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Therapy is changing from helping clients build skills to solve their problems independently to churning out individuals who see themselves as chronic victims.
By: Dustin Luchmee
Counselors, social workers, and psychologists are some of the mental health professionals who care for individuals when they’re the most vulnerable. Yet as therapy becomes more politicized, it can be difficult for those without a “woke” mindset to find a therapist open to one’s values and experiences.
By embracing the latest political ideology and social justice activism, the therapy profession that has existed since the late 18th century is undergoing a radical transformation. A profession traditionally known for helping clients build skills to solve problems independently is instead churning out individuals who see themselves as chronic victims.
Activism Embraced by Mental Health Profession
Nearly five years ago, Pamela Garfield-Jaeger, a social worker who has worked with both children and adults with severe mental health issues, became aware of a shift in the mental health profession toward radical activism after the American Psychological Association (APA) released a statement regarding its commitment to social responsibility and social justice.
“It was around 2018 when I noticed that the mental health field became more radicalized, particularly with the gender movement,” Ms. Garfield-Jaeger told The Epoch Times.
Ms. Garfield-Jaeger is one of many mental health clinicians concerned about the push for mental health professionals to focus on activism. She was alarmed to find a Facebook group for therapists in which many of its members stated they would not work with individuals with conservative beliefs.
“I feel especially terrible for white men who need therapy because most of the therapists practicing today are women who don’t like men. These therapists will treat a man as someone who is privileged instead of a person who is coming for help,” Ms. Garfield-Jaeger said.
Lily Cooney, a liberal, white lesbian woman, was “fired” by her therapist for pushing back against the notion that someone’s identity, such as their racial characteristics, is responsible for how they think, feel, and act.
In an article published by The Free Press, Ms. Cooney explained how the cultural ideologies she was steeped in began to take a toll on her mental health, prompting her to seek therapy. At the time, she was convinced that “just by being white,” she was responsible for “America’s racist legacy of slavery.” Her wake-up call came when she challenged her therapist’s notion that people should be categorized based on these superficial characteristics, which resulted in her therapist “canceling” her.
Stories like Ms. Cooney’s are becoming increasingly more common as health professionals abandon traditional holistic care in favor of activism at the expense of the patients they serve. Despite repeated messages of inclusivity, clinical activism can alienate both patients and providers, transforming the mental health profession.
The Transformation of Clinical Education
To become a therapist, one must undergo graduate school and clinical training. Depending on the education program and clinical training, a therapist will often specialize in working with specific populations and disorders.
Therapy education has been radically transformed in recent years, with graduate programs now requiring courses such as “Deconstructing White Supremacy in Social Work” and other ideologies for graduates to enter the field.
Graduates then apply their education in clinical practice, promoting ideas such as diet culture being a “form of surveillance” rather than simply helping their clients struggling with obesity make healthier choices.
“These therapists are so encompassed by the worldview. They don’t realize they’re bringing in a bias because that’s what they’re taught. They don’t challenge their clients at all, so there is no reason for them to improve. These therapists allow their patients to continue the same behaviors that make them sick,” explained Ms. Garfield-Jaeger.
Since speaking out, Ms. Garfield-Jaeger often receives messages from therapists who want to work with the whole person and avoid bringing a political spin to their therapy. Because the training programs have become radicalized, therapists like this are becoming harder to find. Before 2020, course offerings focused on race or social justice were uncommon. These radical course offerings are now widespread.
“The programs today focus on systemic change. Therapy should focus on the individual. Now, the type of people who are attracted to these programs are communists because they don’t believe in personal responsibility and are taught collective thinking. These people put this into their work, which results in their patients not getting the help that they need. They get harmed,” said Ms. Garfield-Jaeger.
‘Woke’ Therapy Can Turn Clients Into Victims
Historically, therapy has sought to help individuals resolve their problems, adopt healthy behaviors, and become aware of their roles and responsibilities regarding the issues they’re dealing with.
“What’s therapeutic about therapy is the process, not just the content,” Ms. Garfield-Jaeger explained. “For example, a client may come in with attachment issues, and the therapist would work with the client through their relationship with one another to show the client that they can form healthy attachments.”
A client may initially come in with a problem and, with the therapist’s assistance, begin to unpack other issues related to that problem. The therapist’s role is to guide their client through self-awareness while helping them build the skills needed for effective problem-solving, which builds trust and rapport with the therapist.
When the ideology of “wokeism” enters the therapeutic relationship, the process and progress of therapy can go horribly wrong. For example, if a therapist begins to project their own problems onto a client or treat them differently because of their demographic background, this can jeopardize the client’s trust in the therapist and lead to an inability to trust others.
Like many professionals in the field concerned with the radicalization of the profession, Ms. Garfield-Jaeger sees therapists being exploited for an insidious agenda.
“I think therapists are being used by the globalists to break down society. The radicals are teaching and training people to weaken people’s mental health and resiliency in order to make people easier to control and become dependent on Big Pharma,” she said.
Recognizing that social justice indoctrination is creeping into the therapist’s office has created a “buyer-beware” situation.
Recognizing a ‘Woke’ Therapist: 3 Red Flags
Finding a therapist compatible with your values can take some research. Most therapists have a website where you can learn more about their practice philosophy, areas of specialization, rates, and more.
To identify a “woke” therapist, Ms. Garfield-Jaeger points to three potential red flags:
- The therapist’s website includes “woke” jargon. “The first thing you should do is look for a therapist’s profile and look out for jargon. Words and phrases such as social justice, patriarchy, white privilege, systemic racism, and so forth indicate that this therapist wants to change the world through you, which I do not believe will benefit a client seeking therapy,” said Ms. Garfield-Jaeger.
- Parents and family are excluded. Another red flag for children and family therapy is shutting out a parent or parents. Ms. Garfield-Jaeger says parents are needed during the therapeutic process for children because they are aware of a child’s life history, developmental achievements, and other important factors. Parents who are negatively contributing to the child’s life also need to be involved—perhaps even more so—since these parents must learn the healthy behaviors necessary for their child and family to heal.
Removing family and parental involvement in child mental health care is already taking foot in the United States. In Pennsylvania, the digital mental health app Kooth is being tested on minors ages 14 and up. The app encourages a child to talk with strangers on the internet without parental consent. It connects a child to a random, anonymous Kooth team member via text messaging. The app has generated tremendous concern, including a focus on gender identity issues in youth, the exclusion of parental involvement, a parent’s inability to opt their child out of this service once enrolled, and the collection of a minor’s mental health data.
- The therapist is self-focused or dominant. While social media can sometimes clue you in on this red flag, it may not become apparent until you’re working with a therapist who begins to dominate a therapy session with their views. Psychotherapy is a relationship that should be all about one person: the client. A therapist’s job is to clarify their client’s individual goals and then mirror their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a constructive way. To do this, the therapist has to set aside their personal ideologies (religion, politics, culture, etc.).
“Self-disclosure of the therapist’s views should only be done in a way that benefits the client, such as when a client feels they are the only one that’s experienced an embarrassing moment. A therapist can share a time when they felt embarrassed to help the client not feel alone or ashamed, but should always redirect the focus back to the client and allow them to speak,” said Ms. Garfield-Jaeger.
