[HowDoYouFeelMeow?]

Has anyone every filed a legitimate formal complaint against an exT? Was there any action? Was the case closed without any action? If so, how did you feel and how did you handle how it made you feel? I had a horrid LCSW T as a high schooler, told my current T the things she said to me, and my current T thought it was equally horrid and told me I could file a complaint. I did. The complaint went before the board and I receive a short letter afterwards that they looked at the case and closed it. This means that there will be no record that a complaint was even filed. I now feel like the only way a T will be charged is if you have hard proof that they've had sex with you.

Remembering my exT visits was painful and brought flashbacks while I wrote the complaint. Her abhorrent treatment was harmful and unprofessional. I was a vulnerable minor suffering from severe depression and anxiety. I held a 4.17 G.P.A, was a nationally competitive athlete winning multiple state championships, was not acting out, and did not pose a threat to myself or others. Still, exT threatened that she could have me “locked up”, even though there was absolutely no valid reason to do so. After particularly harsh responses from her, I would have a fear response and pull back in my chair. Upon seeing my innate response, exT would berate my actions. After growing up in an emotionally and sometimes physically abusive household, her reactions to my emotions not only were inappropriate, but they reiterated to me that I was not worth respecting and that I deserved to be treated poorly. After being traumatized at home, I was now being traumatized again at her office. I began to be scared to be scared, and started to dissociate during sessions as a self-protection mechanism, which I still do now.

During a different session, exT brought my mother into the room with me. She proceeded to tell my mother in front of me that I was just being manipulative. She was now blaming the victim and berating me in front of others. She instilled a fear of therapists in me, so later in my life when I became suicidal, the last thing I wanted to do was seek help when I really needed it the most. Not only did exT not help my condition, she worsened it and negatively affected my future mental health even when I was no longer seeing her as a T. I stopped seeing exT because I left for college. Before I left, exT told me that I would “flip out” in college and “wasn’t going to make it”. Instead of encouraging me and helping me set goals for the future, she criticized me until our last session. I couldn’t figure out why she hated me. If it was a countertransference issue, she should have recognized it and referred me to someone else. My self-esteem was already low from years of mistreatment, but it seemed as if she wanted to smash it into the ground even further.

Today I am proud to report that she was wrong. I excelled in college, was voted outstanding senior in my degree field by the faculty, earned my Master’s degree in 2010, and should earn my Ph.D. within a year. I wrote the complaint not out of anger or vengeance, but because I felt that it was my duty as an individual who has suffered from mental illness to speak up for those who have not yet found their voices. When I was younger, I did not have a voice. I needed protection and exT provided quite the opposite. If she could treat me this way, then it is possible that she already has or potentially will treat others this way. This needs to be prevented at all costs. Depression is a debilitating illness that needs to be delicately treated with a sense of trust, kindness, and understanding from mental health providers. The therapeutic relationship between clients and their therapists is a key to lifesaving success. I do not exaggerate when I say I was lucky to get out alive, but others may not be so lucky. I have come out of this with physical and emotional scars, but what is most important to me is protecting those who are most vulnerable and preventing my experiences with exT from happening to anyone else.

Today I suffer from depression, PTSD, anxiety, OCD, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. However, I have a great T who is helping me find my voice and teaching me to stand up for myself. My current T is helping me to understand that just by writing the complaint, I had a victory in terms of speaking up. At the same time, I am angry and sad . I am angry that my abusers still get away with their behavior, and I am sad that it will continue to happen to others (which I've read on the internet that it has).

What are your thoughts on this?

[vonmoxie]

One thought that I have is that another letter or two are in order. Is there a governing body that presides higher than this board? I would copy them on it, and stress the egregiousness of the exT's behavior, and your concern that if the behavior is allowed to continue, there will almost certainly be other victims.

I'd request a more detailed response as to what actions were taken previous to closing the case, and maybe even suggest that at the very least some rehabilitative efforts need to be considered for this individual, in order to prevent potential further abuse from occurring. Simply letting you know that a file has been closed, in response to the issues you've raised, seems inappropriate to the gravity of the situation. Even if, at worst, all they manage to determine is that they can't subscribe to the possibility that this person has done anything wrong, the nature of your inquiry with them warrants being addressed in a significant manner in the first place.

Unfortunately, it's easier for institutions to ignore most complaints, and so many do on principle alone; in other words, their first line of defense will be rejecting your claim and seeing if that doesn't just make you go away and thusly ease up their workload, so that approaching them additional times ends up being prerequisite to getting any real action taken at all. Because in truth that process really will discourage a huge percentage of complainants from bothering further.

And if after all that there are not additional actions taken, you can at least take comfort in the fact that the organizations implicated have been made well aware of the problem, and are likely at least handling the situation in some way internally, keeping a much closer eye on this person, even if they are not making more public admissions to you or others. You're accomplishing something just by bringing it to people's attention, though I sincerely hope it will achieve a result more reasonably commensurate with this person's transgressions.

[chroniccryer]

I filed a complaint against my lcsw. He got 2 years suspension. However I was horrified that the suspension was stayed. Meaning that he could still practice. He got a $1,000 fine. I felt bad that he wasn't punished like he should have been.

[Bill3]

I would guess that the board was reluctant to get involved in view of the amount of time that has passed since the events took place.

Now, however, I suspect that you are able to speak up right away in any situation if necessary, and I think you will be effective when you do speak.