Living In Michigan, No Therapist Please Help!

[Eleanor]

This thread certainly has taken a strange turn!

The point, if I recall, was that sharky is reluctant to try out any of the T's in Big Rapids, because she believes them to be generally evangelical in their Christianity and to force it on their patients. It is possible, that this is true. It is also kind of unlikely, if only for the reason that people who become therapists are a kind of odd bunch and not very much given to any kind of uniformity - good or bad. Die hard conformists don't generally become therapists in the first place. Some do. But probably not so many.

Hare Krishna is a Hindu movement that got started in the US in the 1960's. During that time the movement in the states was under the control of a particular guru (can't recall his name) and the organization tended toward the cultic (in the mind control sense) and there was a famous case that went to the supreme court where a family sued for kidnapping? wrongful imprisonment? something like that and won. The organization, however is still around, and has cleaned up its act significantly since the death of the original guru in the late 70's. There were some child abuse cases in the 80's I think - don't know how they resolved, but these are the sorts of things that people associate with Hare Krishna.

Your experience (and your mother's) with them seems to be pretty nice. And the ones I've met on a farm in western MA were nice enough folks too, as far as that goes. The larger point, and the thing I think people here are reacting to, is that what you've written (and that's all we have to go on) seems to indicate that you are making judgments of character and trustworthiness on some pretty unreliable criteria. And we care because it seems like it is making it harder for you to get treatment for your PTSD. Have you seen the new T yet?

For example:
"I know our WISE center, it's in an alley across from a liquor store. It's a small piece of crap honestly. And the women that live there... Well... I know one who LIED about anything happening to her just so she could have a free place to live."

Just because it is housed in a low rent (and no matter HOW small the town is, economics matters - I know, my family is from a town of 5,000. Believe me there are good and bad areas, high and low rent commercial space.) building doesn't necessarily reflect on the expertise or goodness of the services provided. Just because they've been scammed by a friend of yours... well, either they are being scammed, or she is not telling you the truth to save face. Which is likelier? If you haven't actually had contact with them, you have the evidence of a self-confessed con artist that you are basing your judgment on. Not the most reliable witness I'd say.

"She's a Hardy-Christna (I might have spelled that wrong) and did not want her son seeing someone who talked about Christianity. But she couldn't find a single therapist that did not bring up religion at some point to her son."

Not surprising when you know the rest of the story about Hare Krishna in the US. And maybe his problems ARE with her religion. Not all boys in Michigan want to be sexually abstinent and avoid meat you know. She might not have/be giving you the full story either.

"if countless people have told me that they didn't find anyone good in my town, and that they all imposed religion then there has to be some truth there. "

Countless? How many actually? 5? 25? 50? And maybe or maybe not. Different people's perception of what is "imposing" religion can be VERY different. Just read around here...

"It's a cult because they live in a gated community." You said that, no one here did.

"There is literally nothing to base why they are registered in the FBI as being a cult, besides that they are a religion and practice their religion behind the closed doors of a gated community. "

Historically, there is a pretty darned good reason, as they DID practice mind control for some time in the 60's and 70's. You are clearly unaware of this history. Whether that is still a concern is a different issue. Just because the FBI keeps track of a group doesn't make it good OR bad. The FBI keeping track of the Mob doesn't make them good, the FBI keeping track of civil rights organizations doesn't make them bad. Again, it is irrelevant.

" I mean, come on, they're vegetarians. You can't really say a vegetarian is an evil person. "

Well... Hitler was a vegetarian. He was also very into animal rights. And yet....

Given the similarities between cults and individual abusers it is probably worth taking a look at the six conditions for thought reform that characterizes "cults" that Margaret Singer identifies. It can be found here:
http://www.csj.org/studyindex/studymindctr/study_mindctr_singer.htm

Cognitive distortions are one of the symptoms of PTSD that have to be dealt with if one is to effectively treat the PTSD - lots of people here struggle with them. So tend to be quite aware of them when they see them. They also know how important it is to challenge them, in the service of healing the PTSD.

Wishing you peace and healing.

 

[sharky]

First off, as far as the WISE thing goes. I'm sick of arguing this. I'm entitled to my own opinion and you people keep picking up on the wrong points I'm trying to make, when I've made small mistakes in what I posted. Also, you do not live here, you do not know what the situation here is. You cannot pass any judgment on the town I live in. And no, there are no area specific low-income places. Here, there is a mansion for sale for 1.5 million dollars, and right across the street there are low income apartments for people going to the college here. Everything is mixed together. I lived in a middle-class two story house, and right down the street someone got busted for selling/making some kind of drug out of their house. I'm pretty sure the building was condemned. But overall, my neighborhood is a really good place to live. There is only one area I can think of that's low income and only low income. And that's these apartment buildings in town, except they are at the end of the road they're on and they have their own little area. Other than that, it varies. There could be a condemned house, or near-condemned, right next to a house that I'd say was at least middle-class if not high-middle class. As far as that goes, my community is extremely mixed.

Not surprising when you know the rest of the story about Hare Krishna in the US. And maybe his problems ARE with her religion. Not all boys in Michigan want to be sexually abstinent and avoid meat you know. She might not have/be giving you the full story either.

He was eight years old at the time. He didn't need to be doing anything sexual. Also, he had nothing against not eating meat. I'm pretty sure his mom let him eat chicken and turkey. You people keep making judgments on things that YOU don't know what-so-ever. Also, the mother wasn't sexually abstinent. She also smoked cigarettes. So she didn't follow the exact lines of their beliefs, but overall she considered herself to be a part of their religion.

Sure. Maybe things have happened in the eighties and earlier. Or in specific places. There are also cases of children being molested by their pastors. My biological grandfather was a priest and slept with a lot of women of the church. Does that make all churches bad? No. But from everything my mothers friend experienced and how she gets really excited to tell you how much she loves them and how she loved living on the commune and it was a great spiritual experience for her... I'd have to be inclined to believe her. Her sons problems, as I've said before, had absolutely nothing to do with religion at all. He couldn't concentrate in school because he was so hyper. I know this is a FACT because I use to babysit him a lot. He had extreme difficulty when it came to relaxing.

And as far as cognitive distortion goes, I'm not the one with the problem. I do when it comes to my friends, but when it comes to political things, I know what I'm talking about, and I'm actually very far from having either cognitive distortion or cognitive dissonance(which people in general have a problem with, most people have no idea what's actually going on in the world). Sure, maybe I didn't care too much about things happening in their religion in the eighties. But I also didn't make any points about child molestation and the Christian church until now, did I? I don't think the points you make speak for them as a whole. There are always people that are bad, in every culture or religion. That doesn't make them, as a whole, bad. I'm pretty sure you were trying to make that point yourself as far as the FBI goes, which in itself was a weird thing for you to attack. Or rather, you made weird points that I wasn't arguing to begin with. You people keep passing judgments on me that are unfounded, and it's funny when you tell me not to pass judgment on others. But apparently I'm supposed to make bad judgments of the Hare Krishna community?

But either way, I'm sick of arguing this ridiculousness. I think we'll all have to agree to disagree. Someone decided to come on here and attack something I said, and then another person came along and decided to attack something else minor I said that really had absolutely nothing to do with anything(as far as the Hare Krishna thing goes). You're right about that, it did take a weird turn. I felt inclined to defend myself when people started attacking me, so I did. So I hope no one makes the mistake of thinking I started all of this. I didn't. These arguments over WISE and especially Hare Krishna, are absolutely stupid and irrelevant. I didn't come on here asking, "Hey, what do you guys think of Hare Krishna? Will you argue with me about this?" No, I don't recall every saying that. I don't come to a PTSD forum to argue over a religion that I'm not even a part of, and neither are you or Noah. Practice what you all preach, and don't pass judgments. You keep telling me to do that, but it's looking like you guys don't follow your own imposing advice. It's like I killed someone by saying I didn't want to go to the WISE center here. I have my reasons, and I'm at the point in the argument where I'm done hearing you all attack the same thing repeatedly. I'm done here. If I have to further defend myself, I will. I'd just rather not, because it's absolutely stupid.

 

[Devin Raymond]

Sharky get a Medical Marijuana card.

 

[sharky]

I wish. But I can't here. You need to have a medical condition that causes serious physical pain. Or a serious illness like glaucoma or cancer. Anything mental is a no-go here. :/ Kind of sucks.