help"" ---I have a question.Lets say a family is having genuine issues getting along & a kid is acting out, or not coping with a blended family, divorce etc. How is a parent able to decifer a genuinely helpful & caring family therapist from one that is getting kickbacks from an ed con or who also doubles as an ed con? How can the credentials and professionalism of a therapist be guaranteed?
--- End quote ---


Its as simple as if the therapist wants to throw the child away in a brainwashing program, or actually provide therapy without forcing anything or blaming it all on anyone or convincing anyone its 'all about them'?

COMMON SENSE?

Jeeze. Are we THAT DUMB? ^^^^ The "dumbing us down" book above is realy yelling at me atm.

Anonymous:
A good therapist treats the patient like a person, with dignity and respect.

A good therapist will ask the patient what the patient's goals are--what the patient wants to gain from therapy.  A good therapist will respect the patient's goals and genuinely listen to the patient, not view the patient as clay to be molded to the parent's specifications.

A good therapist will provide a patient's "bill of rights," either spontaneously or if asked, and will explain clearly to a minor what his or her rights will be in the therapeutic relationship, and what rights the parent will have in the therapeutic relationship.  A good therapist will also explain where, in the therapeutic relationship, the parents' rights end.

A good therapist should be able to tell you, if asked, what kinds of things they would not do, for ethical reasons, even if the parents requested it.  One of these things should include that the therapist will report, and will not cover up, if something should come up that gives the therapist reason to suspect that child abuse is occurring.

If a therapist doesn't tell you they are obliged to report suspicions of child abuse, when you ask them to describe the line between what some parents might want them to do and their responsibilities to a minor patient, that is a huge red flag.

A therapist cannot treat your child like a person and, at the same time, treat your child like the absolute property of the parent to be done with as the parent wishes no matter what.

A sense of ethics requires forethought.  Without having gone through training about where the ethical lines are, without having thought ahead, any professional will find it all too easy to cross the line into unethical behavior when faced with serious temptation.  Over time, that professional will lose all sense of proportion about what's ethical and what's not.  Nobody can stay ethical by just doing what feels right at the time without ever thinking ahead about precisely where that line is in a wide variety of situations.

If a therapist can't tell you, the parent, a number of things they won't do at the behest of the parent, then that therapist doesn't have the ethics to help your child.

Julie

Oz girl:
A sense of ethics requires forethought. Without having gone through training about where the ethical lines are, without having thought ahead, any professional will find it all too easy to cross the line into unethical behavior when faced with serious temptation. Over time, that professional will lose all sense of proportion about what's ethical and what's not. Nobody can stay ethical by just doing what feels right at the time without ever thinking ahead about precisely where that line is in a wide variety of situations.

So in order to call yourself a therapist in the US is some kind of ethics course required the way it is for doctors?  Is a therapist allowed to also practice as an Ed Con or does it vary from state to state?

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