Topics: Introduction

Topics, briefly described below, are short essays on issues of interest to victims/survivors of emotional and sexual abuse by psychotherapists and other health care professionals.

If you would like to submit a 250 to 500 word essay for this page, please send it to: jan1075@gmail.com.

A Husband’s Story
A husband describes both his shock at learning that his wife had been exploited over two years of therapy and the emotional turmoil that followed this revelation. The author says he wrote this essay to help other "secondary" victims, particularly spouses of victims, understand that they are not alone and that they too were betrayed by the mental health professional. To view this essay, click here.

A Victim's Statement to the Court
At her abuser's sentencing hearing, this author described to the judge the damage inflicted upon her and her family. Her abuser was sentenced to two years in prison followed by eight years of probation. He was fined $1500, must register as a sex offender, and had his professional license permanently revoked. The judge stated that this is a "serious crime" and that "a message needs to be sent." To view this essay, click here.

Advice for Subsequent Therapists—from a Colleague who Learned the Hard Way
A retired psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, who was a victim of abuse by her psychoanalyst during her training years, tells her story and offers advice to her colleagues for treating victims of abuse by psychotherapists. If you are a subsequent treater, this is a ‘must-read.’ If you are a victim, print this essay, hand it to your current or prospective therapist, and insist that it be read. To view this essay, click here.

Boundary Violations as Hypocrisy
In this extract from a longer document (see JAPA 53/1:2005, pp. 7-22), a psychoanalyst cites the hypocrisy inherent in the failure of analysts and the larger community to confront the truth of boundary violations. To view this essay, click here.

Civil Litigation
An essay excerpted from a longer document on some of the causes of action against psychotherapists and ways to increase the settlement value of a case. To view this essay, click here.

Danger Signs
Some of the red flags that signal unhealthy boundaries in the therapist-patient relationship and that the therapy is in dangerous territory or headed there. To view this essay, click here.

Gag Orders
The first two essays on this topic are descriptions by victims/survivors of their feelings about having settled civil cases against abusers where the settlements prohibited them from speaking about their abuse. To view these essays, click here.

The third essay on this topic, written by two Boston attorneys, argues that gag orders run counter to public policy and, accordingly, courts should refuse to enforce them. To view this essay, click here.

Guilt
How abusers try to shift the blame for their behavior onto their victims. To view this essay, click here.

Healing
Some of the struggles victims face as they strive to become survivors, and a look at some of the strengths that victims/survivors find through the long process of healing. To view the essays on this topic, click here.

Keeping the Secret
This essay describes what can happen when a victim fails to deal with having been abused and ignores the long-term implications of doing nothing. To view this essay, click here.

Lawyers
How to find and work with experienced lawyers when pursuing a civil case against an abusing psychotherapist. To view this essay, click here.

Letting Go
How and why victims/survivors struggle to hold on to the last shreds of belief that their perpetrators really cared about them and, at the same time, struggle to move on. To view the essays on this topic, click here.

Male Survivors
This essay suggests that male survivors experience not only the same traumatic effects of abuse as females but may encounter additional problems in their attempts to be heard and validated. To view this essay, click here.

Shock and After-Shocks: A Husband's Story
This essay details a husband's reaction to learning that his wife was exploited by a health care professional and describes the first seven months of his healing process in terms of the stages of grief. To view this essay, click here.

Subsequent Treatment
What to look for in a subsequent therapist, and why trusting a subsequent therapist is both difficult and, perhaps, not necessary. To view this essay, click here.

Taking Action: A Success Story
The story of a victim who thoroughly explored her options and successfully pursued multiple courses of action against her abuser. She suggests that her greatest rewards came from personal growth and taking back her life and personal power through the process of taking action rather than from institutional rewards. To view this essay, click here.

Vulnerability
Some of the social, psychological, and developmental factors that make a person susceptible to exploitation and abuse. To view this essay, click here.

Writing a Licensing Board Complaint
A victim who prevailed in her licensing board complaint, as well as in her civil and ethics committee complaints, shares the actual statement she wrote (names changed for confidentiality) and submitted. (See also "Focus on the Facts: My Experience Writing a Licensing Board Complaint" under "Papers" on this site.) To view the statement, click here.

Authors

"Burt Cooper" is a public affairs consultant specializing in politics and government. He has two daughters in their late teens. At his wife's request, he is using a pseudonym.

Edward S. Flores is a Production Engineer in an aerospace company. He has been happily married for 26 years and has two adult daughters. Prior to his wife's abuse by a mental health professional, he, like most people, had very little if any understanding of such abuse.

Linda Mabus Jorgenson is an attorney who has handled more than 300 cases involving sexual misconduct by therapists or other professionals. 

Susan Kerman, M.D. is a psychiatrist in private practice In Dobbs Ferry, New York.  She treats children, adolescents and adults.

Anton O. Kris, M.D. is a Training and Supervising Analyst at The Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. He is also Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. is a medical malpractice attorney and founding partner of the law firm of Lubin & Meyer, P.C. in Boston.

Wanda S. Needleman, M.D. is a retired psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. She is also a volunteer TELL responder.

Marilyn Nowak works in human resources staffing for a major healthcare company that manufactures and distributes medical products and services. She is also a volunteer TELL responder.

Katie Marino holds a degree in Early Childhood Education and teaches PreK in Georgia, where she lives with her husband and son.

Adam R. Satin is a Boston attorney specializing in medical malpractice and general liability litigation. He is an associate with the firm of Lubin & Meyer, P.C.

Nicole Todd lives in New Jersey and is a stay-at-home mom of four children. She graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Economics from Hunter College, and also earned an MBA from Rutgers University. She is a TELL responder.

John D. Winer is an attorney practicing in California and lead author for the forthcoming book, Proving Mental and Emotional Injuries, which focuses heavily on therapist sexual abuse cases.

Jan Wohlberg is one of the five founders of TELL.  She previously taught Organizational Behavior at Boston University’s School of Management.

All writings in topics are the express property of their authors and are used with permission.  For reproduction permission of any of these writings, please e-mail: jan@therapyabuse.org.