http://forum.rickross.com/list.php?8 EN Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:07:15 +0100 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:07:15 +0100 Clergy and Therapy Abuse Phorum 5.1.25 60 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,74610,78856#msg-78856 Lordship
Most of you seem to have been correct in that those around Gale from whom he was drawing support rather than unduly influencing have distanced themselves from him. Those that supported him at the HPC hearings and gave glowing testimonials of his professional proficency have now come to the realisation that association with Gale is damaging their own professional status, particularly with regards to their campaigns to fight statatuory regulation of psychotherapy in the UK. The blatant anger of some former Gale supporters is either an oscar winning impression of people who were duped or a very real and deeply felt guilt that they too may have contributed to the physical, sexual and psychological abuse over many years of many of Gale's clients. Do they too now fear the knock on the door?

Those of Gale's clients who feel empowered by the HPC process and have started raising questions and kicking up still feel trapped by the binds Gale put around them with their "statements of support" and even giving evidence under oath. Of course Gale has informed them in no uncertain terms that if they too were to now leave his therapy and make complaints they would be charged with perjury. This of course is bollocks but it is a very powerful persuader to stay where they are and keep paying up. Are they really still waiting for the promised utopia of being able to lead their lives as Gale leads his or are they so confused they do not even realise that they are just waiting for an opportunity to escape his clutches?

Gale's life at the moment is in turmoil. His personal relationships have all collapsed. He has found himself with nowhere to turn and even his most entrenched acolytes are desperately looking for a way out of his crashing spiral. Gale's outbursts and violent anger are driving the trapped deeper into his traps. Almost as much as Gale himself his clients fear the upcoming civil court actions because of the pressures that he will again exert on them. One real family very close to the heart of Gale's psychotherapy cult family have become so afraid of Gale that they are now lying about their financial position to him in the vague hope that he will not expect even more payments from them for his "defence fund". His efforts to reassert control through his regular "psychodrama" workshop recently failed so badly that he himself is now deeply questioning his own self belief.

Abandonment is the route that Gale has chosen.

Of course Gale himself is very clear in his unpublished novel about an exposed sexually abusive therapist what he would do upon realisation that the game was up.

[i]"About his clients, he suddenly discovered that he didn’t care about them very much at all. They hadn’t cared about him in his hour of need so doubtless they would be able to cope without him in the future.
Many of his clients expressed no such callousness and were hoping that it would not be too long before they could resume therapy with him, but they were to be disapointed and those who still thought kindly of him never got an opportunity to express it or to have their kindness repaid."[/i]

Because his clients are now challenging him and questioning him he is blaming them for not caring about him. Thus way he will justify to himself abandoning them when he heads off to Brazil in the new year.

Of course he has promised that he will return messiah like in three years time and that promise should hold them in his thrall for about 12 months but after that the breakdowns and collapse will really set in. Let's prey that they can find their way to the proper help they deserve.

Goodbye Derek - but please don't make the mistake of thinking we won't be watching and awaiting your next raspberry to us :-)]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,74610,78856#msg-78856 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:07:15 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,8433,78306#msg-78306 corboy
This was being discussed in comments sections from an anonymous source in another venue.

What is described below is a situation where there is a risk of a meditation group becoming socially and psychologically inbred.

1) One should not combine the role of meditation teacher and therapist

2) A person who is a therapist and also a meditation teacher should keep those functions separate and never use the therapist role to recruit for his or her religious community, nor should that person use the meditation teacher role to recruit for his or his wife's therapy practice.

3) It is hazardous to offer therapy sessions for free unless one does this as part of a clinic that offers free or sliding scale sessions and you are checking in regularly with colleagues.

In the context of a meditation group, getting free therapy sessions from a group teacher who is also a therapist can lead to a very dangerous degree of dependence.

By contrast, there is a Zen community whose ethics guidelines forbid any member of that community to use membership community as a recruitment pool for his or her private practice.

If a meditation teacher sees that someone is in distress, he or she could have a list of recommended therapists--but that persons spouse should not be on the list.

For...how can a person who feels attached to that meditation group feel free to refuse an offer of free therapy from the group leader?

And what if a member of the mediation group has therapy sessions with the leader, or with the leaders' wife and decides that the therapeutic alliance is not working, or something feels wrong or 'icky' about the therapist?

If that person finds he or she distrusts the therapist, he or she may fear speaking up because that would mean losing harmony within the meditation group, as well as having to risk unpleasantness or worse from the therapist.

[quote]Anonymous said...
Therapist/couselors/psychologists seem to be a category looking for any handle to stand out and be noted for being of quality

I surmise this

I sat with one guy who headed a (Buddhist) sitting group he put flyers on the butsudan of his and his wife's therapy groups (she belonged to the same zendo he did).

It felt like he was using the group to bolster his private practice.

Years later as metta (loving kindness practice) he offered free therapy sessions to folks sitting in his sangha.

At first glance these things appeared harmless, as gestures of helpfulness.

Maybe they were.

Mine was a different response I thought there was confusion with boundaries true all is one but therapists need a healthy sense of where they end.
There seemed to be a smooshing together of buddism and psychology
these are not the same
no matter what the practitioner's faith helping a person or a couple or a family means discovering what is theirs
helpful is helpful no matter what religious medal is around the practioner's neck

what has budhism got to do with it? got to do with it?

I'm just asking.

I might very well seek help from a Jewish or a Christian therapist--but I would [i]not[/i] likely go to them if they advertised themselves as a Jewish Psychologist or Christian Psychologist

I'll go see the rebbe or the priest if I need a relgious take on a matter

November 2, 2009 4:39 PM
[/quote]

A final note: some who combine the function of Buddhist meditation teacher as well as that of licensed therapist, may become quite famous as meditation teachers and be in demand to lead retreats, sometimes all over the country.

If your therapist is constantly out of town leading long meditation retreats, it doesnt matter how brilliant he or she is..that person will not have the day to day stablity to
needed to do depth therapy.

If one needs psychotherapy plus meditation practice, find a therapist who has stable ties to the community and is not travelling all over the country as a dharma celebrity.

There are only 24 hours in a day and as a Yiddish proverb put it, you cannot dance at two weddings with one [i]tochas[/i] (rear end).]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,8433,78306#msg-78306 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:40:53 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,77975,77975#msg-77975 jesus247
About 6 years ago Victory Outreach Santa Rosa lost key leaders. They lost 3 ministerial couples, and their worship leader/head church administrator. The ministerial couples left because of the misappropiation of funds. When they asked Pastor Jose questions, his response was that he was he charge and not to question his decisions with the finances. See in Victory Outrach, especially VOSR, the Pastor is not accountable to anybody. There is no church council, church board or a group of elders to keep him accountable. Pastor Jose claims that his accountability is Rick Alanis all the way in San Bernardino.

One of the ministers tried to explain to Jose that he over fleecing the people in the church and that he needed to let up on the offerings and the pledges. He tried to explain to Jose that the church would not be able to afford to stay afloat. Jose never listened. So these families left and everything stayed business as usual. I was in the men's rehab home during this time and boy was I busy. After I worked 10-12 hours a day helping build the church, as did the rest of the men's home I would have to go do a moving job or help cook dinner. Then I had to take a 3 minute shower and do house chores. If I was lucky I would be forced to sign up for General Assistance and earn welfare money to help support the home also. If I complained I was "not loyal" or I was "not dedicated to the cause."

So the church was built and everybody was happy, well kind of. See everybody had given so much money that people in the church had to get food stamps and go on welfare. Then came the part of supporting the new church. Everyweek there would be a new pledge for the church building. People were already giving a 10% tithe to the church and then pledging 100, 200, 500, 1000 and even 2000 and beyond dollars to have paid with 6 months. Being in VOSR everybody had dreams to something great for God. Pastor Jose is really charasmatic and is awesome in increasing your faith to be a preacher, a leader, a pastor, an evangelist or a Pastor's Wife someday. But if you are in leadership you have to lead by example and give first. If you are really serious for God and want to see the vision of Sonny Arguinzoni Sr come to pass you better give. I would hear things all the time like, "put your money where your mouth is," or my personal favorite, "you use to spend all your money on your dope but you can't spend it on God?" There was times where Pastor Jose wouldn't let anyone leave the building until they pledged money. Former Assistant Pastor Richard Contreras even joked about putting a ATM machine in the foyer.

One couple went to Cape Town, SA to help start up the worship team for the new Pastors James and Anna Brady. Before they left, the church picked up a huge offering for musical instruments. When they got there all of the money had already been spent on other things. When they asked where the money was James Brady said that he decided to use it on something else. There was a couple that sold everything they had, and gave up jobs to go start a womens rehab in Cape Town. When they came home they had no support from the church. A man was sent to Santa Rosa to be a missionary in Cape Town. A huge offering was picked up for him to go. A year and a half later he still hasn't gone. When asked Pastor Jose said that the Lord hasn't given him the green light yet. When an ex member called the church office about the $100 that she she gave for the missionary and if she culd get it back, she was told that they would look in to it. That was 3 months ago.

Pastor Jose drives a beautiful Chrysler 300 with 20 inch chromed out rims. He wear the best clothes, has the best watch and has all of his and his wifes needs taken care of by the church. His wife is on payroll also, but mysteriously never works a day in the office and is never available to talk to anybody. His wife even sells knock off purses. When she was confronted about it by a female member of the church, she was ostricized by the church, and treated like an amish kid that left the farm.

Between 2004 and 2006 there was a Pastor by the name of Richard Contreras from the South Asia area that came to VOSR on a sabatical. He was having his own problems with women and money that he needed a break. The congregation at VOSR was told by Pastor Jose that he was here to recuperate and get his health in order. So Richard fit in well. He was very loved and embraced by VOSR. He was a big time Pastor in VO so he had a lot of influence. Richard started to work for a millionaire by the name of Giovanni from the VO in Las vegas. This guy was a Real Estate developer and also made a living on getting people that would never stand a chance a loan. Pastor Jose loved him so much that he had him come to VOSR and preach to the congregation. The sermon was basically about prosperity and how God wants to bless you. Then Richard started wanting people in the church to own their own home. He pumped it up to the point that everyone would have a chance to own theor own home. So tons of people bought in to it including Pastor Jose. The big gimmick was get a home and $10,000 back in cash. Richard pulled strings and got Pastor Jose, Assistance Pastor Elias Gaitan and a lot others their chance to buy a home. He even made it possible for the church to purchase the womens rehab home.

Then it all came crumbling down. Everyone's home became forclosed and Richard was nowhere to be found. He even left left his wife without telling her. Since then business has been usual for Victory Outreach. Lot's of key leaders have left along with other congreation members. If you were to go in to a service or ask somebody you would here them say that the devill got the best of them or that they were not loyal to the vision. or you would here them say that vo isn't for everybody.

Two years ago I contacted the Hayward Victory Outreach and spoke with Pastor Joesy Pineda. Joesy and her husband Steve (who went home to be with the Lord) sent out Pastor jose and Kimberly Guadarrama to Santa Rosa. They were to replace a fallen Pastor named Victor Carrillo who misused money for personal gain and had an affair with a women in the church. I let Joesy know by telephone all that I had seen and heard from other viable sources. She then put me in contact with Pastor Saul Garcia who is the Founder Sonny Arguinzoni, Sr's right hand guy. Saul assured me that they would send a team to investigate the problem and then thanked me for coming to him first. Two years later Pastor Saul has yet to send a team to investigate.

I hope that this information has been usefull to someone. Victory Outreach Santa Rosa as well as Victory Outreach Intl are nothing more than ex gang member, drug addicts who have a very warped sense of power and of what Jesus Christ and the Ministry of the Body of Christ is all about. They are a cult. There agenda is nothing more than to train passionate, loyal converts who will give of time and money to fulfill the greedy desires of its leadership. I love the friends that I once called family at VO and I pray that they get out soon.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,77975,77975#msg-77975 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:40:57 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,72446,77078#msg-77078 limey
He cant call himself a psychotherapist in the near future.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,72446,77078#msg-77078 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:06:31 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,8433,77077#msg-77077 limey
Its certainly not the type of psychotherapy one would use within the NHS.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,8433,77077#msg-77077 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:01:50 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,74610,77076#msg-77076 limey
This is exactly why (as a psychotherapist myself) I'm pro-registration.

To be honest though, he can probably call himself whatever he wants, as he'll still be able to find a handful of confused people who are able to be exploited.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,74610,77076#msg-77076 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:59:11 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,51220,76053#msg-76053 watchmun Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,51220,76053#msg-76053 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:49:03 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,51220,76031#msg-76031 WTW Church is Zion Dominion of Holland.
Is this the same person?]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,51220,76031#msg-76031 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:14:12 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,74610,74610#msg-74610 Lordship
Derek Gale the psychotherapy cult leader who operates out of the Gale Centre in Loughton, Essex, England was recently struck off the register by the Health Professions Council and now the UK Council of Psychotherapists, unfortunately here in the UK this does not stop him practising as either a counsellor or even as a psychotherapist and as far as we are aware he has continued to see his "clients" and may even now be on a holiday with them.

We would greatly appreciate any opinions and experiences anyone out there may have as to how do cult leaders like Gale react when the pressure is on? When they have been publically exposed, ridiculed and sanctioned. What happens to the "clients" who are still in his thrall? What might his reaction towards them be? He has stated many times that "we may have to take this work abroad" and has already instilled that notion in his core of "clients" and we know that he does own property abroad and recently spent time in Argentina (no extradition treaty with the UK!). He has also stated in a supposedly fictional "novel" that was the centre of some of the disciplinary actions against him that he would leave for Mexico if caught by the regulatory authorities.

Of even greater concern is the fact that he has ingratiated himself into the Wills of his clients and where he is not actually a beneficiary of the will he is executor of it and there are instructions that "the group" (ie Gale himself) should decide how the benefit should be spent. Imagine this legal "stranger" is the beneficiary of the wills of many people young enough to be his children!! Think about the implications of that, with the exception of your own children or a relative, who younger than yourself would consider putting you in their will? Opinions on Gale's possible motives for this greatly appreciated.

Thanks - any input greatly appreciated.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,74610,74610#msg-74610 Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:39:38 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,74284,74284#msg-74284 Oerlikon
See the website on Dr. Harry Verby here.

http://www.harry-verby.com/]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,74284,74284#msg-74284 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:39:43 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,59941,73697#msg-73697 Thya Gefjun Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,59941,73697#msg-73697 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:48:14 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,18452,73073#msg-73073 Open Mind
Generally any AA group will respect the right of any person to tell their story or their troubles while 'sharing' in a meeting.

However- the advice, opinions and (yes) judgments of group members are going to reflect the community where the AA group is based, and it's going to reflect the individuals who make up that particular group. The values of the people in a rural Kansas AA group are going to be different from the values of people in a gay AA group from New York City. And, frankly, some groups just might have a bunch of power-tripping jerks in them. From some of the stories I've just read above, it sounds like some AA groups have made some bad mistakes. It's best to remember that AA is good at giving specific advice on drinking, and general advice on recognizing and calming one's ego. (Buddhist meditation also has the avowed goal of taming the ego. It's a fairly benign goal.) But no-one in AA should give you advice on your car or how you dress or whether masturbation is sinful unless you ask.

If you don't want to drink any more and if you want to see if AA can work for you, try going to a number of different groups until you find one where you feel like you can relate to the people a bit more. If you're a 22-year-old woman, you might feel uncomfortable going to a meeting made up mostly of 50-year-old men. Fortunately in larger cities, there's a big variety of groups, many of which cater to particular needs - gay groups, women's groups, groups conducted in Swedish etc..

One thing you tend to hear a lot in AA is that AA is the only way to get sober. This is clearly untrue. But AA is made up of people who got sober through AA and people who got sober in AA, then quit AA, then drank again, then returned to AA to give it another go. (People who got sober without AA don't go to AA groups to tell their story. People who went to AA for a bit and then quit and stayed sober don't come back to AA groups to tell how they are fine now without the program.) So the experience base of an AA group is sort of limited by that.

I will say this: I tried to quit drinking on my own for many years. I also tried to moderate. I failed. When I joined AA I was able to get sober. When I quit AA, I began drinking again and was unable to quit. When I returned to AA, I was able to quit again. Does it follow logically that AA MUST be the reason I'm sober? No. Does it follow logically that anyone who follows the AA program can and will get sober? No. But it seems to work for me at the moment. And for other people in the program. And I have no idea why. And it's easier to put up with AA weirdness than drunk or hungover weirdness.

Finally, let me say this - if your sponsor is power-tripping on you or crossing common-sense boundaries, then ditch them and get another one. And tell someone what happened. You're allowed to.

OM

Oh ya - AA literature does change occasionally. They add new testimonials to the big book. Like once a decade. Or they write new pamphlets. But they have not updated the stuffy 1920s language of the original text one iota. I think they should. It can put people off. It was meant to be colloquial, common-sense language. And in its time it was. But now that it seems to come from another age, some people give it this weird reverance. It's not supposed to be scripture. It's supposed to be a how-to book.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,18452,73073#msg-73073 Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:55:26 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,8433,72956#msg-72956 corboy
Examines the occulist and theosophical roots of psychotherapy, most noteably Freud (includes discoveries about the suspect nature of the Anna O case) and Jungs hidden gnostic background. The article suggests ways the profession can be rescued and made to fit a responsible scientific-therapeutic model.

http://www.alpheus.org/html/reviews/theosophy/Crews2.pdf]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,8433,72956#msg-72956 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:09:27 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,72446,72672#msg-72672 Lordship
It is very important to understand that cults exist out of stifling people’s free expression of opinions. Particularly where those opinions criticise the cult directly. Offering opinions in whatever form against a cult raises the debate and stimulates conversation and some legitimate internal questioning within the cult. Now if we take Mr Gale’s argument (as put forward at the hearings) that he does not operate a cult because he invites the public, friends and family to his open days at the Gale Centre and because he claims he would have sexually abused his clients more if he was a cult leader and taken more advantage of young women when he was lonely. Then the people who still pay him large amounts of money to be in his presence, those people that have signed his specially created contracts and given evidence on his behalf, those people that have had years of him teaching that they must at some point confront the hearings, have no perception that they are “in” anything let alone a cult. As far as they are concerned they attend to Mr Gale as part of their therapy needs and his requirement for “unconditional love”. They must return the love he gives them in return for their cash. At some point they will have reached the level of awareness he has achieved and then they will be happy regardless of financial, emotional or physical cost. Whatever is written here cannot drive them any further into Mr Gale’s thrall. They are already there and unquestioning. All their questions are always answered by Gale as being their own fault, afterall he even blamed his clients for him calling himself a psychotherapist. They don’t have any issues with being in a cult because they are not in one.

It’s virtually a given that cult leaders like Gale will use any type of criticism of them to suppress the truth in their motives to their accolytes. Those that criticise the cult leader will be called vigilantes, bullies, violent alcoholics, conspiritors, intimidators or even worse. As in the Gale case the cult leader may feel he should go on the offensive and make unfounded multiple complaints to the police about harrassment or percieved intimidation by anti cult professionals and complainants. He may also make claims (as Gale did during the hearings) on behalf of his group members that they too are being intimidated by non specific myserious forces, though group members very rarely make those complaints themselves. The cult leaders will take any criticism or observations from outsiders and by their very instincts turn it against the propogator for the benefit and comfort of those he still seeks to manipulate and control. There is in fact nothing that can be written about Gale and his group that he will not turn into an atttack on them. So to reassure those who have justifiable concerns for their friends and families still in the Gale “family” we can assure you that by writing what we do and in the style we have chosen we are raising awareness and questioning and not in someway forcing people deeper into Mr Gale’s “family” or “Therapy Community” as he has now chosen to style it.

Since Gale himself has failed to comment in public since his striking off, even to his presumed allies in the “Independent” therapy press, and since he has closed down his website to abet the impression that he has given up practise then we must raise our concerns for his personal welfare here in an open letter:

Dear Mr Gale,

If observations from the HPC hearings can be relied upon and comments from your friends and supporters in e mails and other internet forums are true then we have right and proper concerns for your mental welfare and the impact this may have on your current clients. We sincerely hope that you will not just dismiss this letter but take it into very careful consideration.

When the complaints were first aired you issued a Gale Centre newsletter explaining how you were blowing raspberries at those who were trying to bring you down, this was presented as part of the evidence bundle by the HPC. Considering the very serious nature of the complaints against you, and considering most of those that have so far been heard have been admitted by yourself and found to be misconduct do you now not consider that this was a rather immature approach? Please take time to reflect back on your motivations for that comment as you now face the prospect of potential criminal actions against you for soliciting drug abuse, perjury and common assault. As you ponder that you may also wish to recall the true nature of your vexatious complaints to the police and their response to them having been presented with a detailed dossier of your activities by those you complained against. What did you achieve?

You were very open and honest during the course of the hearings about your penchant for what many would consider bizarre and unusual behaviour. You accepted that you frequently pretend to be mentally disturbed to non participating members of the public ie in shops etc and that you often explain, while on holidays with the group, (to those that inquire) that you are the groups father and they are your extended family. You also accepted that you made this claim to people who could not possibly understand that it was a metaphor and in some way related to your “cutting edge” therapy regime. Why do you think this occurred so often, what was your hidden motivation for it? You have made it clear that you are a proponent of self revelation, do you feel able to externalise this need in a more appropriate environment where it would be less damaging to your clients?

Why did you also choose to screen the Channel4 video?

http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&rlz=1T4ADBF_en-GBGB291GB291&q=Derek+gale&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=4RkuSuq1JKOQjAee9PSICw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=5&ct=title#

Merely, it seems, to explain to the panel that you were in fact only half naked in the photographs featured and that the hat you were wearing was from a hat shop, a local hat shop of some repute? Yes, Mr Gale you actually did say that in the hearing – check the transcript if you don’t believe it yourself. We accept that your main thrust of the use of that particular video was that you intended to prove that two people being interviewed were in fact in the same house. Well we are sorry but we cannot resist a “no shit Sherlock” there, you certainly excelled yourself with your powers of detection. But please ponder whether that obvious ploy wasn’t really a subconcious “raspberry” to the panel as the same video also reminded them how little power they actaully have in the current regulatory environment. If you did not consider this and it was not your obvious intention then maybe you really should look more closely at your own subconcious actions. How did you think the panel would react to the video, what was your hoped for outcome?

Now we would like to help you to look a little more closely at your relationship to money. You like to play with money, you have pulled stunts by telling your clients that they should be less selfish with money. You have taken the equivalent amount for a good night out, put it in an envelope and then through a very clumsy sleight of hand burned the envelope, not as some sort of hackneyed parlour trick but as part of their therapy. Was the money returned to all the contributors or did it disappear as you claimed in a puff of smoke? You’re need to accpet expensive gifts from clients including money is also well known and now publically documented.
You are a middling to wealthy man. Not rich but not poor, as you pointed out to the panels on several occassions. You were also very proud to let them know that you are “not cheap”. You have often said that your love for your clients is free but they pay for your expertise and experience. Well they certainly pay for something but as the hearings uncovered you are actually very short on both real therapy expertise and experience. To be quite honest insiders felt your embarrassment when being cross examined by the arts therapist panel member and when he was in conversation with your expert witness. It really was a situation you might have felt more comfortable avoiding as it apparently seemed like you were the petulent teenager at the dinner table trying to chip in to an adult conversation that was way over your head.

Apart from your hourly session fees of between £65 and £125 an hour you have a unique system of charging for your fortnightly voice group sessions whereby you charge everyone in the group for an hour’s session. So a guestimate of say 15 people in the voicegroup nets you about a thousand pounds for three hours work – three hours work which you admit you invariably sign off by saying “now pay up and fuck off”. Well you may well find some people taking your advice if they sit down and think about it for long enough and do some simple arithmatic as to how much they actually pay you per year. We know you have a target of about 20% of their disposable income but we wonder how many are confused not only by your fee structure and paying through your front company People Unlimited but also by the additional costs of holidays etc which have now been defined as “misconduct”. You see the normal way of paying for group sessions is that you multiply the hours by an average of your normal rate and divide it by the number in the group. So let’s be generous and say you charge £100 per hour for three hours you then divide that by say 15 people in the group which would make it £20 per head per voice group. You are right Mr Gale you are not cheap but no wonder you have a vested interest in keeping your clients in long term therapy. Afterall in your closing statement you acknowledged that your clients known as XX and YY no longer required therapy and just came along because they wanted to. The natural implication from that is that you keep taking their money as well as that of their daughter and, until recently, their son, not for any therapuetic purpose but because you want to.

On the back of your canny way with cash you have built up a substantial property portfolio in the UK and abroad. It is acknowledged that you inherited an above average consideration (£2million you have claimed – but then you are now known to have an “ambiguos relationship to the truth”) and that you hid money by asking clients to pay cash while going through your divorce. The allegation made by some complainants of you stealing the identity of a former Roy Hart theatre company teacher and operating an account in his name either with or without his knowledge is still to be resolved, possibly by the police since there are now other criminal liabilities to take into consideration. What is beyond dispute is that you raised the suggestion from your “family” that they should start a fighting fund for you and you have accepted substantial sums of cash from a client supposedly to pay for a defence because their family was causing trouble for you. You then pleaded poverty to the HPC so that they would pay for counsel to cross examine the most vulnerable of witnesses. They did this without any means testing as a matter of public protection. It is acknowledged that you did pay for your own counsel to write a rather erratic and incredible closing statement with regards to your use of dope in front of clients and you did have him cross examine the witness. To be honest though Mr Gale insiders have pointed out that if ever there was a case of a defence barrister indicating to the court that he considers his client guilty then you had it, however that matter is irrelevent as he probably insisted you pay upfront. Those costs would easily have been sourced from the money you saved by having your clients renovate your property for you including taking on dangerous and highly specialised tasks such as asbestos clearing.

Clients do not pay for your love they believe they pay for a professional service. Something that it has been proven that you fail to provide. Many of your current clients fear that if they stop paying you and supporting you then they will lose their friends as others have done. People they claimed to love and care for have vanished from their lives at your behest. Some have even turned against you. Your clients do not want to anger you or feel they are betraying you. They want to support you in whatever way they can. At a request from yoruself or some other group member they would do anything for you.

And it is this loving and caring that has created the problem for you isn’t it Mr Gale? You are trapped within an emotional construct that is now stiffling you and you can’t see a way out. You’re emotions are boiling over and your well known temper is being suppressed. Suppressed anger is the most dangerous type. How can you find a way forward? There is a very brave step you can take, a step that would be admired by your clients and peers alike. Please Mr Gale seek help. Please seek psychiatric help before your inner anger and torment turns into something very physically dangerous. Before you are pushed into physical violence in a way you have previously shown you are capable of. Please do not seek the help of your cabal of so called psychotherapist friends as they are clearly incapable of helping you or they would have done so before. Take time to consider where the real help to move forward, to escape this spiral of depressive pain, may really lie. You are trapped in a toxic group, a group that is destroying you. Taking every ounce of your energy and will to live. You know there are people out there that understand this situation. Highly regarded professionals who have spent their lives helping people like you. You may of course consider them your enemy but then at some point all wars have been resolved by the brave who dare to call a halt and sit down with their foes. Are you brave enough or will you spend the rest of your life trapped within a truth you cannot confront?

Yours sincerely

Lordship]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,72446,72672#msg-72672 Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:34:45 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,18452,72548#msg-72548 GratefulRage
AA expects you to believe that a person you just met, your 'sponsor' has been sober for many years, and knows better than you what you should think, feel, and do.

AA allows no changes to it's literature and program. They are frozen for all time, unchanging.

AA teaches that all alcoholics are the same and must do the same exact steps to get a temporary reprieve.

Still, AA as a cult is very week, disorganized and ineffective at truly brainwashing people. It may damage your self esteem and confidence, but it has failed to control the actions of the vast majority of people who've attended meetings over the last 70 years.

In my experience, it's really only dangerous to a few vulnerable people. After all, the disrespect, ridicule and hostility you get from AA members isn't any worse than what an out of control drinker gets from bartenders, customers, friends, family and police. I view my experience of AA in comparison to the disgusting things I was doing before I went in. I'm lucky none of the men I picked up at bars seriously hurt or killed me. Or gave me AIDS or another disease, since I let them do what they wanted, and never insisted on using a condom.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,18452,72548#msg-72548 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:39:57 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,72446,72446#msg-72446 Lordship
Yesterday (1st june2009) Derek Gale the psychotherapy cult leader from Loughton, Essex England, who has featured on several strands of the Rick Ross message boards, was finally struck off from the Arts Therapist register of the Health Professions Council (HPC).

This was an important moment for cult watchers in the UK and the whole psychotherapy industry which remains unregulated over here. Mr Gale can no longer use the title arts or drama therapist but he can still call himself a psychotherapist or counsellor or anything else he fancies and carry on trading and abusing.

The full allegations against Mr Gale and the 23 page outcome can be found here at the HPC website.

It would be very easy to reiterate here the 73 allegations of sexual and physical abuse, the psychological agony he puts his clients through and his disregard for the law in his criminal use of illegal drugs and his encouragement of his clients to (ab)use them too. But that area was well covered by the thousands of pages of evidence, videos, photographs and live submissions considered by the independent panel of three who sat in judgement over 18 days from March 2009. Prior to this final hearing Mr Gale had also been the subject of a five suspension hearings since June 2007 including one in the High Court of England and Wales.

Our concern here is to offer a slightly different perspective on the Gale case and maybe shed some light that may help not only Mr Gale’s current clients but also Mr Gale himself and other victims and cult leaders in similar situations. The key phrase that leapt from the hearing conclusion has to be; (Mr Gale has) “an ambiguous relationship to the truth”. Many will have taken this to mean that he is a liar or even a compulsive liar but on reflection we feel it says something much deeper and more informing about who Mr Gale really is.

Throughout these hearings Mr Gale has taken the brave step of defending himself, even courageously taking the stand twice to give evidence under oath in his own defence. Anyone with an academic or legal interest in studying this case may approach the HPC direct and request copies of the transcripts etc. You may find them as fascination reading as we did.

Featured on the 7 o’clock news last night was the archetypal image of a man on the run. Mr Gale rushing out of the hearings in Stockwell south London and diving into a waiting mini cab with his baseball cap pulled down over his eyes. His girlfriend and companion throughout following hot on his heels, diving in behind him and .heading away into the distance, well a traffic jam on the Kennington Park Road anyway. This was like a scene straight out of Mr Gale’s own unpublished novel in which Mr Gale depicts himself as a fictional therapist on the run from the regulatory authorities (in that case the UKCP) after being reported by a former client for indulging in a torrid sexual affair. Mr Gale concludes the novel by having his therapist abandon his clients after realising he doesn’t actually care for them and heading off to live with a dusky maiden in Mexico. That untitled book, which is an incredible piece of work that runs to over 230 pages, gives a real insight into the psyche of a lonely man who turns to client abuse out of a combination of ego, unrequited lust and diminished responsibility. As a publisher of vanity tomes generally on therapy Mr Gale has the skills and contacts to put this book out there into the public domain so that we may all have a better understanding of how his own life informs his work. It’s a loss to literature and a broader understanding of therapy issues that he has so far declined to do so. We were very surprised to discover that when given an opportunity by one of the complainants to promote his novelist credentials Mr Gale let modesty get the better of him and declined to confirm that the opus even existed despite the HPC having been furnished with a copy months ago. Mr Gale should be admired for his reticence to blow his own trumpet or is it just yet another clever move to build up expectation and keep the world waiting?

There was apparently stunned silence in the hearing room as the video Mr Gale had produced to introduce himself to the hearing panel was played. This was a specially created production that depicted what he claimed was a staged piece of psychodrama, insiders reported that it looked far too real to have been staged and in fact Mr Gale confirmed that those taking part were not indeed actors but his real clients, one was even identified as his girlfriend who was assisting him with the hearings. The insiders concur that what transpired was a deeply emotional and cathartic event for the participants based around the returning of faulty goods to a shop. Although the panel’s expert on drama therapy, Mr Peter Holloway, later identified some flaws in Mr Gale’s technique and seemed to criticise his basic understandings of psychodrama the insiders who were there were very moved by Mr Gale’s ability to create a deep seated (and expensive for the client) therapy experience out of such a mundane occurrence.

Mr Gale is also to be highly commended for his very brave decision to focus a large part of his introductory video on his own ability to sing. Since Mr Gale promotes himself has a voice coach and an expert specialist in the Wohlfson method of voice as therapy tool it could have been disastrous for him if indeed the panel had decided to play Simon Cowell and make a decision on Mr Gale’s X Factor. Unlike Mr Gale we are not experts but former friends of Mr Gale have informed us that he has a repertoire of only three songs which is quite surprising considering how long he has been teaching voice for. Well he treated the panel to Some Enchanted Evening and Love Me Tender accompanied by a single finger playing pianist. Well let’s be honest, Mr Gale could probably do a very good impression of a deluded X Factor contestant who, when told he sounds like a very bad pub singer at a drunk Karaoke, storms up to Simon Cowell points his finger and tells him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

At the very first hearing back in June 2007 Mr Gale made a little slip that he may have thought had gone unnoticed. He disclosed that had he not chosen to set himself up as a psychotherapist he could have easily followed in his father’s footsteps and become a leading solicitor. In fact he was so confident of his own legal acumen that he assured the suspension panel that he could have indeed completed his law training within two years instead of the more usual five and become a better solicitor than his father. Is it not strange given this undoubted self belief in his ability to absorb legal protocols that while representing himself Mr Gale played the idiot savant seeking sympathy from the panel at every opportunity? Indeed consistently and repeatedly stating the obvious that he was indeed not a lawyer. What was he hiding behind this rather ham fisted approach at appearing to be naive while indeed considering himself to be the equal if not better than Michael Caplan QC who represented the HPC? Was it really just a ruse to pose as an “amateur legal team” with his girlfriend when what was really happening was that a great but un credited legal mind was at work?

Was Mr Gale showing his capacity for glib racism and domestically abusive behaviour really a sophisticated mask to add a veneer of credibility with the panel? Did he perceive within the panel of a JP specialising in family law cases, a research investigator and a highly regarded drama therapist an undetected streak of Sunday Sport machismo? After all Mr Gale has often claimed to know his clients better than they know themselves so he may well have believed he knew the panels’ inner psyche better than they did too.

At a previous hearing Mr Gale had drawn on his own Jewish heritage as an indication that although he was not orthodox he still believed that the Jewish faith forbade him from lying. Almost like he was offering a conspiratorial wink to the panel he subsequently challenged the personal faith of a witness who had sworn the oath on the bible and proffered racist jokes about Israelis and racist derogatory remarks about a witness of Irish descent. Rather like the pub bore you know you should tell to shut up he then drew his girlfriend into his conspiracy of domestic abuse by first refusing to allow her to be named and then when this was challenged by refusing to allow her to announce her own name and role at each formal introduction of a new witness. He certainly gave the panel a metaphorical slap on the back when he showed them he knew how to keep an uppity woman down.

There was a certain charming bonhomie to Mr Gale’s avuncular garden gnome demeanour as he addressed the legal assessor by his first name and even kind heartedly offered him advice on law books to consult. But was the chair of the panel really within his rights to call Mr Gale “controlling”? Had he not merely misunderstood Mr Gale’s helping hand as he took each new witness through the introduction of who was who at the hearing and what the procedures would be, this was surely Mr Gale just slipping and showing his well hidden legal expertise, you see he too could be a judge or magistrate if he wanted to be and be more than the Chairman’s equal. When Mr Gale invited to dinner the drama therapist panellist how could this have been construed as anything other than a meeting of minds?

We will now tease you dear readers with the tempting thought that our next post may well concern Mr Gale’s sexual preferences and habits. But it's up to you to let us know if you really want more.

TTFN

Lordship]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,72446,72446#msg-72446 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:24:46 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,20372,72425#msg-72425 ian_t_j The highlights come at the end in the lead-up to the overall decisions):

"The behaviour that has been found to constitute misconduct is various, wide-ranging and happened over a long period of time. Some of it was of a very serious and fundamental nature. It follows that the seriousness of the behaviour dictates a sanction is required and that a caution order would be an inadequate response. It is not appropriate to have conditions of practice to require a person to perform in accordance with the standards that the ordinary standards of registration require. It follows that the choice is between suspension and striking-off.
In order to explain the Panel’s decision it is necessary for the Panel to be clear about its assessment of Mr Gale. The Panel has already stated that it finds Mr Gale’s attitude to be cavalier, and this is so not only in relation to his clients, but also in relation to the justifications for his practice and in his ambiguous relationship with the truth. That this is so is demonstrated by a number of instances disclosed by the evidence. One relates to particular 1(b)(ii) – the disclosure of JB’s self-harming. Having persistently denied this allegation Mr Gale then admitted it. He said that he did not recall it but accepted the word of another person who had been present on the occasion. Whether Mr Gale did not in fact remember it (which would be extraordinary given his claimed good memory and the gravity of the disclosure) but did not recall it or he did in fact remember it and chose not to disclose until a late stage is immaterial. Either explanation reflects badly on him. Another example, is of course, his incredible evidence relating to the use of cannabis. Also, Mr Gale told the Panel that he had supervision in relation to all aspects of his practice. He claimed that his lone motorcycling trip with PC was therapeutic exercise, but it was clear from the evidence of his supervisor that he had no knowledge of that trip. His supervisor expressed great surprise and concern when he learned of it when giving evidence. These are merely examples of many. The Panel notes also that Mr Gale appeared just as affronted by GD’s contention that he could not sing well as he was by the very serious allegations relating to his clinical practice and his use of cannabis. The view of the Panel is that Mr Gale is capable of being evasive when he perceives an advantage in being so.
62. A suspension order could only be justified if the Panel could find that there is a realistic prospect that repetition would not occur. For the reasons set out above the Panel is not able to find that there is any such prospect. Mr Gale’s casual neglect of the HPC’s standards does not inspire confidence in the Panel that he would in the future comply with them either in spirit or in principle. The consequence is that a striking-off order is required. This is a decision arrived at not only by a process of elimination. Striking-off is also a necessary and proportionate response to the allegations because of the need to protect particularly vulnerable clients who might consult Mr Gale, and in order to ensure that the public can maintain the level of confidence it is entitled to hold in both the registered profession and the HPC’s regulatory process."

The result was that he was struck off by the HPC.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,20372,72425#msg-72425 Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:08:50 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,20372,71659#msg-71659 Lordship
These hearings are open to the public and anyone can attend simply by contacting the council and requesting a visitors pass.

http://www.hpc-uk.org

Although the schedule has been delayed due to the unfortunate illness of a hearing panel member they are due to resume on 21st May 2009. However of far more interest to the cult watching commuinty may be the summing up of the HPC case and Mr Gale's response which is due to be heard on 26th May 2009. The outcome of the hearings is scheduled to be announced on 1st June 2009.

For anyone interested in cults and cult leaders this is an ideal opportunity, rare in the UK, to come to a legally defined and regulated hearing to make up your own minds as to whether you consider Mr Gale to be a world renowned and revolutionary therapist working at the cutting edge of the human psyche as he has claimed or a charlatan who abuses his position of trust to exploit and abuse his clients.

The hearings start at 10am and would make an ideal day out for anyone visiting London.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,20372,71659#msg-71659 Thu, 07 May 2009 20:43:06 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,8433,71656#msg-71656 Lordship Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,8433,71656#msg-71656 Thu, 07 May 2009 20:27:34 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,71016,71016#msg-71016 John Fox
Just so you aren't caught out .... Yahoo is [url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/163765/so_long_geocities_we_forgot_you_still_existed.html]pulling the plug on GeoCities[/url].

For those of more recent times, 15 years ago GeoCities became for web sites what YouTube is for video. And just the same ... in there somewhere is some truly good content. Which is about to disappear. Along wih the last of the "blink" tags. [i](geek joke there)[/i]

So ... how many of you know about a good cult resource site (or even a mediocre one) on a GeoCities site? Add it to this list and I'll do my darnedest to grab a copy before the big switch-off.

John Fox]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,71016,71016#msg-71016 Sun, 26 Apr 2009 06:51:33 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,51220,68115#msg-68115 watchmun Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,51220,68115#msg-68115 Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:25:36 +0200 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,30232,66641#msg-66641 Hope
Thanks for telling your story here.

Hope]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,30232,66641#msg-66641 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:00:38 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,30232,66630#msg-66630 avery
I remember I started working at the school in a period where they were in between classes. I was assigned a therapist as all the staff there was in therapy. I only went to one or two of these sessions. I remember the therapist almost pressuring me in to identifying some issue that I had. I think I made up something about having an issue with my father (which was/is total BS).

Looking back, I think the school was trying to make its staff feel like they needed to be there for their mental well being. It seems like they tried to create friction between me and my family in order to somehow keep me more endebted to the school and to cut off/limit my contact with the outside world.

This is the same way the school dealt with students and their parents. I found this to be one of the cruelest practices of this place. The students needed their parents love and support more than ever before, yet they were completely isolated from their parents and made to feel like the only way they could survive was to confirm and become completely dependent on the school for their emotional support.

I also remember going to group therapy sessions with the teachers. Many of the teachers were in twelve step programs. I was told I couldn't smoke, and that I shouldn't drink. I felt that all my personal space and life choices were slowly being infringed upon. It was a pretty scary place.

I will never forget the fear on the faces of the newer students. It was a terrifying place to be sent. I was lucky that I could leave. I told the staff that I was leaving in one of those group therapy sessions. Some people started to cry, others were very angry with me. I remember crying as well in that session because I was made to feel like I let everyone down and that I lied to them. I was told that I needed DeSisto School at that point in my life. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Remember, I was only at the school for about a month. Crazy.

Like I said before, my Dad came and literally tore me away from that place. I remember speeding off with him like we were escaping from an insane asylum. I guess in a way, we were. I still feel guilty for leaving the students and not being able to stay there and help them cope with that place.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,30232,66630#msg-66630 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:39:31 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,30232,66611#msg-66611 Hope
What kind of training or agenda did DeSisto provide you with? I'm wondering if their curricula fit the typical LGAT one.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,30232,66611#msg-66611 Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:22:48 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,30232,66604#msg-66604 avery
Although I only worked there for a short time, I often think about the school and especially the students. I feel guilty for not being strong enough to stand up and help the kids back then. I sincerely hope that any former student of DeSisto that is struggling finds peace and is able to leave the memories of that place in the past. Do not allow the school to have power over you now. You are safe and free to make your choices in life, just as I made the choice to leave way back then. There's no need to run away anymore, just simply leave it in the past and move on. I do not wish to belittle the abuse that you endured at the school. And, I know that it is easier said then done, but that is my sincere hope for you. Please take care of yourselves.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,30232,66604#msg-66604 Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:59:25 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,30232,66220#msg-66220 MidnightSoul I really despise how that place/man-(michael desisto) had the capability to ruin individuals and families alike.]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,30232,66220#msg-66220 Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:33:39 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,18452,64842#msg-64842 jerseybarb85
The program of AA mostly deals with the issues and needs of the alcoholics that seem to be suffering from personallity and charater disorders. I should point out, that I am not a mental health professional, just an informed layperson that has had a lot of contact with the mental health profession. (I am diagnosed as having schizo-affective disorder) AA does not deal much with the issues of the mentally ill alcoholic, which I like to call "self-medicators".

When I got sober, I ran across a lot of the "sickos" who prey on the newcomer in AA. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it taught me that I should be wary. There are a lot of borderline socipaths in the program, and like I said above, AA mostly deals with their issues and needs. I was lucky to find women that took me under their wing and gave me love until I could love myself. There was very little of the guilt games and shame games that some in this thread have encoundered.

Overall, even though there are some bad feelings I have about AA, it did save my life and it did help me quite a bit]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,18452,64842#msg-64842 Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:52:14 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,41862,64551#msg-64551 chipwrex Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,41862,64551#msg-64551 Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:08:25 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,50602,63948#msg-63948 Keir Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,50602,63948#msg-63948 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:09:31 +0100 http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,63705,63705#msg-63705 mrnhghts
[url=http://www.jewcy.com/post/orthodox_union_and_ncsy_offer_award_named_serial_abuser%E2%80%99s_enabler]Story at [i]Jewcy[/i][/url]:]]> Clergy and Therapy Abuse http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?8,63705,63705#msg-63705 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 06:57:40 +0100