The Ideological Capture of Psychotherapy: A Case Study
What happened when I was asked to give a talk to a group of therapists
James Esses was in his 3rd year of a masters in psychotherapy in the UK when he petitioned the government to safeguard exploratory therapy—which examines gender dysphoria rather than reflexively affirming a trans identity—from a proposed conversion therapy ban. He’d already been reported to his program for penning an article in Quillette, critical of medicalizing trans-identified children. Despite the fact that he’d just been approved for private practice, he was expelled from the program. He’s now suing. I interviewed him for the Free Press piece but it was removed for space reasons. I share his writing here. -
The world of psychotherapy, a vocation that should be grounded in active listening, exploration and critical thinking, has been infiltrated by ideology.
I know this only too well. Just over 2 years ago, I was expelled from my Masters’ degree in psychotherapy, after raising my concerns about the impact of gender ideology on the mental health profession; s…
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