The Lessons of Leaving Neverland/Parallels to Our Times

Bloomerpool

I am also interested in any views or opinions you might have in the role of Ellen Lacter in the murder of an autistic child by his deluded mother?

www.rawstory.com/2016/02/activist-blames-quack-satanic-abuse-psychology-after-paranoid-mom-murders-her-autistic-son/

No hurry, whenever you have a moment

Bloomerpool

Thank you for your reply

I would love to hear your opinion on the following individuals who are significantly involved in the ISSTD

Valerie Sinason

Rachel C Thomas

Bessel van der Kolk

Colin Ross

Ellen Lacter

Bennet Braun

Phil Mollon

There are others, but these will do for now.

I would also love to know your thoughts about the allegations of psychiatric abuse at the Castlewood Treatment Centre in which vulnerable patients with eating disorders claim that they were alienated from their families and brainwashed into falsely believing that they were survivors of incest and satanic ritual abuse.

Also I am interested in learning your opinion on the use of "body psychotherapy", "energy psychotherapy" and "internal family systems" therapy in treating vulnerable people.

Looking forward to your reply

hoodathunkit

I am very interested to hear your opinion of the organisation that calls itself the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).

The ISSTD is one of a small handful of organizations that has advocated for trafficking and CSA survivors, and educates about the sequelae of trauma and treatment protocols. It is a worthy organization doing the best it can do right now, as we are still in the infancy of understanding how trauma affects people over the long term. It is made up of a broad swath of clinicians and researchers.

I'm not sure what you mean by "red flags". I've witnessed a number of cases where victims, after entering therapy, were assaulted and threatened by family/perpetrators if they didn't denounce their therapists. I've witnessed victims without adequate intimate partner and/or social support back away from their claims of abuse, and try to blame their therapists. I've witnessed far too many victims struggling to heal in bad therapeutic situations. No single case can be held out as emblematic of the work of a therapist, an organization, or an approach to CSA or trafficking or trauma as a whole. As I said in my OP, the devil's in the hidden details.

ComputerSaysMo

I'm in the US. I watched the UK conduct its historical abuse investigations in the wake of Savile, still ongoing I believe. It was, and is, a bit of a mess, and its former leader is now your PM. We are in a far worse scenario here. We have yet to have our own Savile moment. There are no authorities to whom I could officially report specifically about my own case without putting myself in danger. That doesn't mean nothing is being done, or no one in authority knows, but I hold out no hope at all, as long as power continues to operate here as it has done since I was a child.

For context

Surviving R Kelly

vimeo.com/309545329

vimeo.com/309551619

That's it isn't it, he was 'harmless'

Was he seen as harmless? In 1996 perhaps the idea of sexual abuse wasn't considered but the Wacko Jacko image was deeply ingrained by then. My son was 6 in 1996 and no way would I have let someone like Wacko Jacko anywhere near him- let alone into his bed.

I think it is difficult to determine the exact level of parental culpability in relation to events surrounding MJ

On the one hand MJ was, like so many psychopaths and predators, very charming and able to cast a spell on others.

I believe that he undoubtably groomed entire families as well as victims.

R Kelly has operated in a similar way, with hopeful parents entrusting their daughters to him to nurture their talent and progress their careers only to discover that their children were being alienated from them and emotionally controlled and sexually abused.

Whether a person is a famous entertainer or another person in a position of authority such as a priest, guru, sports coach, teacher, doctor police officer or psychiatrist, it is unremarkable for parents to place their trust in these apparently reputable people.

On the other hand witnessing the horrible activities of pushy parents in various professional arenas but especially in sports and entertainment, it is easy to see how a pushy parent's desire for fame and fortune and capacity to not see red flags that should be quite evident to anyone can place a child in danger.

I keep thinking about the antics of the Garfield family in the season 2 of Channel 4's Child Genius programme.

I felt so sorry for that poor little girl Aliyah whose parents' pushiness and bonkers regime of marathon learning sessions combined with new age quackery left many viewers concerns that Aliyah was being abused according to the Mail.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4803816/Parents-slam-Channel-4-s-controversial-quiz.html

Anyone interested in witnessing this for themselves can see Aliyah and her family here

and here

I do not wish to link to it as I consider exploitative but Aliyah's mother, Shoshana Garfield, who claims to be a psychotherapist, a genius and a survivor of multigenerational trafficking, can be found demonstrating psychotherapy techniques (in contravention of just about every known ethical code of practice in the literature) on her minor daughter.

Garfield is a psychotherapist associated with a notorious quack Phil Mollon, a man who uses “energy therapy” to recover repressed memories of sexual abuse. He is also involved in the sinister organisation the ISSTD that promotes false narratives of satanic ritual abuse. Her association with Mollon is evident here

A video that is of particular concern to me is titled "How to Help Your Children Deal with Aversions using EFT”. I am not going to link to it as i feel that Aliyah is being abused in the video. Apart from the fact that it is abusive and unethical to practice hypnosis, psychotherapy etc. (even quack therapies such as EFT) on people you know in your private life, let alone your young child, is it really helpful to teach a child how to overcome feeling of repulsion? Making a video of this abusive and unethical behaviour and uploading it to youtube makes things even worse. All this aside, it is really helpful to teach children to overcome feelings of repulsion and aversion?

It is hard to believe that someone who claims to be a survivor of CSE and multigenerational sexual abuse and sex trafficking uploads a video of her own young child in order to educate viewers on how to get children to "overcome feelings of repulsion”.

I have downloaded copies of Garfield’s videos for my records, just in case they disappear from youtube after I post this.

So, back to the MJ issue, I think there is a continuum of parental culpability with at one end, well meaning, naive parents being brainwashed by people in authority and, at the other, pushy parents who are prepared to sacrifice their children’s safety in order to pursue their dreams at the other. Most parents are somewhere likely in the middle, maybe knowing unconsciously that something is wrong but not allowing themselves to know it consciously.

My understanding of the grooming process is that by the time the perpetrator permist the parent/s to know that there is something wrong the parent feels complicit in the abuse for having trusted the abuser. The cognitive dissonance generated by these incremental disclosures can result on the parent/s just not allowing themselves to see multiple red flags.

That's it isn't it, he was 'harmless'. In the same way that transwomen now are being portrayed as 'harmless, marginalised, wouldn't hurt a fly, just want everyone to be their authentic selves' and that's why it's OK for certain adult TRAs to encourage teenagers to privately message them online, for schools to be advised that keeping secrets between pupils and staff (ie. That a child is trans) is OK, why it's OK for males to be housed in female prisons, why it's OK for males to be allowed in female spaces, why a man who is under investigation for unspeakable crimes can be a Green Party election agent and no one bat an eyelid, why TRAs can write books with stuff in it that seems to come out of Grooming 101 (alienating from parents etc), why certain people believe that children who are way below the age of sexual consent are perfectly capable of making transitioning decisions that will affect them for the rest of their life because 'children know what they want' etc etc et.

The association with LGBTQ also seems to be why an 11 year old child can simulate snorting ketamine on video, hang around with a convicted killer, dance in a gay bar in front of adults for money in the middle of the night and appear as a model for a fetish clothing company and there apparently be 'nothing of concern' there.

I'm NOT saying that all trans people or all gay people are predators, not at all and I want to make that crystal clear. What I am concerned about is that when LGBT is mentioned, safeguarding suddenly seems to become less of a priority, precisely because it seems that anything associated with the rainbow cannot be questioned.

He might have been seen as a weirdo but he was also seen as relatively harmless. There was a lot of denial about his sexual proclivities

By 1996 Jackson's public image was severely dented. What sort of parent allows their small children to share a bed with an adult male?

He might have been seen as a weirdo but he was also seen as relatively harmless. There was a lot of denial about his sexual proclivities.

The "Wacko Jacko" nickname started to be used in 1987. It was widely used. The stories about sleeping in an oxygen tent, skin bleaching, Bubbles the chimp etc started from that time. Plenty of people were questioning Jackson's behaviour. And yes I do blame the parents.

And yet, he was still free to abuse children for years after 1987.

I do also think the parents need to take responsibility (I don't 'blame' them, that lies with MJ) but there were loads of people who knew Michael Jackson must have been abusing children and didn't, or couldn't, do anything about it.

I think creating the idea of being an oddball eccentric was calculated to disguise his predatory nature

If they were stunts they generated nothing but adverse publicity. His public image was weirdo not eccentric oddball.

The mothers were responsible - not for the abuse, of course, but for wilful blindness and for over-riding their own instincts, in pursuit of lifestyle and glamour. The lengths one mother, in particular, went to to pursue her dream was very questionable indeed

Indeed. The parents might not have carried out the abuse but they facilitated the environment for it to happen.

Many of Jackson’s stunts (like the oxygen tent) have since been described as publicity stunts generated by Jackson and his people to keep him in the press.

I think creating the idea of being an oddball eccentric was calculated to disguise his predatory nature.

So we have people arguing an adult man is so much of a child he is innocent and sexless and others attempting to make the case that children have sexual needs of their own. This is a very dangerous idea to propagate. It should not be a surprise that it is still being trotted out for other predators.

8Please don't blame the parents. In many cases, they are groomed too. With MJ, for example, he evidently spent a lot of time convincing the parents that he was a good man. sad*

It is not so much about 'blame' as about apportioning responsibility. The mothers were responsible - not for the abuse, of course, but for wilful blindness and for over-riding their own instincts, in pursuit of lifestyle and glamour. The lengths one mother, in particular, went to to pursue her dream was very questionable indeed.

The not being able to question any of it, the 'outrageous' suggestion that MJ could be anything but a wonderful person, the way he was held up as this total untouchable being

The "Wacko Jacko" nickname started to be used in 1987. It was widely used. The stories about sleeping in an oxygen tent, skin bleaching, Bubbles the chimp etc started from that time. Plenty of people were questioning Jackson's behaviour. And yes I do blame the parents.

I kind of hate that I see this trans stuff bloody everywhere now, but I just don't think the parallels can be ignored.
Rather than characterise it as MJ grooming paralleling trans, I would say the behaviour of some trans women parallels the behaviour of predatory men.

The problem is the fact that some makes are driven by fetishes, in a way I think women can't comprehend. They justify to themselves that indulging their fetish is ok even if it's harmful (whether that's raping, compulsive porn watching, convincing themselves children can consent and are sexual, etc etc).
Society would rather indulge in mass gaslighting than face up to the fact that a sizeable proportion of men are like that and put things in place to deal with it. Such as a criminal justice system that is effective against male violence. A recognition women need and deserve male free space. A ban on pornography that degrades and harms women. Making it clear in law that people can't consent to harm

I thought the exact same thing when I was watching it. The not being able to question any of it, the 'outrageous' suggestion that MJ could be anything but a wonderful person, the way he was held up as this total untouchable being.

Also, there was a bit where they had footage from where Wade Robson was a kid, and it was footage of him dancing on stage to claps and cheers from a crowd interspersed with him saying how much he loved doing what he was doing and then his mum saying the same.

I thought it was eerily similar to what we see from Desmond is Amazing.

I kind of hate that I see this trans stuff bloody everywhere now, but I just don't think the parallels can be ignored.

If anyone here is interested, this is, in my opinion, an excellent expose of psychiatric abuse involving the ISSTD by the highly regarded documentary makers Frontline

Promoters of the satanic panic will disagree. Readers here can watch it and make up their own minds as to whether it is a we'll researched, important documentary or propaganda

Also bloomer

Do you have an opinion about the "energy psychotherapist" Phil Mollon?

bloomerpool

Your post is of great interest to me as a survivor of trafficking and of abusive psychotherapy.

A number of things you posted raised flags for me,

I am very interested to hear your opinion of the organisation that calls itself the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).

You also mention a Frontline special. Could you please provide details regrind the Frontline special you mean?

In my experience Frontline produced some excellent documentaries exposing psychiatric and psychotherapeutic malpractice and horrific abuses against vulnerable patients (mostly women and children).

I am extremely interested in learning more from you about which Frontline documentaries you consider to be "propaganda".

Please don't blame the parents. In many cases, they are groomed too. With MJ, for example, he evidently spent a lot of time convincing the parents that he was a good man.

I was very impressed by what Jarvis Cocker did. I don't recall vitriol being heaped on Jarvis Cocker- quite the opposite. I recall he got a lot of praise for it. The arrest involved his being taken to a police station until the early hours of the morning when he was released. Nothing further came of it.

The parents of these boys failed them badly. Jackson at that time was clearly seriously weird looking and behaving very strangely. A grown man wanted to share a bed with children and it is only with the benefit of hindsight this seemed odd? Or that other aspects of Jackson's life weren't questionable?

I agree OP Those young men were totally credible and I watched with mounting horror the lengths to which MJ went to groom both them and their families. It feels as if we were all complicit - standing by and accepting the narrative of a gentle soul with a child like love for children. So many red flags - yet all ignored. Just like Jimmy Saville.

The parallels are identical to the current situation and yet again we have celebrities, politicians, much of the media uncritically celebrating behaviour that is abusive to children. Fucking unbelievable!

I also watched it and had similar thoughts, George.

The grooming in plain sight, of parents (particularly the mothers) and the children. The narrative that they were special and had been chosen (again both the parents and children being told that). The promise of lifting both parents and children out of their ordinary lives.

Mirrors the "I always knew that I was not like other children" stories that we hear a lot.

It put me in mind of Helen Islan's complaint of transphobia against of Miranda Yardley, who is a transsexual. Helen is the mum of a child who identifies as transgender and works for Mermaids. I think Helen got a lot of fawning in some quarters for her tiger mum antics (or attention-seeking twattery as some would see it). The transgender thing elevates her from ordinary single mum into sparkly tiger mum who is a public figure. Similar with the Neverland documentary, the parents enjoying the kudos and limelight.

The vitriol doled out to anyone who dares to speak up. Anyone remember Jarvis Cocker who invaded the stage while Jackson was performing at the Brits in 1996? Cocker was pilloried by large parts of the press and parents who said that Cocker had put their children (who were on stage with Jackson) in danger. Cocker stated at the time “My actions were a form of protest at the way Michael Jackson sees himself as some kind of Christ-like figure with the power of healing. The music industry allows him to indulge his fantasies because of his wealth and power. People go along with it even though they know it’s a bit sick. I just couldn’t go along with it anymore. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision brought on by boredom and frustration.” Cocker was arrested on suspicion of assaulting three children and taken to a police station. Charges were later dropped.

Made me think of all the police officers talking to people who are questioning this ideology (Posie, Linda, Venice, Glinner, HarrytheOwl, Miranda).

The silencing of any questioning. Put me in mind of Edward Lord writing an open letter to The Times to demand that Andrew Gilligan the journalist stop writing about transgender issues.

The denial. "He has sleepovers with children because he loves children. He is like a child himself. An abuser would be secretive, not doing everything in plain sight like Jackson does".

Mirrors the "predatory men would never take advantage of reduced safeguarding of women and children" argument that we hear.

The DARVO. "Just the suggestion of child abuse is so disgusting. You have a filthy mind" mirrors the "you're obsessed with genitals" accusations.

The overnight stays that seem to be so important in certain quarters.

*throw