Includes a Trigger Warning

Bernadine speaks with Linda Peavack (also known as Emma Stevens) who spoke with us recently about the experience of being an adopted child. Today we are talking about her experience of being exploited by her therapist and her memoir which describes this experience A Fire Is Coming.

Therapy Abuse is an under-acknowledged traumatic issue in our society. There may be folks listening to this program who are not aware that they themselves are in an exploitive relationship with their therapist. And while that may sound extreme and wholly impossible – it is unfortunately not. You see therapists have been given the power in our society to define what is true for their clients… and exploitative therapist will ensure that they are reframing their actions always as good and right and any negative reactions a client has to them as neurotic and crazy. You see clients are all told to go see a therapist and trust that they have their best interest at heart and do what they say. Bernadine also went through a checklist of types of therapist transgressions not to see if this was true for her – but to prove to herself that her relationship with her therapist was the unique and special one that she had been led to believe. To this day, she vividly recalls sitting in front of that computer screen trying to cope with the cognitive dissonance having marked off nearly every one of the 100 or so types of transgressions that were there. So we ask any of you who have seen or are seeing a therapist, to consider that this program may be triggering and to do what you need to do to take care of yourself during this hour.

Music by Shari Ulrich