UPDATE 6
7 June 2024
Dear Supporter,
Welcome to Save Mental Health’s Update 6. In the run up to the General Election on 4th July, what do Labour and the Conservatives have to say about mental health services? Our ‘cover story’ on the website, courtesy of Critical Therapy Antidote, is an insider’s account of an ideologically captured training institution and what now passes for psychotherapy. What implications does this have for patients? On 13th June Peter Jenkins of Thoughtful Therapists and Dwight Panozzo of Therapy First are jointly presenting an online seminar about exploratory therapy. Helen Pluckrose’s long-awaited book The Counterweight Handbook has finally been published and if you don’t already know about Men in Sheds, read about this excellent movement in our Recommendations section.
Mental health ambulances v overhauling approach to mental health
A summer election is on its way and of the two main parties, it looks as though Labour has the more ambitious plan for mental health services. Keir Starmer has pledged to ‘inject resource and reform’ into mental health services and to ‘overhaul’ the way mental health is approached. This includes a Child Health Action Plan which means: “cutting waiting lists for mental health services by recruiting thousands more staff; introducing specialist mental health support for children and young people in every school; and delivering an open access children and young people’s mental health hub for every community.” Labour has also pledgedto take action to reduce rates of suicide.
In contrast the Conservatives, in their 2023 mandate to NHS England, promised to ‘roll out specialist mental health ambulances’ and to ensure that mental health support is ‘universally accessible’ through NHS111.’ They also vowed to improve access to mental health support.
The BMA reports that in 2023 the waiting list for mental health treatment stood at 1.2 million with the demand for Child & Adolescent Mental Healthcare Services (CAMHS) increasing exponentially. While demands for services are rising, the workforce is not expanding sufficiently to meet the needs of people with mental health difficulties. Reform is urgently needed.
What do you think about Labour’s plan to put specialist mental health support in every school? Is this a good idea? Would it help to alleviate the pressure on CAMHS? On the other hand, what message does it send to children and young people about their mental health? It’s worth reading Abigail Shrier’s book Bad Therapy on this subject. She argues that mental health experts and therapeutic approaches are harming rather than helping children. There is also the question of what kind of ‘therapy’ will be provided in schools. In the US there is evidence that school counsellors see their role as eliminating racism and bias in schools. Here in the UK, as can be seen in our next story, clinical psychologists and psychotherapists are also being trained in politically ideological approaches. Perhaps it’s advisable to be careful what you wish for…
An insider’s experience of an ideologically captured training institution
Our current ‘front page’ story on the Save Mental Health website is written anonymously by a psychotherapist in training at the Institute of Group Analysis (IGA) in London. We are grateful to the author and to Critical Therapy Antidote for giving us permission to reproduce it on our website.
It is a troubling account of what now passes for psychotherapy. The account starts “Another day, another invite to an intersectionality workshop” and goes on to describe the “process of destruction” that is taking place at this training institution in the name of Diversity. This includes pathologizing students who don’t accept the tenets of Critical Race Theory and suggesting that white students should be able to feel the white supremacy within them. As the author points out: “If you don’t feel the truth of CRT there is something wrong with you. You are diseased by your privilege.” For this trainee, the whole experience of training “has been something akin to what I imagine being inducted into a cult might feel like”.
These observations will resonate with the many psychotherapists and psychologists in training who have reported very similar experiences to us about their training courses. Trainees who dare to challenge, or simply raise reasonable questions, about what they are being taught, may face sanctions and, at the very least, are likely to be shamed into silence, often on the basis of their skin colour or sex. White male trainees seem to be at particular risk of bad treatment.
This is not what you might expect from institutions in the business of therapy and compassion. It also has implications for patients. In this troubling article, Andrew Hartz of the Open Therapy Institute in New York explains that “too many therapists have become DEI-style activists, eager to accuse their clients of racism and sexism” and that “Many believe that politicizing therapy sessions is a moral imperative”. His colleague at the Open Therapy Institute, Dr Camilo Ortez, reports on X: “Another email from a client who was dumped by their therapist because of the client’s political views. If you do this, you have no business being a therapist. Find another field where you don’t ask people to open up to you only to punish them. Unethical and outrageous.”
This is a major concern of ours at Save Mental Health, yet no-one in authority seems prepared to do anything about it. Perhaps stories such as those provided by our ‘insider’ psychotherapist may begin to turn the tide. Do please send us your own stories, and let us know if we can publish them, either with your name or anonymously.
Holding the Space for Exploratory Work in Therapy
For those following the Cass Review, and arguments about ‘conversion therapy’ versus ‘exploratory therapy’ this online webinar may be of interest. Dwight Panozzo of Therapy First and Peter Jenkins of Thoughtful Therapists will discuss how therapists working with clients who experience gender distress can practice successfully in a challenging professional climate. They will do this by highlighting some of the main findings of their recent research paper.
The reason this webinar (and its associated research paper) is important, is that therapists using an ‘exploratory’ approach, are at risk of attack from trans activists. For example, see this video recording of a therapy session, posted by a client who accuses their therapist of practising ‘gender conversion therapy’ when, in fact, he is using an exploratory approach. Peter Jenkins has analysed the content of that video for Critical Therapy Antidote and explained why exploratory therapy is mainstream therapy and not conversion therapy.
This webinar promises to sound a note of optimism for psychologists and psychotherapists who are concerned about using ‘exploratory therapy’ in their work with gender questioning patients. Book your tickets here.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Men in Sheds
This is a movement that was designed to bring together men who are lonely or isolated and give them a sense of purpose as well as company. At Men in Sheds you can practice skills, do woodwork or metalwork, repair or restore household items and even build a car! Although the Sheds tend to attract older men, they may also attract younger members and women. Men account for 75% of all suicides in the UK and one of the risk factors for suicide is social isolation. Joining a Shed may not only help reduce that isolation but also help reduce anxiety. You can find your nearest Shed here.
The Counterweight Handbook
This excellent book by Helen Pluckrose, co-author with James Lindsay of ‘Cynical Theories’, comes highly recommended. It provides ‘Principles Strategies for Surviving and Defeating Critical Social Justice Ideology – at work, in Schools and Beyond’. The book is based on Helen’s experiences of both studying this ideology and running the organisation Counterweight. It contains a wealth of advice for people confronting problems with EDI and explains how to deal with these in an ethical and effective way. It’s hard to resist bookmarking every page for future reference!