Hyde's "independent" psych professionals

[Ursus]

From time to time, a student and/or their parents see fit to opt for some "real" therapy for their child from an outside professional while their child is enrolled at Hyde.

Hyde addresses those needs on page 20 of their 2011-2012 Family Handbook. (This handbook, incidentally, is geared towards Bath, ME families; I'm sure there is a counterpart for Woodstock, CT but I don't have a link.)

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

PROFESSIONAL THERAPY SERVICES

When looking for therapy services for your child, please call several therapy service locations to see which would be the best match for your child to receive the type of care needed. Please keep in mind that these are all professionals and if a change needs to be made within a practice or between practices all you need to do is request it.

Most of the following therapists, social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists work with varying insurance plans. Please check with each provider to see if they work within your insurance plan.

When arranging appointments for Hyde students, please let the provider know to call the school health office (207-443-7186) with the date and time of first appointment. They will follow up with future appointments by giving your child a card which needs to be turned into the health office so that we may arrange transportation.

Transportation is provided by Brunswick Taxi through the Health Center (cost is approximately $16 round trip). This will be deducted from the student's account following the appointment.


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[Ursus]

Here's the accompanying list of professionals directly following the above blurb (see OP for link); I think it's probably safe to say that these individuals carry Hyde's highest recommendations:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

COUNSELORS/THERAPISTS

Peg Armstrong
Front St., Bath, Maine
233-8608

Karen Dilley
1 Lincoln St., Bath
443-6233

Nancy Jaeger
141 Front St., Bath
office 443-6950

Kathy Lyon, LCSW
8 Stanwood St., Brunswick
841-2143

Karen McConnell
1 Lincoln St., Bath
443-6233

Reg Pare
141 Front St., Bath
784-8935

Howard Pruzansky
1 Lincoln St., Bath
443-2026

Mary Tenant
1 Lincoln St., Bath
442-0473

A&M Counseling
Geno Ring
319-4104

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PSYCHIATRISTS

Lawrence Fischman, MD
153-B Park Row, Brunswick
729-1600

Dr. Paul Perkins, MD
1 Lincoln St., Bath
443-3847

Mitchell Pulver, MD
153-B Park Row, Brunswick
729-8391

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PSYCHOLOGISTS

Dr. Deborah Dixon, PhD
20 York St., Bath
443-3692

Elizabeth Ware, PhD
195 Water St., Bath
443-1166

Karen McConnell
1 Lincoln St., Bath
443-6233

Kathy Lyon, LCSW
8 Stanwood St. Brunswick
841-2143

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[Che Gookin]

Are you going to make me guess which one of those shrinks is all up in cahoots with Hyde?

TELL us the rest of the story BEAR. We wanna know.

[Ursus]

Well, here's the thing about independent psych professionals associated with a program... Just how "independent" are they?

[heretik]

If you are in for a penny you are in for a pound. They can't be independent either professionally or personally, in order to associate with Hyde they would have to believe in the methodologies Hyde uses to educate their troubled students. IMO..

[Ursus]

If you are in for a penny you are in for a pound. They can't be independent either professionally or personally, in order to associate with Hyde they would have to believe in the methodologies Hyde uses to educate their troubled students. IMO..

That's generally the way it seems to be with most programs. Sometimes when you poke beneath the surface a bit, you can actually find prior employment with that program or a similar one in these therapists' career histories. One would think that would present the potential for a problematic dual relationship or similar.

On the other end of the spectrum are those in the profession who claim that most (or some, or just they) have a higher standard of professional ethics and are able to prioritize the best interests of the client, namely the student, over the philosophical dictates of the program.

My guess is, realistically speaking, it's probably somewhere in the middle for most of Hyde's so-called independent therapists. On the one hand, you can go into a counseling commitment like that with the best of intentions, but... should the best interests of your client be at odds with or run counter to those of the program, and you stick to your guns, chances are, you won't be getting any more referrals from Hyde School.

That's a best case scenario, imo. It could be better, or it could be worse. I'm not really in a position to make an accurate assessment. Students who actually went through or are going through such an arrangement would be better equipped to pass judgment...

[Ursus]

Back in the 1970s, Joe claimed that students in need of outside counseling were sent to a local psychiatrist. From the Time Magazine article, "School of Hard Knocks" (August 9, 1976), emphasis added:

Despite the large number of problem children, there are no psychologists on the school's staff, because Hyde teachers prefer to "use our gut feelings."

When that approach fails, Gauld has referred students to Richard Evans, a psychiatrist in Brunswick, Me. Like many parents of Hyde students, Evans is willing to give the school the benefit of the doubt. Says he: "Frankly, I'm puzzled. But ordinary methods don't work with the kinds of kids going to Hyde. The school does make a real effort to reach these children. It is doing something no one else is willing to do."[/list][/size]

[Ursus]

Back in the 1970s, Joe claimed...

Despite being personally familiar with that time period in Hyde's history, I had never even heard of Dr. Richard Evans let alone heard of anyone having been sent to him ... until I ran across that Time article a few years ago.

Which is certainly not to say that it never happened. Obviously, Dr. Evans saw fit to comment on the arrangement. But it must have been a pretty rare or hush-hush event. (Or, alternatively, I could have just been oblivious to it.)

During the period of, say... a year and a half prior to the publication of that article, a number of kids experienced events while at Hyde for which common sense would practically mandate some outside counseling. Just off the top of my head, there was a rape of a student by a faculty member, there was the alleged hospitalization of an epileptic kid due to a bad acid trip, and then there was the forced evacuation of a number of students in the middle of the night due to the mansion going up in flames (the handiwork of some irate fellow students).

I believe the budding young arsonists may have received some outside psychological counseling, but that may have been due to whatever arrangement Hyde School settled on with their parents in lieu of criminal charges. As far as I know, none of the other kids affected by the above events, be they victims or perps, ever received outside counseling via the oversight of Hyde, let alone from Dr. Richard Evans.

This may have been just as well, since, during the time period in question, Dr. Evans was on Hyde School's Board of Trustees.

Geez. I guess Hyde School wasn't too concerned about possible conflicts of interest back then, not to mention the potential for emotional damage, abuse or exploitation in dual relationships, eh?

[spacecadet]

I remember hearing about that fire shortly after I arrived at Hyde. You could still see the damage in the library. If I recall correctly, the firebugs in question thought that they could get Hyde shut down that way.

[Ursus]

I remember hearing about that fire shortly after I arrived at Hyde. You could still see the damage in the library. If I recall correctly, the firebugs in question thought that they could get Hyde shut down that way.

I've heard that as well, or that they thought they would get sent home early, as well as variations along those themes. It's also possible that they didn't intend on the fire getting quite so out of control as it in fact did, but that's strictly speculation on my part. I personally never (knowingly) met the pair, although others who have posted here in the past were present at the time...

[Ursus]

Here's one student's experience with the saga of receiving outside counseling while at Hyde during the 1990s... The below excerpt was   posted by melindafromhyde a few years ago, my emphasis added:

In general, Hyde had a very backwards viewpoint on the advances in medical treatment of chemical imbalances, including medication and therapy. They did not monitor whether or not students took their medication, "forgot" to pack my medication both times they sent me to outpost (I was sent again in the spring), and made it very difficult for me to see a therapist off school grounds. In order for me to do so, my psychiatrist had to write a note to the school telling them I had to be allowed to see a psychologist and that their own visiting psychiatrist (who came three times a year) was grossly inadequate for an adolescent who recently was diagnosed as bipolar and had attempted suicide. Even after they reluctantly let me go, they sent me to a therapist of their choosing and wanted me to sign away my doctor-patient privileges, threatening that I had to do so in order to see the therapist. I refused. The faculty didn't push it for too long--we both knew it was illegal for them to require such a thing.[/list]

[Ursus]

From the above excerpt:

In general, Hyde had a very backwards viewpoint on the advances in medical treatment of chemical imbalances, including medication and therapy. They did not monitor whether or not students took their medication, "forgot" to pack my medication both times they sent me to outpost (I was sent again in the spring), and made it very difficult for me to see a therapist off school grounds.[/list]
Personally, I would consider messing with a kid's medication regimen like that to be tantamount to practicing medicine without a license. I can't remember how long kids are sent to Outpost; for some reason I'm thinking it's 1-2 weeks, but even one week is a long stretch of time to be without your medication. Although forgetting even once to include Melinda's meds is inexcusable, "forgetting" twice seems deliberate. Knowing Hyde's historical antipathy towards psychiatric diagnoses more than underscores that.

Even after they reluctantly let me go, they sent me to a therapist of their choosing and wanted me to sign away my doctor-patient privileges, threatening that I had to do so in order to see the therapist. [/list]
This is a gross interference with a client-therapist relationship. The outside therapist is for the benefit of the client, NOT Hyde. According to commonly accepted practices in the field, it is completely inappropriate for Hyde to attempt to control this relationship or to gain access to the material discussed. Parents pay extra for this service, and they pay the therapist, NOT Hyde. It is NOT part of Hyde's program.

[Ursus]

I have to wonder, the above experience having occurred in the 90s, does Hyde still do this kind of thing? Does Hyde still seem to consider the outside therapist, for whom parents pay extra and separately, as an extra auxiliary arm of their program? Has any parent or student questioned the wisdom — let alone the legality — of such obtrusive control of students' hearts and minds?

I'd be real interested to hear of any folks' experience with this sort of thing in the recent past. Perhaps Hyde School has changed? Or not?

[Ursus]

Does Hyde still seem to consider the outside therapist, for whom parents pay extra and separately, as an extra auxiliary arm of their program?

Apparently so. Apparently, little has changed.

A name which stood out from the above lineup of recommended psych professionals in the Counselor/Therapist category:

Peg Armstrong
Front St., Bath, Maine
233-8608[/list]

Are current and prospective students and parents aware that this individual is not only a former Hyde parent, but also a former Hyde teacher?

This would appear to fly completely in the face of commonly accepted professional standards for not only the practice of social work, but also for how one might expect a "responsible" educational organization to operate.

[Ursus]

In the pursuit of finding a more cogent articulation of what strikes me as so utterly "OFF" and inappropriate about the above situation, I came across the National Association of Social Workers' Code of Ethics, to which the state of Maine officially subscribes. Here's an excerpt from the section titled "1. SOCIAL WORKERS' ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES TO CLIENTS," namely the subsection "1.06 Conflicts of Interest," emphasis added:

1.06 Conflicts of Interest

(a) Social workers should be alert to and avoid conflicts of interest that interfere with the exercise of professional discretion and impartial judgment. Social workers should inform clients when a real or potential conflict of interest arises and take reasonable steps to resolve the issue in a manner that makes the clients' interests primary and protects clients' interests to the greatest extent possible. In some cases, protecting clients' interests may require termination of the professional relationship with proper referral of the client.

(b) Social workers should not take unfair advantage of any professional relationship or exploit others to further their personal, religious, political, or business interests.

(c) Social workers should not engage in dual or multiple relationships with clients or former clients in which there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the client. In instances when dual or multiple relationships are unavoidable, social workers should take steps to protect clients and are responsible for setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries. (Dual or multiple relationships occur when social workers relate to clients in more than one relationship, whether professional, social, or business. Dual or multiple relationships can occur simultaneously or consecutively.)

(d) When social workers provide services to two or more people who have a relationship with each other (for example, couples, family members), social workers should clarify with all parties which individuals will be considered clients and the nature of social workers' professional obligations to the various individuals who are receiving services. Social workers who anticipate a conflict of interest among the individuals receiving services or who anticipate having to perform in potentially conflicting roles (for example, when a social worker is asked to testify in a child custody dispute or divorce proceedings involving clients) should clarify their role with the parties involved and take appropriate action to minimize any conflict of interest.[/list][/size]