A Search For Survivors

Day 373. Survivors found: 7

The following was researched and written specifically for this blog site by non-profit child advocacy group ACT. Many, many thanks!

Although Advocates for Children in Therapy is not in a position to give any legal advice, it is our suggestion that survivors give serious consideration to filing complaints with professional regulators against the Attachment Therapists, “therapeutic foster parents” and anyone else who was involved in this abuse.

 
WHAT DOES A COMPLAINT ACCOMPLISH?

The stated purpose of regulation is to protect the public. Regulation is supposed to be a way of keeping unqualified people from practicing a profession, and of holding actual professionals accountable. Persons not holding a license can be told to stop practicing a regulated profession. Licensed professionals are subject to “discipline” for wrong-doing (i.e., injuring a client).

Discipline spans a range, from admonishment (the lightest), through probation or practice supervision, to the ultimate, license revocation. Where boards find criminal acts, they are supposed to hand cases over to district attorneys or the state’s attorney general for prosecution.

In theory, complaining to a board that someone is engaged in unprofessional, unethical or harmful activity is a way to halt such activity. In practice, however, boards often act to protect the therapist, allowing him to continue to practice even in the face of evidence of outrageous conduct. Nevertheless, sometimes bad therapists are brought down after a board receives multiple complaints.

 
LEGAL ASSISTANCE

Filing a complaint with regulators does not require legal representation of any kind. Nor can anyone be legally punished for filing a complaint. For survivors thinking of eventually suing a tormentor, it is, nevertheless, advisable to consult with a personal-injury lawyer before filing a licensing complaint. Even if not planning to sue, it’s still a good idea to have an initial consultation (usually free of charge) with a lawyer in order to know all your options.

 
PROBLEMS FROM THE START

A lack of specific information often plagues survivors considering regulatory complaints. As children caught up in Attachment Therapy/Parenting (AT/P), they may never have been told the full names of their tormentors, know all that much about them, much less their professional status. They may not remember clearly the dates of “therapy,” or have any idea where they were taken. Frankly, one of the hallmarks of AT/P is that the adults try to keep children in the dark about everything (“so they can’t manipulate adults”).

Complicating matters further, survivors are oftentimes not on the best of terms with their adoptive, foster or step parent(s) so that getting information or cooperation from them may not be possible. Even so, this is something that a licensing board should consider. The good news is that just filing a complaint authorizes the board to investigate records regarding your case, which are required to be kept for a number of years. (Missing, incomplete, or altered records are a disciplinary offense in themselves, and may be a federal offense, too.)

Note that since the HIPAA Privacy Rule, regulations about providing records to the patient have changed. Refusal to provide records may be grounds for a complaint.

Getting around these problems may not be easy, but some facts are crucially important to filing a complaint for obvious reasons.

 
FIRST LOCATE THERAPIST and OTHERS

Before doing anything else, a survivor needs to locate the therapist and other bad actors. Where are they now? In what state does the offending Attachment Therapist have an active license? If the therapist has active licenses in more than one state, it would be appropriate to file complaints in all those states.

Most states also have license verification services online where people can look up the current status of any social worker, psychologist, or other license mental health professional in that state. Here’s an example of what to Google to get to one of these sites:

License verification Alabama “social worker”

The verification website will say if a license is active or lapsed. Some disciplinary actions taken against the licensee show up here, some not. Especially look for links to documents regarding discipline. If you have trouble with any of this, phone a licensing board and ask for help maneuvering their system.

Where possible, identify other bad actors than just the therapist: e.g., social workers, “therapeutic foster parents,” respite workers, caregivers, agencies (e.g. foster or adoption placement agencies), etc., and try to locate them as well.

Also, name and try to locate people who can verify parts of your story, e.g., teachers, siblings, neighbors, friends, clergy, other therapists (ethical ones), etc.

 
COLLECT EVIDENCE

Collect evidence to support your experience. This is not formal evidence as might be presented at a hearing (the agency investigator will do that), but just for preparing your complaint and later discussing it with the investigator. Be as ready as possible with names of willing witnesses, dates, any copies of therapy records, medical records, diary, letters, school records, and anything else pertinent. This not only helps propel the case along, but also helps in organizing one’s own thoughts. It will also underscore with the investigator the seriousness with which you are making your charges. Any resistance from parents or others in obtaining records should be noted in the complaint.

 
COMPLAINT FORM

As mentioned before, most licensing boards have websites, often with an online complaint form that can be printed and filled out in the privacy of your home. In all states, you can request by telephone that a form be sent to you.

 
GETTING ADVICE ABOUT A COMPLAINT

One preliminary step, at least in some states, can be to call the board and ask to speak to an investigator. Investigators will speak to you without knowing your name and will provide some counseling about how to do things, what kind of information is needed, and what is the hope of remaining anonymous after a complaint is filed. If you are afraid of the practitioner, you can ask about police protection, although this does not come directly through the board.

Looking at a state’s ethical guidelines for a profession, e.g. social work, psychology, can help you see what to call an action in a complaint, e.g. “boundary violation.”

Investigate if the therapist has legitimate credentials. Does he have a real Ph.D. or one from an unaccredited school? Does he claim degrees from “diploma mills”?

 
WHAT TO INCLUDE

This is where you tell your story, being as specific as possible.

First, identify the injury done and when it occurred. “Injury” is not just physical harm, but also psychological, emotional, and social. It may have been a problem solely in the past, or it may be an injury that is still with you today.

Consider, too, including the indirect effects or consequences: on education, employment, and relationships.

Above all, don’t overlook possible neglect of professional responsibilities to a client, which is also an injury, and a special concern to licensing authorities. These can vary in specifics by profession, but there are certain general duties owed to any client (and often violated by Attachment Therapists and “therapeutic parents,” in our view), such as:

* Keeping accurate records (Note if therapy sessions were videotaped)

* Respecting boundaries (It is anything where the therapist takes advantage of his position of power and influence over clients)

* Humane treatment

Violations of these would include things such as:

* Engaging in any physical- or psychological-enforced restraint, holding physically, lying on top of you, licking, yelling into your face, violence, coercion, poking and threats;

* Sexual contact of any kind;

* Employing others to do therapy with you when the therapist is not present;

* Having family members care for other children being treated by the therapist.

* Substandard care, e.g., misdiagnoses (such as “Reactive Attachment Disorder,” or RAD, when the client doesn’t show the symptoms given in the standard reference work on mental disorders), using a bogus diagnosis (such as “attachment disorder,” or AD, which doesn’t appear in the standard reference work on mental disorders), and using unresearched or fad treatments (such as AT/P, EMDR, neurofeedback, Theraplay, Cranio-Sacral Therapy, Brain Gym, etc.);

* Failure to refer to a qualified professional when appropriate;

* Neglecting medical care, or complaints requiring medical attention;

* Requiring you do physical labor or other tasks that benefit the therapist or others.

Although parents can give consent for treatment for minor children, therapists are still expected to honor a child’s autonomy by keeping the child informed about nature and purpose of the therapy, getting the child’s approval ahead of time, and allowing for the child to stop treatment at any time.

Therapists should not treat a child just for someone else’s benefit — for example, to get what the adoptive mother wants from the relationship with the child — and they especially should not use their position to exercise improper influence.

The APSAC Report on Attachment Therapy is a devastating professional condemnation of the use of AT, AT/P, and the AD diagnosis. The APA’s Division on Child Malpractice has also adopted the report. A copy (or link) to the Report should accompany any complaint where AT, AT/P, and AD are involved. It makes the case that these are not “generally accepted practice” for professionals. The Report also recommends that child welfare workers investigate incidents where AT/P practices were used as suspected abuse. Here’s a link to an online version:

APSAC Report on Attachment Therapy/Parenting

Video and Audio Evidence

A number of AT/P therapists (and therapists trained by them) have made videos or audiotapes regarding their methods. Copies of these materials should be included in the complaint. Check with Advocates for Children in Therapy to see if such exists in their files.

 
WHAT TO EXPECT AFTER FILING A COMPLAINT

The first thing that usually happens with a complaint is that an investigator is assigned to your case. The investigator may or may not want to speak with the survivor, depending on the need for clarification, evidence, etc. This process is open-ended and can last months, or even years. Then the investigator will make a report to the board, which then decides what action it wants to take.

 
FOUR WARNINGS

1) As a matter of “due process,” the person(s) being complained against has a right to see and respond to the complaint; that means the therapist will be told who filed the complaint and so complete anonymity is a rarity. It also means that the therapist’s response to the complaint — a copy should go to person making the complaint — is likely to be unpleasant, along these lines: “This kid was an extremely disturbed, pathological liar who manipulated adults.” This doesn’t mean that the survivor won’t be believed, but it can be difficult to hear nonetheless.

2) The process belongs to the board, so things happen more or less on their schedule, and outcomes are more or less of their choosing. Ask to be informed ahead of time when the board will discuss your case.

3) Disciplining a professional is a quasi-judicial process that can be appealed to the regular courts, which can add to the time taken and might reverse a decision taken (which could be good or bad).

4) Board decisions can sometimes be influential in other court actions, such as a civil case where a survivor is suing the professional for damages.

 
OTHER COMPLAINTS

Complaints against foster parents, respite workers, etc., do not involve forms. It’s more a matter of writing letters which, to be taken seriously, are still identified as a “FORMAL COMPLAINT.” Find out what agency certifies or oversees their occupation. This is most quickly done by calling the state human services department and inquiring about where various complaints should go. The APSAC Report should go with these letters, as well.

 
FALSE CLAIMS ACT

If treatment was paid for through Medicaid or another federal program, a survivor may be able to blow the whistle under the federal False Claims Act. A successful action of this kind could possibly end in an award to the whistleblower of three times the disputed payment. Some, but not all, states have their own False Claims Acts, which may be used in the same way.