Al Cone wrote:
> Several weeks ago Jim Guinee was kind enough to forward to us a nice long
> list of quackeries from Quackwatch. One of them was EMDR. Without really
> thinking too much about it, I forwarded Jim's post to a class of mine.
>
> Now it turns out that a student has a therapist in the community who wants
> to use that technique with (on?) her. He tells her that he has had success
> with it with other clients. She is hestitant, but wants me to butt out,
> lest it mess up her relationship which otherwise is pretty good.
It seems as if your student has made her wishes known. As an adult, she
has the right to make her own choices and possibly mistakes.
Your role as professor/teacher (here's a debate I don't want to
resurrect!) is not one of parent. In addition, APA has made it clear
that dual relationships are to be avoided. Thus, as professors/teachers
our role is not also one of psychotherapist or caregiver/guardian.
If you hear that a psychologist, psychiatrist, counselor etc. is
behaving in a way that you believe is unethical, your responsibility is
to report that individual to your state licensing board and the
individual's professional organization. I'm not sure that using a
treatment which is controversial (EMDR qualifies as such) would meet the
criteria of unethical treatment.
>
> I am tempted to just let it go, since it doesn't seem to be harmful, but
> I am concerned at the level of care she is getting from this man.
My guess is that you have limited information concerning this individual
and the treatment that they are offering. If I tell you that my doctor
is recommending herbal therapy for a severe illness, you might be
concerned about the level of care I am receiving. However, the doctor
may also be recommending a variety of other traditional and
nontraditional treatments. You simply do not have this information nor
do you have knowledge concerning their skills or expertise.
Therefore, as the treatment is questionable but probably not unethical
(as defined by APA currently), and as the student wants you to "butt
out", and as you probably do not want to become a third party in a
therapy triangle, your best recourse is probably to "just let it go".
My two shekels worth,
linda
--
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linda m. woolf, ph.d.
associate professor - psychology
Web Page: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's (and woman's) best friend. . . .
Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx
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Webster University
470 East Lockwood
St. Louis, Missouri 63119
