Dec 112012
Commentary:
I was driving home from work yesterday when I heard the announcement on 93.9FM: a Brooklyn ” counsellor” was indicted on 59 counts of molesting a minor.
I know this is one of those moments that you vividly remember
Frieda Vizel
Frieda Vizel left the Hasidic community, the Modern Orthodox community and the Formerly Orthodox (OTD) community. She now lives in Pomona and is actively looking for a new community to leave. She deals with the perplexities of the communities she left by drawing cartoons about them, a habit that gets her into an excellent amount of trouble.13 Responses to “On Psychiatry”
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Very well said.
Even more scandalous is how those self appointed experts diagnose various disorders because of “client’s” deviance. Then those diagnosis are used to push all sorts of medication, with the help of affiliated psychiatrists.
In the same vein and equally dangerous is how heimish society notoriously tolerates alternative medicine fraudsters. Half Wiliamsburg “calls” Mrs. Wieder for her healing powers. The other half who’s aware of severe damages she had created is nevertheless afraid to speak up, let alone report to authorities, because Weider’s a Jew and needs to earn a living.
Very true. No matter how much positive there is in the chassidic world, the fact remains that it is the optimal environment to encourage such scandals. The secrecy, the self-sufficient attitude, the suspicion of outsider- all these and more encourage protecting abusers and is very detrimental to victims. I was thrilled to see justice being served, but I have been a wreck this whole week- it magnified so much wrong with this system. I hope (although I doubt it) that they learn from this experience.
Exactly. I’ve had my brush with these so called therapists as well and they are nothing short of dangerous. I’ve heard quite a few horror stories from others too.
Right on all points (and excellent cartoon! Love it!), but wrong on that the system has not been convicted. It has.
It will be a cold day in hell before everyone in the community can admit to outsiders that the community created and lovingly fed this problem and this perversion of “therapy”. But change has already started happening on a micro level and it will keep going. The scourge of unlicensed therapists will not go away anytime soon, but fewer women will agree to see male counselors and male counselors are now starting to realize that their power is dissipating.
I say, watch out for a spate of newly-graduated chassidim and chassidistes with degrees in psychology and social work in a couple of years.
People with degrees counseling kids for reading Cosmo. Should be fascinating to see how that works.
Well written, with balance and the cartoon is funny, quite clever, and oh so poignant! Cartoon attains an interesting balance with a complex and distrubing subject matter. Among the many issues this matter raises is the importance of parents/family remaining involved whenever their child is in therapy – whether with licensed or unlicensed therapists. Parents have a right to discuss with the therapist treatment goals as well as approach to be taken in the therapy. Placing a child in therapy should never be a reason for parents to hand over their responsibilities for their child.
Can anyone explain me why if he wouldve been licensed things would be diffrent? what does this case have to do with lisence? when someone goes to this type of counseling, its a Ruchnius counseling how can a degree help?
If he would have been licensed he would have been educated, trained, subject to rules, oversight and sanctions. That’s a pretty good minimal basis for counseling.
“This type of counseling” is also a sham, and that’s also a point. There should be no counseling for stocking violations. A fake problem, a fake solution, with fake solvers. Mima nafshach, even if you think it is a real problem with real solutions, education, training, rules, oversight and sanctions are still a world better than no education, no training, no rules, no oversight and no sanctions.
Do you want to tell me that if someone has education they dont rape?? come on, Rape has nothing to do with education. Rape and molesting sick ppl do, so no education helps them.
I guess you buy that the counceling was because of stockings, you know it wasnt for that, when someone is diffrent from the school it just rings a bell that she is diffrent then the other girls in her class and needs some Yidish education. its a way of life that we feel hashem wants us to lead, and for this way there is no secular teaching. so a degree will never help for such counseling. and NO the comunity wont change to get a degree to help girls who the shool feels do not follow what the shool belives in,
If someone has education and a training and a license, and has a practice with logs, notes and records and bills, and follows ethical guidelines that are binding on everyone in their field, there is less of a chance than just sending to a random person whose only credential is that he says he knows what he is doing – and more of a chance that they will be discovered and accountable if such a thing did occur. I don’t know how you don’t see that the set-up he had was at least very sketchy.
When someone is different that is not a symptom of mental illness. And if she was exhibiting signs of that then she should have been referred to a professional, davar poshut. I understand the dilemma of a community that thinks the problems it itself created are symptoms of mental illness. They’re deluding themselves about that, but I realize that this is just how they see it. I don’t have a good answer for that other than to recommend that they chill out. But if that’s not going to happen, it is still possible for “Torah counselors” to be trained, licensed, professional and accountable. I admit that I’m not sure how a trained professional is supposed to counsel a person whose illness consists solely of not conforming to a very narrow line. Indeed, there is a problem here.
Where does the money for this “therapy” come from? From what I understand many in the chassidish community are living in poverty and on government entitlement programs, so how do they have 5 figures for counseling?
When I first heard of the Weberman story I thought they used unlicensed counselors to save on high therapist fees. Then I found out he charged like someone with a graduate degree and malpractice insurance!!
When a shnorer comes to my door, is this what I’m subsidizing?
To commentator #1
You forgot to mention that some of those self appointed experts and affiliated psychiatrists refuse to take money from the deviant client.
“but some