This one after a police standoff

https://www.abc4.com/news/local-news/former-therapist-accused-of-sexual-abuse-arrested-after-standoff-in-utah-county/

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/11/08/utah-therapist-arrested-allegedly/

"Owen was arrested on allegations connected to two former patients, both who say Owen engaged in sexual contact with them during therapy sessions. That alleged touching included kissing, cuddling and Owen using his hand to touch their anuses. One man also alleges Owen performed oral sex on him.

Owen built a reputation over his 20-year career in Utah County as a specialist who could help gay men who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Several of the men who spoke to The Tribune said they began therapy with Owen at the recommendation of their bishop as they struggled with their sexuality. Some said their bishop used church funds to pay for sessions where Owen allegedly also touched them inappropriately."

"Both state licensers and the local leaders in the LDS Church knew of inappropriate touching allegations against Owen as early as 2016, Tribune/ProPublica reporting showed, but neither would say whether they ever reported Owen to police."

The last part doesn't surprise me in the least.

  
  

Ugh... disgusting. That man delivered even more trauma to people who needed help. He needs to go away for a long time.

I'm just curious as to what type of support do these pro-church counselors provide.

Do they say things like "You know James, you will always be less than an obedient son of God so long as you feel attraction towards other men. Are you aware that God the father doesn't make mistakes?"

Is it all about gaslighting and telling those who are attracted to the same sex that they are wrong for feeling that way?

...that counseling is the preferred method of change over shock (electrocution) therapy.

Not that I want to start blaming the victims, but how does this happen without the patient thinking that there's something very wrong going on?

summer Wrote:
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> Not that I want to start blaming the victims, but
> how does this happen without the patient thinking
> that there's something very wrong going on?

summer, I think in some instances the patient/client doesn't know what to do. They may even have formed an emotional attachment to the therapist and that complicates the issues even more. There is also the element of a person feeling embarrassed or ashamed or indecisive about what has occurred which can tend to paralyze them in terms of deciding how to address it. Perhaps the person views the person in the therapy role as a superior or as holding special knowledge. And who knows what the therapist is telling the patient/client to get them to submit or participate or at least to keep the incident/s to themselves, which is why so many inappropriate encounters go unreported.

There is also the extra complication if it's a clergy/penitent situation as one's emotions can get all tangled up for various reasons and again the result can be ongoing abuse and/or a cover-up.

It's complicated is the bottom line.

I think that is much of the problem.

From the original article in the SLTrib series


https://local.sltrib.com/utah-therapist-built-reputation-for-helping-gay-latter-day-saints-they-say-he-sexually-abused-them/

"Andrew did feel uncomfortable. But he remembered Owen seemed genuine and truthful in their therapy sessions — even “Christ-like” in his caring.

Growing up in the Latter-day Saint faith, Andrew was taught to trust men in positions of authority. There was also the expectation to talk with his bishop about deeply personal sexual details during one-on-one interviews. These annual closed-door discussions generally start when members become teenagers and typically explore whether they are following the faith’s rules; they have been criticized by some parents and therapists as being “inappropriate” and “intrusive.”

"So Andrew kept going to therapy, even as he said Owen began touching him more, at times rubbing his back or his bottom during hugs. Owen encouraged him to undress during some therapy sessions, Andrew said, which evolved into what he describes as “makeout sessions.” Looking back now, it’s clear to Andrew that this was inappropriate — but in the moment, he felt desperate and confused.

Andrew reasoned with himself that he was not physically attracted to Owen when they touched, which would be similar if he married a woman. Maybe it was a way for him to learn how to express romantic feelings he didn’t have or to fake it until those feelings came.

“I couldn’t accept that I was being taken advantage of,” Andrew said. “That’s a hard thing to be like, ‘Oh, I’ve been sexually abused this whole time.’”

“This was supposed to be my miracle,” he added."

It's an appalling widespread reality. I don't know what the answer is.

The following excerpts from articles discuss qualified therapists and this issue. Words fail me regarding the positions the church appoints lay members to where the same types of harms are done to vulnerable people via the untrained members assigned by the church to positions they are entirely unqualified and unsuited to hold.


https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/ethical-considerations-when-a-client-crosses-sexual-boundaries-my-experience-as-a-student-therapist/

Excerpt:

“Sexual intimacies between mental health professionals and their clients are considered one of the most immoral acts within the profession. They not only violate the law, but also the principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, and autonomy in the American Psychological Association Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct [Ethics Code] (APA, 2010), as well as multiple ethical standards within the Code. More importantly, such acts can cause significant damage to the client’s mental health, emotional health, and general well-being.”



The following article is from 1993 (sorry) but the principles definitely still hold true.

Psychotherapists' Sexual Relationships with Their Patients
Clifton Perry & Joan Wallman Kuruc

Excerpts:

Since 1980, reports of sexual contact between psychotherapists and their patients have increased dramatically; sexual contact is currently the second leading cause of professional malpractice litigation among psychiatrists. Patient-psychotherapist sexual intimacy is the leading cause of malpractice claims against psychologists, constituting the largest single category of cases that have been reported to the American Psychological Association Ethics Committee. Between 1976 and 1986, nearly forty-five per cent of all malpractice insurance claims paid on behalf of psychologists resulted from psychotherapist-patient sexual contact. Similarly, a 1985 survey showed that sexual contact with clients was the leading cause of claims against social workers.


Complaints of sexual exploitation have been made against marriage and family therapists, drug and alcohol abuse counselors, and members of the clergy. Ethical proscriptions against sexual contact between healthcare providers and patients have existed for centuries. The Hippocratic Oath, dating from the fourth century B.C., states:

In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction, and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men.


Early in this century, Sigmund Freud firmly based existing ethical proscriptions on the newly emerging scientific principles of psychotherapy. Freud warned against eroticizing a therapeutic relationship because the goal of therapy is to get the patient in touch with reality, not to permit the patient to be "distracted by the fantasy of a non-existent love relationship with the therapist" nor subjected to the "ultimate despair stemming from abandonment and betrayal." He strongly advocated that psychoanalytic treatment be carried out in abstinence because the commencement of a sexual relationship with a patient deprives the patient of the needed therapeutic relationship. Today, sexual activity between psychotherapists and their patients is universally condemned by all of the mental health professions. Modern ethical codes explicitly proscribe sexual contact with patients.


The psychological harm to patients caused by sexual intimacy with psychotherapists can be devastating. The emotional damage may persist for years. Clinicians have compared patient/psychotherapist sexual intimacy to rape, child molestation, and incest. Survivors of each of these forms of sexual abuse can share intense feelings of shame, guilt, and isolation, as well as self-blame for the sexual contact, and may be at an increased risk of suicide.

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I am always touched by the Hippocratic Oath. It’s a tragedy that so many clinicians through the years have violated it in ways that are exceptionally harmful to their trusting patients who are in need of therapeutic care.


Link to 2nd article above (NB: It’s a PDF) (sorry, it’s from 1993 but the info still applies) - NB: It's a PDF:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjkiOub2LeCAxWjOH0KHXi-AtoQFnoECBIQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Flawecommons.luc.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Freferer%3D%26httpsredir%3D1%26article%3D1356%26context%3Dannals&usg=AOvVaw0Fx0Xab0wzoqe195LUQGkh&opi=89978449



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/2023 03:17PM by Nightingale.