Complaints are currently being filed against the owners and operators of the internet website known as allaboutcounseling.com

These events began as an almost routine story about a mental health advocacy website spreading disinformation about domestic violence that demonizes men, denies male victims and shields female perpetrators.

And while the disinformation is there in abundance, more digging behind the scenes at allaboutcounseling.com revealed what appears to be gross professional misconduct and an ongoing scheme involving psychological extortion, abuse and depraved indifference. Multiple sources have alleged that the site management is preying on and manipulating site users for cash with the finesse and brio reminiscent of a corrupt televangelist operation.

And they are reportedly heaping a plethora of emotional abuses and threats on site users who speak up against it.

All of this is being conducted under the auspices of mental health advocacy; with the professional blessings (and under the state license number) of a clinical psychologist.

The details of this story have the expected intricacies and complications of most scandals, especially with the efforts that the alleged perpetrators have made to disconnect their names from their actions. But the scam runs something like this:

Allaboutcounseling.com runs a members only on-line forum in which individuals are invited to join and participate for the benefit of “Confronting fears, honest feedback and active growth through the use and benefits of anonymity and healthy communication.”

Users are made to believe that their interactions there are completely anonymous and conducted in an environment where it is safe to be openly vulnerable and to disclose intimate details of problems in their lives.

For some this seems to be the case.

But many former site users are saying that frequently what happens there is markedly different. In fact, after a month long study of the site and several interviews with former ACC members, the reports have enough consistency to raise eyebrows.

In what appears to be a systematic pattern of significant abuses, the site management presents professional psychological qualifications, induces users to rely on the forum as a source of peer and arguably professional support, but subsequently acts toward many of the members with the following:

• Banning users without notice, reason and without a referral to other help.
• Redirecting banned users to pornography websites when they attempt to log on.
• Tacit email threats to expose users identities publicly for dissenting from site management
• Site management “diagnosing” members with personality disorders as a reaction to dissent.
• Regularly threatening members who depend on the site forum to close it unless money is donated.
• Encouraging the abuse of most male members and abusively targeting female members who had congenial communications with males.
• Fomenting conflict between forum members and encouraging some individuals to abuse others.

In fact, as I studied reports of the abuses from some of the sites former members, the picture that clearly emerged was that of tactics used by cult leaders to control and manipulated their followers. Or, as one member, who requested anonymity, put it, “I felt that it was abusive because of the way {they} chummed vulnerable, trusting people who came to the site, and drew them in to a charmer/abuser codependency cult.”

This same member, after posting that she felt the instigated conflict helped the hit count of the site was reportedly told publicly by site management that she was “delusional, sick and paranoid.”

Another member, again speaking on the condition of anonymity, reported being banned from the site without notification and then being redirected to a pornography site when he attempted to log on.

Part of his reaction to this, taken from a statement which is available in the comments section at avoiceformen.com, was unsettling. “I had always respected the site coordinator,” he said, “but after she did this to me I was sad to say the least. I was hurt. I felt deeply betrayed, humiliated and abused.”

Another former member reported that she too was redirected to a pornography site after being banned from the forum.

And yet another member reported getting an email from site management that repeatedly demeaned her, and made multiple references to her location, number of children and her profession. This was interpreted as a veiled threat to reveal her identity or worse. And it is of particular concern because there are many members who have joined the allaboutcounseling.com forum for support when escaping abusive relationships in which they were or are being stalked.

Such a breech of confidence in those situations could have disastrous results.

On the surface, some of this behavior may appear part and parcel to the internet. There is a lot of flaming going on, and capricious site administration is hardly rare. It happens on a lot of websites. But this isn’t just a lot of websites. It is a site that proffers, with professional credibility, to extend support to people at highly vulnerable moments in their lives. Indeed, it beckons them to participate throughout most pages on the site and assures them they are in a safe environment.

These actions not only reflect a moral deficit, but are likely in violation of the State of Ohio’s rules and regulations governing professional counselors, the American Psychological Associations Code of Conduct, and various other state laws. This is especially true as site management presents professional credentials, accepts money and has no disclaimer regarding participation in the forums.

“Site management” is most likely better identified as Heidi Raynor, M.Ed., who in her bio claims to be an experienced counselor with two years of individual counseling experience, but lists no license information or professional references.

She also apparently doubles in the site forum as “Site Coordinator or “SC” as users refer to her. Raynor herself never openly makes the admission that she is SC, but in several posts, SC claims ownership of the site and solicits for donations regularly. Those donations have to be made payable directly to Raynor and are to be mailed to 4227 W. 15^th, Cleveland, Ohio.

Raynor states in her solicitations that checks must be made out to her personally, and not to allaboutcounseling.com, leaving the speculation open to whether or not she is claiming the income when filing taxes.

Raynor is not acting alone. According to information provided on the site, the content on allaboutcounseling.com was authored by River Smith, Ph.D.. Further investigation revealed that Smith is an Ohio based clinical psychologist who practices under Ohio State license number 4658, at 11206 Clifton Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio tel. 216-651-1302

According to information received from a source at the State Board of Psychology of Ohio, Dr. Smith’s presence as one of the creators of that site, and the provision of his license number, inextricably ties him to the conduct and practices of it’s managers, whether that conduct comes directly from Dr. Smith or not.

And under those circumstances, that translates legally to the site and everyone who manages it being subject to all applicable statutes and codes of conduct for that profession.

Most of Smith’s role appears to be providing content related to mental health issues, making him the direct source of the misleading statistics and disinformation. But also by attaching his credentials to a site that is taking money, he puts his license on the line for any improprieties and ethical violations that transpire.

It also raises the significant question of whether the site is, in reality, an online psychology practice. Early information from the state of Ohio suggests that it is, though there will not be a final determination on this until complaints about the site have been investigated by officials in Ohio.

According to several of the former members of the site, Dr. Smith may be in direct violation of several statutes that govern the practice of psychology in that state. These include, but are not limited to the following:

• Failure to report sexual abuse of children to authorities (there were several posts by members that reported their children being abused)
• Failure to report physical abuse of children
• Failure to report suicide threats by members
• Children being allowed to log on and read detailed and sexually explicit accounts of other members lives.
• Domestic abuse reports ignored by site management
• Questionable solicitations for money
• Presentation of misleading information
• Proffering false counseling qualifications

Regarding the child molestations, according to a source at the Ohio State Board of Psychology, psychologists are mandated to report knowledge of child abuse to authorities and it makes no difference that the reports were received online, nor does it matter that the reports came from anonymous sources. Discovery of the sources is a police matter, not one for the psychologist to undertake or even be concerned with. Their mandate under state law is to report these incidents immediately.

There is no evidence that any reports with police were filed, meaning that a licensed psychologist and another individual claiming to be a professional counselor knew or should have known that children were being abused and did nothing– but ask for more money.

At the time this article goes live, at least two and perhaps more individuals are compiling complaints against allaboutcounseling.com which will be filed with The Ohio State Board of Psychology and The American Psychological Association. This summary and a copy of the complaints will also be forwarded to the Ohio State Attorney General’s Office for consideration.  Other former members have indicated they are considering complaints or other actions against the site’s ownership and management.

When I first brought this story to avoiceformen.com and mensnewsdaily.com, I also forwarded it to about two hundred psychotherapists that supported the site by listing their services there and by purchasing an enhanced presence in the site directory.

To their credit, several of those clinicians directed allaboutcounseling.com to remove their listings. Most did not, however, and did not respond to my emails. Their practice information is listed below.

Once the complaints with the named agencies and the State Attorney General have been filed, an update will be provided regarding this matter. And in the update, I will begin exploring how the practice of “feminist therapy” has naturally led to such abuses of ethics and hopefully what can be done to stop it.

I ask your pardon for the lengthy list of professionals included here, but it is necessary to the process to get the information disseminated through the internet.  This list is just a fraction of the counseling professionals that list their services on ACC.

Evelyn Goodman, Psy.D., MFT

12313 Havelock Avenue,

Culver City

310-391-3853

drevelyn@anxietyrecovery.com

http://www.anxietyrecovery.com/

No License FOund.

Dr. Aaron Berger

1821 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 411,

Culver city

No E-mail Found.

http://www.draaronberger.com/

Lic.# PSY21079

Sue Shepard MFT

2900 Bristol St., Suite G-201,

Costa Mesa

714-751-0888

No E-mail found.

http://therapybysue.com/

License #MFC37470

Help Talking

2900 Bristol A207,

Costa Mesa

714-969-9691

http://www.helptalking.com/contact/

http://www.helptalking.com

No License found.

Cheryl Chase

219 N. Indian Hill Suite 203,

Claremont

909-982-5095

No E-mail found

http://www.cherylchase.com/  (coming soon)

No License Found.

Rosanna Reyes Feet, MFT

2521 Windward Way

Chula Vista CA 91914

6196184529

rosannamft@gmail.com

http://www.rosannamft.org/

MFC 44002

Fall Creek Counseling Associates

5900 Coyle Avenue & 775 Sunrise Avenue,

Carmichael & Roseville (greater Sacramento)

916-344-0900

drdmoore@mac.com

http://www.sacramentopsychology.com/

No License Found.

Sara Darnley, Ph.D.

621 E. Campbell Ave., Suite 7,

Campbell

(408) 267-4702

No E-mail Found.

http://saradarnleyphd.com

PSY 15742

A Place To Grow

P. O. Box 1641,

Big Bear Lake

909-585-7228

info@aplacetogrow.com

http://www.aplacetogrow.com/medicinewheel.html

No License Found.

Personal Communication Solutions (Karen Wulfson, LMFT)

420 South Beverly Drive; Suite 100,

Beverly HIlls, CA

310 475-1759

karen@karenwulfson.com

http://www.karenwulfson.com/

No License Found.

Leslie Davis Therapy

9171 Wilshire Blvd. Penthouse 7,

Beverly Hills, CA

310-582-5890

info@lesliedavistherapy.com

http://lesliedavistherapy.com

No License Found.

Beverly Hills Family Counseling

204 S. Beverly Drive, #116,

Beverly Hills, CA

310-271-3784

BHCounseling@aol.com

http://www.shrinkg.com/

Jim Gordon, Ph.D, license M.F.T. #12651,

Nectar & Flame Consulting

3179 College Avenue, #4,

Berkeley, CA

510-277-0440

dr.amymarshsexologist@gmail.com

http://dramymarshsexologist.tripod.com/

No License Found

Laura Gardner

2025 Lincoln St.

Berkeley, CA

510-594-4300

http://www.holisticgardner.com/contact.html

http://www.holisticgardner.com/

No License Found.

Inner Child Healing

147 Alameda deLas Pulgas

Belmont, CA

415-337-9474

lila@innerchildhealing.com

http://www.innerchildhealing.com

No License Found.

Sandra M. Wolf, MFT

3855 E. La Palma

Anaheim, CA

714-747-6959

Sandy@SandyMWolf.com

http://www.sandymwolf.com/

#MFC43774

Cort Curtis, Ph.D.

28202 Cabot Road, Suite 253,

Laguna Niguel

877-372-8784

cortcurtis@achangeinthinking.com

http://www.achangeinthinking.com/

No license found.

Relationship Cafe

23161 Mill Creek Dr. #335,

Laguna Hills

(949)5536100

michelle@relationshipcafe.net

http://www.relationshipcafe.net

No License found.

Partnership For Growth

25283 Cabot Road Suite 107,

Laguna Hills

949-233-3362

beverly@lagunacounseling.com

http://www.lagunacounseling.com/

No License found.

Jondra Pennington, MS, MFT

78150 Calle Tampico Suite 207C,

La Quinta

760-777-9939

jondra@desertstreamscounseling.com

http://www.desertstreamscounseling.com/

License #: MFC36372

Cathy Roys Therapy MFT

8356 Allison Suite B2,

La Mesa

518-1323

Cathy@CathyRoysTherapy.com

http://www.cathyroyscounselor.com

Lic.#42762

Peter Lambrou, Ph.D.

9834 Genesee Ave. Suite 321,

La Jolla

858-457-3900

No E-mail found.  but: http://www.peterlambrou.com/contactus.php

http://www.peterlambrou.com

Clinical Psychologist, CA License #PSY14435

La Jolla Holistic Center

Address changed:

2870 Fourth Avenue. Suite #101

San Diego, California 92103

858-459-1273

Info@NancyDeAndrade.com

http://nancydeandrade.com

Nancy De Andrade, MA, Doctoral Candidate PSB #33475

Psychological Assistant to Deisy Boscán, Ph.D. PSY # 18873

Christian Soul Care

4000 Barranca Pkwy, Suite 250,

Irvine

949-262-3699

Same as Dr. Kristi Below

Dr. Kristi Gaultiere

4000 Barranca Parkway, Suite 250,

Irvine

949-262-3699

Kristi@ChristianSoulCare.com

http://www.christiansoulcare.com

#MFT29887

Amy Greenberg – MFT

1260 B Street Suite 240,

Hayward

925 989-9826

amy@enrichmentcounseling.com

http://www.enrichmentcounseling.com

(MFC 36752).

Cris Walker Roskelley, MFT

350 Bon Air Rd. Suite 140,

Greenbrae

415-289-2111

cris@MFTHandbook.com

http://www.mfthandbook.com

No License Found

Glendale Counseling Center

1521 W. Glenoaks Blvd. #2B,

Glendale

818-547-2865

mail@counselingfamily.net

http://counselingfamily.net

No License Found.

OCChristianCounseling.com

12792 Valley View Street, Suite 209,

Garden Grove

714-865-2164

No E-mail but: http://www.mcssl.com/app/contact.asp?id=151309&afid=&formid=&preview=

http://occhristiancounseling.com/

No License found – Multiple Staff

Dr. Heather M. Browne

9851 Bixby Ave.,

Garden Grove

714/334-4026

Dr.Heather@TheHealingHeart.net

http://www.thehealingheart.net/

LMFT #34523

Jodi Blackley, M.S., M.F.T.

711 E. Imperial Hwy.

Brea, CA 92821

(714) 212-1160

jodi@jodiblackley.com

http://www.jodiblackley.com/

Lic#: MFC41465

Lindsey Plumer, LMFT

13405 Folsom Blvd #220,

Folsom

916-952-7187

lsplumer@yahoo.com

http://www.lindseyplumer.com/

(MFC #43983)

Susanne M. Dillmann, Psy.D.

210 South Juniper St., Suite 213,

Escondido

760-743-7789

No E-mail but: http://www.drdillmann.com/contact_dr_dillmann

http://www.drdillmann.com/

PSY21969

Dr. Celina Marciano

5535 Balboa Blvd., Suite 217,

Encino

818-388-0102

info@healingcrossroads.com

http://www.healingcrossroads.com/

No License found.

Bill Martin, MFT

1337 Camino Del Mar,

Del Mar

858-755-2407

billm@counseling-connection.com

http://www.counseling-connection.com

No License Found

Dr. Gaye Wein Shepard

275 E. California Blvd.,

Pasadena

626-585-1618

gayewein@mac.com

http://www.shepardphd.com/

No License Found.

Jill Tan-Gatue, M.S., MFT

462 S. Marengo Ave.,

Pasadena

626-432-4022

ptan-gatue@juno.com

http://www.pasadenatherapytan-gatue.com/

Lic. #43059

Therapy Pasadena

1055 East Colorado Blvd.,

Pasadena

949 648 1109

klbechtol@sbcglobal.net

http://therapypasadena.com

License# 38689

Donald Wallach, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

7 Fourth Street #19,

Petaluma

707-583-2305

don@donwallach.com

http://www.donwallach.com/

No License Found.

Will Joel Friedman, Ph.D., Psychologist, A Prof. Corp.

275 Rose Avenue, Suite 212,

Pleasanton

(925) 600-9966

drwilljoel@comcast.net

http://www.willjoelfriedman.com/

PSY 10092

Bailey Counseling

8300 Utica Avenue, Third Floor,

Rancho Cucamonga 909/920-1814

cebaileyco@att.net

No WebSite Found

LCS 19539

Santa Margarita Solutions Center

22362 Gilberto, Suite 205,

Rancho Santa Margarita

949-589-5700

drjulieolson@cox.net

http://www.santamargaritasolutions.com/

#PSY14768

A Peaceful Way

Ave I,

Redondo Beach

310-540-6768

(310) 760-2244

kristin@apeacefulway.com

http://www.apeacefulway.com/

No License Found

Lynn Seely Counseling

115 N. Balsam suite E,

Ridgecrest

760-384-8037

lynn@lynnseelycounseling.com

http://www.lynnseelycounseling.com/

Business licence – City of Ridgecrest 07 00009219

Sylma Fine

555 Middlefield Road, Ste 102-C,

Palo Alto

650-838-9552

sylma@sylmafine.com

http://www.sylmafine.com/

License# MFC41633

Laurie J. Linscheid, MFT

555 Middlefield Rd,

Palo Alto

650-773-3131

laurie@family-therapist.com

http://www.family-therapist.com

No License Found.

Hoai-Thu Truong, Ph.D.

366 S. California Avenue  Suite 6

Palo Alto, CA 94306

650.361.0356

contact@drhttruong.com

http://www.paloaltocounseling.com/

No License Found

Ernest Schmidt Therapy

407 Sherman Ave,

Palo Alto

650-384-0342

No E-mail but http://www.paloaltotherapy.com/contact/

http://www.paloaltotherapy.com/

No License Found.

Pauline Wakeham, LCSW

6239 College Ave.,#303,

Oakland

510-377-1082

peacefulresolution@gmail.com

http://www.eastbaycounselor.com/

CA license: LCS #19528

Kristen Platt, PsyD, LMFT

1151 Dove Street, Ste. 200,

Newport Beach

949 422-5334

DrPlatt@OrangeCountyTherapy.org

http://www.orangecountytherapy.org/

License Number 30372

Allison Mupas, MFT

248 E Foothill Blvd,

Monrovia

626-802-7383

changeseekers@yahoo.com

http://www.changeseeker.org/

License Number MFT 46004

Windows of Opportunity Counseling Services

39899 Balentine Dr, Suite 310,

Newark

510-979-0200

eschmechtigco@sbcglobal.net

http://www.windowsofopportunitycounseling.org/

No License Found.

Miranda Palmer

1311 E Street,

Modesto, CA 95354

209 343-2771

209 602-1513

No E-mail Given – http://counselingmodesto.com/contact/

http://counselingmodesto.com/

MFC #42393

Monte Nido Eating Disorder Treatment Center

27162 Sea Vista Dr,

Malibu

310-457-9958

info@edcca.com

http://www.edcca.com/

Carolyn Costin  No License Found

Carol Boulware, Ph.D.

3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550,

Los Angeles, California

310-395-3351

Carolphd@psychotherapist.net

http://www.psychotherapist.net/sex-therapy.html

Licensed Marriage, Family Therapist – #MFT11632

ABS Certified Sex Therapist #1466

Regina Petterson, Psy.D.

11980 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 701,

Los Angeles

3106694422

drpetterson@aol.com

http://psychotherapylosangeles.com/

PSY 18490

Catherine Auman, MFT

2566 Overland Ave., Suite 500 B,

Los Angeles

310-460-9399

info@catherineauman.com.

http://www.catherineauman.com/

Her license as a Marriage and Family Therapist in 1993 (30784),

Beth Tunis

6399 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 312,

Los Angeles

310-779-9698

beth@bethtunistherapy.com

http://www.bethtunistherapy.com/

No License Found

Aaron Buckwalter, MFT

205 1/2 N. Larchmont Blvd,

Los Angeles

323-799-4130

aaron@changethrutherapy.com

http://www.changethrutherapy.com/

License mfc43099

Jeannie Wolitzer MFT

1340 Concannon Blvd Sunset Office Plaza, Bldg J

Livermore, CA 94550

925 201 3414

jwolitzer@gmail.com

http://www.jeanniewolitzer.com/

MFC 45633

Mending My Marriage

1848 Holmes Street, Bldg. E,

Livermore, CA 94550

925-922-2775

Laura@MFTLaura.com

http://www.mendingmymarriage.com

Laura Melgosa, M.S., MFT MFC 34899

San Diego Therapy

2333 First Avenue,

San Diego

619 218 5363

lily@sandiegotherapy.org

http://www.sandiegotherapy.org/

MFT intern #51125

Kim Jones

9330 Carmel Mountain Rd. Ste C,

San Diego

858-204-2599

kim@kimjonescounseling.com

http://www.kimjonescounseling.com/

MFC 37708

JAMES WILLIAM PARKER

2650 Camino Del Rio North, Suite 211,

San Diego, CA 92108

858-952-8196

No E-mail found.

http://www.jameswilliamparker.com/

MFC 47548

Helping People Navigate Changes In Life

North County Inland off I-15 & I-56 (Please call for address),

San Diego

619-687-9013

ecaetano@san.rr.com

http://www.navigatechanges.com/

MFT License #37010

Healthy Within

Divya Kakaiya, Ph.D

5665 Oberlin Drive Suite 206

San Diego CA 92121

858-622-0221

kakaiya@cox.net

http://www.healthywithin.com/

No License Found.

Couples Counseling (SAME AS ESTES THERAPY BELOW – NOTE THE PHONE NUMBER)

2333 1st Avenue, Suite 204,

San Diego

619-471-7104

Estes Therapy

2835 Camino Del Rio South, Suite 120C,

San Diego

619-471-7104

jestes@estestherapy.com

http://www.estestherapy.com/

MFC #47653

Counseling Connection

2207 Garnet Ave Suite A,

San Diego

619-857-1355

858-586-1355

julie@juliemorrell.com

http://www.juliemorrell.com/

No License Found.

Bobbie J Paul, Ph.D., MFT

3505 Camino del Rio South, Suite 212,

San Diego

619 7231802

No E-Mail – but this Link http://www.bobbiejpaul.com/ContactMe.en.html

http://www.bobbiejpaul.com

MFC29201

Barbara Cunningham, Psy.D., LMFT

2835 Camino Del Rio South, Ste. 120-C,

San Diego

619-990-6203

barbara@cunninghamtherapy.com

http://www.cunninghamtherapy.com/

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California (#44053)

Sue Goetz, LCSW

1731 I Street,

Sacramento

9167648360

sue@hopeintherapy.com

http://www.hopeintherapy.com/

No License Found.

Self Awareness Institute

5777 Madison Avenue, Suite 307,

Sacramento

8662046384

alambert@12promises.com

http://www.12promises.com/

No License Found

Ray Brown, PhD, LMFT

418 Alhambra Blvd.,

Sacramento

916-492-8530

lmft@surewest.net

http://www.lmft.info/

No License Found.

Jacqueline Dotson, LCSW

4825 J Street Suite 223,

Sacramento

916-454-1021

jackie@jackiedotson.com

http://www.jackiedotson.com

No License Found.

Michele Dickey, LCSW

1002 River Rock Drive, Suite 221 ,

Roseville

916-206-0054

No E-Mail Found.

http://www.folsomfamilycounseling.com/FolsomCounseling/Welcome.html

LCS 21696

Steve McCready, Marriage & Family Therapist

1891 E. Roseville Pkwy, #120,

Roseville

916-781-0606

steve@counselingsacramento.com

http://www.counselingsacramento.com/

No License Found

Renée Spencer, MFT

3236 Sacramento Street,

San Francisco

415-771-5671

reneespencer@mac.com

http://www.reneespencer.com/

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (License MFC #40511)

Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (License RPh #43623)

Private Practice Psychotherapy (Daniel McCracken)

870 Market Street, Suite 441,

San Francisco

415-846-6557

daniel9723@sbcglobal.net

http://www.therapyinsanfrancisco.com/Daniel_McCracken_contact.html

Marriage and Family Therapist (MFC42824)

Nick Parsons, LMFT

999 Sutter Street,

San Francisco

415 778-5500

No E-mail Found.

http://www.sf-therapist.com/

My license number is: MFC 35484

Marina Counseling Center

2137 Lombard Street,

San Francisco

415-563-2137

Jennifer@marinacounseling.com

http://www.marinacounseling.com/

No License Found

Ken Martin LMFT

564 Market Street, Suite 410,

San Francisco, California 94104

415/395-9367

kenmartinmft@earthlink.net

http://www.kenmartintherapy.com/

No License Found.

JENNIFER FEELEY, MFT

4831 GEARY BLVD.,

San Francisco

415 244-7850

feeleyj@pacbell.net

http://www.jenniferfeeley.com/

License #MFC35307

Jeffrey S. Kaye, Ph.D.

844 California Street,

San Francisco

415-362-8262

sfpsych@gmail.com

http://www.drjeffkaye.com/

PSY #15476

Geri Weitzman, PhD

1100 Sanchez Street (corner of 24th),

San Francisco

415-517-7965

bap@bizone.org

http://www.bizone.org/bap/joining.html

CA License # PSY17963

Erica Mainshine Psychotherapy

3236 Sacramento Street,

San Francisco

415-820-3203

erica@therapysf.org

http://www.therapysf.org/

Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern, #IMF52423, practicing under the supervision of Jim Meyers, MFT, #MFC30215

Dennis Thatcher, MFT

1637 Irving Street

San Francisco

415-995-2916

denniscthatcher@yahoo.com

http://www.dennisthatchermft.com/

Lic.#MFC25186

Center for Family Issues

1801 Bush St., Suite 110,

San Francisco

(415) 215-4796

DrM@DrMelindaDouglass.com

http://www.drmelindadouglass.com/Welcome.html

PSB 34300

Cathy Hanville, LCSW

3884 24th Street,

San Francisco, CA 94114

(415) 643-3890

cathyhanville@att.net

http://www.cathyhanville.com/

No License Found

Carol Jaron, Classic and Creative Psychotherapy

801 Portola Drive,

San Francisco

415-541-5004

caroljtherapist@yahoo.com

http://www.caroljguidingstar.com

No License Found.

Ace, Tricia, MFT – Psychotherapy, San Francisco & Berkeley

115 Sansome (@Bush, Financial District),

San Francisco

415/536-9406

AceMFT@aol.com

http://www.triciaace.com/

License Number: MFC34714

Susannah Muller, M.A.

2333 1st Avenue, #204,

San Diego

619-787-2743

susannah@therapy-sandiego.com

http://www.therapy-sandiego.com/

Internship with Aimee Zakrewski Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #43736, who has over 6 years of experience.

Internship with Daniel Carr Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #31037, who has over 25 years of experience

Sian Marie Hassell, Inc.

Christine Hassell MA, LMFT

5905 Soquel Dr. Suite 550,

Soquel, CA

831-429-2253

No E-mail found.

http://www.turningpointpsychotherapy.com

LMFT #39288

David L. Christopher, A Psychotherapy Corporation

141 N. Acacia Ave. Ste. A,

Solana Beach, CA

858 792-0777

DChristopher@SanDiegoTherapist.com

http://www.sandiegotherapist.com/

MFC 30632

Kelly Tobey, MSW, LCSW

3695 Alamo St. Suite 200,

Simi Valley, CA

805-501-6630

kelly@kellytobeylcsw.com

http://www.kellytobeylcsw.com/

State License: LCS#17999

Harmony & Families Counseling Centers

1633 Erringer Rd. Ste’s 204 & 207,

Simi Valley, CA

805-428-6655

Kristy Schadt

kristyschadtmft@sbcglobal.net

Cary Steven Schwartz

carschwrtz@aol.com

Patricia VanBuskirk, MA

pvbFUTURE@adelphia.net

Maureen Kaye, MA, MFT

California License # MFC 44834

MKayeMFT@aol.com

Diane Turini Mize, MFT

California License, MFC# 38366

ginitsiselu@yahoo.com

http://www.harmonycounselingcenter.org

LifeHealingHeart

Ms. Keri Zwerner

5535 Balboa Blvd. Suite 217

Encino, CA 91316

818.206.4006

keri@lifehealingheart.com

http://www.lifehealingheart.com/

Donald Wallach, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

1023 College Avenue,

Santa Rosa, CA

707-583-2305

don@donwallach.com

http://www.donwallach.com/

Open Door Psychotherapy

Dana Blumrosen, MA, LMFT

303 Potrero Street, #45-202,

Santa Cruz, CA

831-454-8270

dana@opendoorpsychotherapy.com

dblumrosen@yahoo.com

http://www.opendoorpsychotherapy.com/

My license number is: 44056.

Reginald Veurink, Psy.D.

26889 Bouquet Canyon Road, Suite C,

Santa Clarita, CA

661-297-5728

No E-mail Given – but – webmaster@drveurink.com

http://www.drveurink.com/

Clinical Psychologist, California License #PSY 14007

Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology, ASPPB, #743

Marriage, Family, Child Counselor, California License #MFC 14374

East Bay Couples Counseling

Jay Slupesky, M.A., MFT

2 Crow Canyon Ct. Suite 110,

San Ramon, CA

925-351-8447

jay@eastbaycouples.com

http://eastbaycouples.com

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist #45969

Mark Edwards, MFT

711 D Street, Suite 203,

San Rafael, CA

415-456-6523

MarkEdwardsMFT@Hotmail.com

http://www.markedwardsmft.com/

No License found.

San Pedro Counseling: Diana Dowds, MFT – The Help Shop

461 West Sixth Street, Suite 214,

San Pedro, CA

310.833.9300

diana@thehelpshop.org

http://www.thehelpshop.org

Diana – MFC45294

Josette Ciolino, licensed clinical psychologist (PSY18122)

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

1210 South Bascom Avenue Ste 122,

San Jose, CA

408-535-0435

No E-mail found.

http://www.michellewambach.com/

MFC #41571

Claire Adalyn Wright, MFT

S. Bascom Avenue,

San Jose, CA

408-998-7098

cawmft@yahoo.com

http://www.scv-camft.org

License No. MFC 44491

Psychotherapy By Melyssa Nelson

1726 Fillmore Street,

San Francsico

415-255-3209

melyssa@melyssanelson.com

http://www.melyssanelson.com/

MFT Lic# 41632

Women’s Therapy Services

2918 Webster Street,

San Francisco

415 281 0828

staff@womenstherapyservices.com

http://www.womenstherapyservices.com/

Phyllis Klein, LCSW License number LCS11342

Marlena Kushner, MFT License number MFT14058

Karen Ryan, MFTI (Registered Intern) Registration Number: IMF #44599

Therapy With a Difference

Donna May, MA,MFT

625 Butte Street,

Yreka, CA

530-841-0911

donna@donnamaymft.com

http://www.donnamaymft.com/

MFC 40621

Rod Louden, M.A., MFT

21243 Ventura Blvd., #203,

Woodland Hills, CA

818-348-7081

rodlouden@aol.com

http://www.monsterrelationships.com/

MFC 39259. Issued 2001.

Heather Cozen, MS MFTI

8235 Santa Monica Blvd, Penthouse Suite ,

West Hollywood, CA

310-869-1003

heathercozen@gmail.com

http://www.heathercozen.com/

Currently I am being supervised by Mou Wilson, LMFT MFC # 44134.

Alla Litvin

8961 Sunset Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90069

310-652-9030

therapy@drlitvin.com

http://www.drlitvin.com/

No License Found.

Counseling Center for Spiritual Growth

7515 Sugar Pine Rd,

Weed/Mt. Shasta, CA

530-938-2930

RevEleanor@AwakePath.com

RevEleanor7@snowcrest.net

http://www.awakepath.com/

No License Found.

Dr. Summer Schleif

380 S Melrose Drive Suite 315,

Vista, CA

760-806-4315

drsummer@dr-summer.com

http://www.dr-summer.com/

License # PSY 21826

Alysha Sardella, LMFT

27951 Smyth Drive 3103,

ValenciA, CA

(818) 434-4034

http://www.alyshasardellatherapist.com/

alyshasardella@yahoo.com

434-4034alyshasardella@yahoo.com

License # MFC 38049

Leslie D. Gustafson, MFT

14751 Plaza Drive, Unit F,

Tustin, CA 92780

Doug Gustafson   Ph: (714) 515-3042

Leslie Gustafson Ph: (714) 855-4530

http://www.authenticandtrue.com/

Leslie@AuthenticandTrue.com

Doug@AuthenticandTrue.com

Lauren Wolff, MA, LMFT

468 Pennsfield Place Suite 204,

Thousand Oaks, CA

310-402-7775

No Email Found

http://www.fertilitytherapist.com/

MFT #46274

Healing Crossroads

509 Marin Street, Suite 236,

Thousand Oaks, CA

818-388-0102

info@healingcrossroads.com

http://www.healingcrossroads.com/

No License Found.

Emotional Reframing

Paul Rieker

27715 Jefferson Ave, Suite 113F

Temecula, CA 92590

951 970 5641

PAUL@blessyourthoughts.com

http://www.blessyourthoughts.com

Felita W. Fox, MFT

690 W. Fremont Ave. #9D,

Sunnyvale, CA

408-739-4377

felita@felitafox.com

http://www.felitafox.com/

No License Found.

Lighthouse of Hope Counseling Center

Gloria J Baxter

1515 Partridge Avenue,

Sunnyvale, CA

408-716-8101

No E-mail Found.

http://lighthouseofhope.info/

No License Found.

Agoura Hills

Laura M. Smith, MFT Intern

30423 Canwood St. ste.#129,

Agoura Hills, CA

(805) 217-76

Benicia

Anne Courtney, MA, LMFT

821 E. 2nd Street, Suite 203,

Benicia, CA

925-210-9226

Berkeley

Ace, Tricia, MFT – Psychotherapy, San Francisco & Berkeley

1760 Solano Avenue,

Berkeley, CA

415-536-9406

Center for Creative Growth

1221 Marin Avenue,

Berkeley, CA

510-527-2100

http://www.creativegrowth.com/

Telling Life Stories

2711 Alcatraz Ave,

Berkeley, CA

510 286-7615

Bolinas

A Therapy Line

P.O. Box 100,

Bolinas

888-844-8255

Brentwood

Leslie St. Louis, MA, MFT, CAMFT

11911 San Vicente Blvd, Ste 270,

Brentwood

310-990-9930

Corona

EMC

777 S. Temescal St.,#129,

Corona

909-808-9610

Corte Madera

Marriage and Family Therapist

21 Tamal Vista, Suite 160,

Corte Madera

415-272-4472

Costa Mesa

Addiction Institute

3151 Airway Avenue Suite C-1,

Costa Mesa

714-545-7114

Mark Pines MA MFTI

2900 Bristol Street Suite G-202,

Costa Mesa

714-855-2232

Cupertino

Susan Cohn, LCSW & LMFT

10060 Pasadena Ave.,

Cupertino

408-257-5772

Del Mar  (29)

1-800-THERAPIST

2923 Sandy Pointe Ste 6,

Del Mar

858-481-1515

Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center

2923 SAndy Pointe #6,

Del Mar

858-792-7463

Encinitas

Individual, Couple and Group Psychotherapy

336 Encinitas Blvd. #100,

Encinitas

760 944-7772

Counseling Associates of Encino

Sandra S. Kagan

12400 Ventura Blvd. #641

Studio City, CA 91604

818-789-7575

No E-mail but: http://www.therapistlocator.net/asp-bin/contacttherapist.asp?TCode=56150

License # MFC 6773

Laurel Canyon Recovery Center & Beau Monde Programs

3718 Hayvenhurst Ave.,

Encino

888-300-5080

Fair Oaks (37)

New Beginnings Counseling Center

11622 Fair Oaks Blvd, Ste 103,

Fair Oaks

916-863-7096

Strategies For Success

12900B Garden Grove Blvd,

Garden Grove

714-803-6907

Hansen Hills

Counseling That Works

12661 Gain St.,

Hansen Hills

818 277-1616

Irvine

California Graduate Insitute Counseling Center

4199 Campus Drive #E,

Irvine

949-737-5464

Center for Human Development

19742 MacArthur Blvd., #125,

Irvine

714-647-6670

CGI Counseling Center

4199 Campus Dr. #E,

Irvine

949-737-5460

http://counseling.tcscenters.org/

La Jola

Jeffrey Thomas LCSW

9850 Genesee Ave, Suite 910,

La Jola

619-221-5607

jefftthomaslcsw@hotmail.com

No Web-site found.

No License Found.

Kentfield

Donald Wallach, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

1010 Sir Francis Drake Bl,

Kentfield

415-339-7890

La Canada

Marriage and Family Therapist

4529 Angeles Crest Hwy, #319,

La Canada

626-243 3771

Lawndale

Donna El-Armale, LMFT

15342 Hawthorne Blvd. Suite 407,

Lawndale

323.692.8290

info@youturnproject.org (not sure if this is hers – the address is the same)

http://www.youturnproject.org

La Jolla

Cognitive Therapy Institute, Inc.

3262 Holiday Court, #220,

La Jolla

(858) 450-1101

http://www.cognitivetherapysandiego.com

La Palma

New Beginnings

30 Centerpointe Dr. Suite 9A,

La Palma

714-523-3846

Lafayette

Andrea Watson, MFT Intern

3468 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Suite B301,

Lafayette

925-210-7475

Laguna Woods 40

Alfred E. Marlowe

751-A Avenida Majorca,

Laguna Woods

949-770-2851

Lake Forest

Live Now Association

24922 Muirlands,

Lake Forest

949-581-3486

Larkspur

Katie Glassman, M.F.T.

119 Ward Street,

Larkspur

415-480-1331

Long Beach

Carole Harris, LCSW

5848 Naples Plaza, Suite 204,

Long Beach

562-434-0617

Loomis

Alternatives Counseling

7860 King Road,

Loomis

916 247 6059

mmutozee@yahoo.com

Los Altos

Deb Burgard, Ph.D.

5050 El Camino Real, Suite 202

Los Altos

650-321-2606

http://www.bodypositive.com/

Andrew Jen, Ph.D.

179-B Barrington Place,

Los Angeles

310 453-2772

Lauren Howard Licensed Psychotherapist, MFT

1416 Westwood Boulevard #208,

Los Angeles

310 364 0440

Love-Sessions

www.love-sessions.com,

Los Angeles

OCD Center of Los Angeles

10921 Wilshire Blvd. #502,

Los Angeles

310-335-5443

Psychotherapy

914 S. Robertson Boulevard – #104,

Los Angeles

310-226-2988

Lotus

Rational Recovery

P.O.Box 800 ,

Lotus

530-621-2667

http://www.rational.org/

Los Angeles

Sabah Akmal, LCSW

10780 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 250,

Los Angeles

310-913-5034

Menlo Park

Sliding Scale therapy and counseling

125 Willow Rd. #125 ,

Menlo Park

650-303-0074

Mill Valley

Transpersonal Psychotherapy

3 Madrona Street, suite B,

Mill Valley

415-419-3570

SOULTENDERS

41 East Foothill Boulevard, Suite 102

Arcadia, California 91006

888-889-3639

wendy@soultenders.com

http://www.soultenders.com

Mission Hills

Dr. Reginald L. Veurink, Clinial Psychologist in Mission Hills, CA

Holy Cross Medical Plaza, 11550 Indian Hills Road, Suite #370,

Mission Hills

818-361-8616

http://www.drveurink.com/

Moraga

Moraga Psychotherapy

1001 Country Club Drive, Suite B,

Moraga

925-247-0805

Beau Monde: Programs of Distinction

3101 W. Pacific Coast Hwy, Ste 310,

Newport Beach

800-866-2948

Transformational Living

1000 Quail St., Ste. 175,

Newport Beach

949.922.8548

Affordable Therapy

5835 College Avenue Suite 2A,

Oakland

510-433-2959

Beth Bernstein, MFT

445 Bellevue Avenue,

Oakland

510-628-0877

Green Gate Therapy

445 Bellevue Ave Ste 202,

Oakland

510-452-2820

private practice

6239 College Ave. (Suite#302),

Oakland

510 548-6241

Counseling Solutions

2585 Park Blvd Z-100 ,

Palo Alto

650-327-8620

Jeffrey M. Kisling, LMFT

701 Welch Road, Suite 324,

Palo Alto

650-325-6632

Private Practice

555 Middlefield Rd.,

Palo Alto

650 473-9331

Placerville / Elk Grove

Carla L. Wills

5036 Sunrey Rd / 8920 Emerald Park Dr. Ste A,

Placerville / Elk Grove

530-644-8226

Pleasant Hill

Counseling & Psychotherapy

140 Mayhew Way, Suite 202,

Pleasant Hill

510 986-9836

Michael F. Thaden, M.S., M.F.T., A.T.R.

3550 Watt Avenue,

Sacramento

916-505-5092

private practice

4452 Park Blvd. #214,

San Diego

858-610-1460

San Diego Family Services

3750 Convoy Street Suite 185,

San Diego

858-277-7800

San Jose

Child and Family Therapist

2020 Forest Avenue,

San Jose, CA

408 287-7471

San Marcos

Hope Christian Counseling Inc.

PO Box 1718,

San Marcos

760-727-7240

Santa Cruz

Angst-Net of Therapists

127 Jewell Street,

Santa Cruz, CA

831-426-1778

Santa Monica

Psychology

3130 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 550,

Santa Monica, CA

310.208.1144

Vinca Health

Vinca von Muhlenberg

13951 Moorpark Street #310,

Sherman Oaks, CA

800-544-7793

http://www.vincahealth.com/

South Pasadena

HEART Alcohol & Drug Counseling Services

1815 Meridian Avenue 202,

South Pasadena, CA

626-862-8255

Studio City

Counseling-Online.com

3959 Laurel Canyon Blvd. – #C,

Studio City, CA

323-225-2228

Temecula

Transformations Counseling, Inc

Mr. Ronald James Ryan

31905 Corte Mendoza,

Temecula, CA

951-741-4229

Torrance

Center for Counseling and Recovery

2780 Skypark Drive, Suite 205,

Torrance, CA

310-530-7750

Gentle Support Counseling Services

2430 Torrance Boulevard,

Torrance, CA

310-787-1886

Visalia

AER Associates

720 West Center St., Suite A,

Visalia, CA

559-265-3998

Woodland Hills

New Beginnings

22122 Erwin Street, Apt. 201,

Woodland Hills, CA

(619) 840-9779

Paul Elam is Editor-in-Chief for Mens News Daily and publisher of A Voice for Men

I discovered, as have many parents, that if my relationship with my child is challenged by a former spouse or even a social worker — my child and I have no right to family. A trial may occur, but there will be no jury of my peers. A lone judge will decide what’s in the “best interest” of my child.

I’ve come to believe we have a Civil Right to be presumed FIT & EQUAL parents to our children, unless you are convicted in a criminal court of being a demonstrated threat to your kids. Good, average, and poor parents are all FIT & EQUAL parents.

I welcome your thoughts on the rationale I present below to defend this statement.

Why this strong presumption? Because one foundation of morality is the supremacy of individual conscience – what many know as “let your conscience be your guide.” What more important natural obligation does any parent have than to care for their own kids? To be present in their lives in the many roles that only a parent can fill.

Reference From the Vatican web site:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a6.htm
1778. Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right….

1782. Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. “He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience….”

A second precept says any law which stops us from acting according to a “well formed” conscience is immoral. Is it any wonder parents and children unjustly separated find it one of the most painful and disruptive experiences of their lives?

Fit parents should decide what’s in the best interest of their child. Some think a distinction should be made between good, average, and poor parents. But how can we make a single determination in a multifaceted and dynamic relationship? Like most of us I have mixed feelings about what my parents chose for me. Times I knew they made mistakes, times when I would have preferred one over the other. I saw our relationship change as I matured, but we all grew together as family through good times and bad.

Only the bad parent should be excluded, one who threatens the safety of their child with malintent. Society justly intervenes for those who seek to destroy the relationship. There would be no potential for growth. This would be a serious crime prosecuted in a criminal court.

In the vast majority of cases parents would be free to establish parenting time as they desire. While negotiating a custom schedule, a default standard would alternate physical custody on a weekly basis. Both parents would share legal custody and would alternate “tie breaker” authority on an annual basis. What would all this mean?

A single judge acting alone could not issue an order that destroys a family. The animosity and terrible waste of resources that goes into Family Court battles about which parent is “better” would be eliminated. Mediation services would be more effective when dealing with equal parents. Children would benefit from regular contact with both parents. Community resources could be better focused on identifying and prosecuting the few bad parents that exist and protecting children.

If we look through our history, the recognition of basic Civil Rights has resulted in some disruption and change — but overall they have strengthened our society. Our nation has seen an explosion of well- intentioned Family Law in the last 40 years. It is now time for a Federal Family Rights Act that will recognize and protect our ability to raise and nurture our own children.

He notes that international treaties take precedence over domestic application of the Constitution. The climate agreement aims to create broad politically malleable mandates to be imposed on industry and individuals, managed from the top by an unelected world government. It would result in unlimited undemocratic government power, much of which will be in the hands of foreigners, with no mechanism to impose restraint against intrusion of any kind – thus, eliminating entirely the nation defined by the Constitution and the American way of life.

I’m not the first to ask. What happens when the employees put in charge of government operations rebel and refuse to play by the rules? It is more than our reasonable expectation that the Constitution remains in force, that the federal government operates within limits, and that our sovereignty remains intact. Every office holder has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution as a condition for holding office. We have a contract and natural rights should they choose to violate it.

We have not yet effectively demanded those rights. It seems at times that we have become convinced that in practice the United States operates as a “pure democracy” in which the will of the majority in Congress cannot be held in check. In our system, merely being elected or having a party majority does not in any sense offer a mandate for unconstitutional dealings. We have been given that impression because, regardless of which party is in control, the other party desires a return to power over all else. The only solution they offer is to vote for them in the next election. Once elected, they follow the same general course of increasing their own power. Clearly, the element of democracy that is in our system – represented in fact by a “two-party system”– has failed.

Even if elections provided such a powerful mandate – and they do not – the choices voters made were the result of blatant fraud.

Over the past three decades, party bosses have operated in secret to engineer a dramatic restructuring of government and a complete transformation of its relationship with the people. It was not done formally as prescribed by the Constitution. Party politicians controlling the national purse used public funding to, in effect, purchase “states’ rights” from state party politicians. State party politicians take the money in part, as a surreptitious increase in state taxes (collected in the form of federal taxes). Party judges, who have also received money in connection with these transactions, have transformed the laws so that they fit rules of federal jurisdiction.

Federal government does not operate by the same rules and relationships as state governments. The tasks assigned to the federal government by the Constitution require broad political discretion, while those left “to the states and to the people” are subject to more stringent checks and balances designed to protect liberty. The greatest cost of unconstitutional federalism is civil rights. The best known example is the federalization of marriage and family law, which resulted in the legal destruction of marriage and family as fundamentally private institutions in the eyes of corrupted law. Marriage and family are now defined as components of government programs, completely under arbitrary political control.

Did you learn that from msnbc? No. CBS? No. Time, Newsweek, New York Times, … It is obvious that the political class has used the established communications networks for deception. And we continue to see it now. Were we told openly about the decades long effort to establish a One World Government? No – politicians continuously denied it. We also know that there is no climate catastrophe requiring political action. Yet when voting, many people were convinced that there was. The so-called “mainstream media” maintained the hoax in support of party politics. The people were deceived. The politicians in power simply ignore criticism and continue to lie.

I respect Lord Monckton’s understanding of the Constitution when he says; “If that treaty is signed, your constitution says that it takes precedence over your constitution, and you can’t resile from that treaty unless you get the agreement from all the other states’ parties.” However, I must assert that the people of the United States are in a position to declare any such agreement null and void. Its purpose is deception, to achieve goals that are not within the Constitutionally authorized powers of government. The People do not agreed to cede national sovereignty. The effect of such an agreement would amount to a coup – an act of war.

Beyond that, it is the American struggle to terminate the public employees who have so despicably violated their contract to that end; and to restore a proper relationship between government and the people.

Health Report:

HPV Virus & Risk of Breast Cancer

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”

Updated:  10/25/2009

The information in this column is intended for informational purposes only, and does not constitute medical advice or recommendations by the author.  Please consult with your physician before making any lifestyle or medication changes, or if you have any other concerns regarding your health.

HPV VIRUS & RISK OF BREAST CANCER

Disclaimer:  As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a widely published author, and a Surgical Oncologist at the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system in Orange County, California

(Anticipated Publication Date:  March 2010)

(Click above image for TV36 interview of Dr. Wascher)

rwascher@doctorwascher.net

Dr. Wascher’s Biography

Links to Other Health & Wellness Sites

http://doctorwascher.com

Copyright 2007 – 2009

Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

All rights reserved

Dr. Wascher’s Archives:

10-18-2009: Post-Cholecystectomy Syndrome (Symptoms after Gallbladder Surgery)

10-11-2009: Vitamin D & Falls in the Elderly

10-4-2009:   Surgery, NSQIP, Complications & Death

9-27-2009    Stress, Heart Disease, Exercise & Death

9-20-2009:   Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival

9-13-2009:   H1N1 Swine Flu Update

9-7-2009:     Green Tea, Aging & Lifespan

8-30-2009:   Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diet & Fiber

8-23-2009:  Update on Prostate Cancer and Cryotherapy

8-16-2009:   Exercise Improves Lymphedema Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors

8-9-2009:   Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death & Vitamin D

8-2-2009:   Honesty, Dishonesty & Brain Function

7-26-2009:   Coronary Artery CT Scans & Cancer Risk

7-19-2009:   Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Ovarian Cancer

7-12-2009:   Breast Cancer & Metformin (Glucophage)

7-5-2009:    Prostate Cancer & Green Tea

6-28-2009:   Air Pollution & the Risk of Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT)

6-21-2009:   Red Yeast Rice, Statins & Cholesterol

6-14-2009:   Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant & Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)

6-7-2009:    Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk

5-31-2009:   Diet and Prostate Cancer Risk

5-24-2009:   Diabetes, Glucose Control & Death

5-17-2009:   Drug Company Marketing & Physician Prescribing Bias

5-10-2009:   Hemorrhoids & Surgery

5-3-2009:     Statin Drugs & Blood Clots (Thromboembolism)

4-26-2009:   Are We Really Losing the War on Cancer?

4-19-2009:    Exercise in Middle Age & Risk of Death

4-12-2009:   Can Chronic Stress Harm Your Heart?

4-5-2009:     Does PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer Save Lives?

3-22-2009:   CABG Surgery vs. PCI in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease; Sweetened Beverages and Coronary Artery Disease

3-15-2009:   Depression, Stress, Anger & Heart Disease

3-8-2009:    Coronary Artery Disease: CABG vs. Stents?; Swimming Lessons & Drowning Risk in Children

3-1-2009:    Aspirin & Colorectal Cancer Prevention; Fish Oil & Respiratory Infections in Children

2-22-2009: Health Differences Between Americans & Europeans; Lycopene & Prostate Cancer

2-15-2009: Statin Drugs & Death Rates; Physical Activity, Breast Cancer & Sex Hormones

2-8-2009:   Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Breast Cancer; Stool DNA Testing & Cancer of the Colon & Rectum

2-1-2009:   Obesity and the Complications of Diverticulosis (Diverticulitis & Bleeding); Obesity, Weight Loss & Urinary Incontinence

1-25-2009: Prostate Cancer, Fatigue & Exercise; Does your Surgeon “Warm-up” Before Surgery?

1-18-2009: Cancer and Vitamins; Teenagers, MySpace and Risky Behaviors

1-11-2009: Exercise Reverses Some Effects of Fatty Meals; Vitamin C and Blood Pressure

1-4-2009:   Secondhand Smoke & Heart Attack Risk; Poor Physical Fitness During Childhood & Heart Disease Risk During Adulthood

12-28-2008: Stress & Your Risk of Heart Attack; Vitamin D & the Prevention of Colon & Rectal Polyps

12-21-2008: Breast Cancer Incidence & Hormone Replacement Therapy; Circumcision & the Risk of HPV & HIV Infection

12-14-2008: Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Selenium Do Not Prevent Cancer; Postscript: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome

12-7-2008:   Generic vs. Brand-Name Drugs, Stress & Breast Cancer Survival

11-30-2008: A Possible Cure for Down’s Syndrome?; Smoking & Cognitive Decline; Calcium & Vitamin D & Breast Cancer Risk

11-23-2008:  Breast Cancer & Fish Oil; Lymphedema after Breast Cancer Treatment; Vasectomy & Prostate Cancer Risk

11-16-2008:  Vitamin E & Vitamin C: No Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Risk; Does Lack of Sleep Increase Stroke & Heart Attack Risk in Hypertensive Patients?

11-9-2008:    Statins Cut Heart Attack Risk Even with Normal Cholesterol Levels; Statins & PSA Level

11-2-2008:    Radiation Treatment of Prostate Cancer & Second Cancers; Sexual Content on TV & Teen Pregnancy Risk

10-26-2008:  Smoking & Quality of Life

10-19-2008:  Agent Orange & Prostate Cancer

10-12-2008:  Pomegranate Juice & Prostate Cancer

10-5-2008:   Central Obesity & Dementia; Diet, Vitamin D, Calcium, & Colon Cancer

9-28-2008:   Publication & Citation Bias in Favor of Industry-Funded Research?

9-21-2008:   Does Tylenol® (Acetaminophen) Cause Asthma?

9-14-208:    Arthroscopic Knee Surgery- No Better than Placebo?; A Healthy Lifestyle Prevents Stroke

8-23-2008:  Alcohol Abuse Before & After Military Deployment; Running & Age; Running & Your Testicles

8-12-2008:  Green Tea & Diabetes; Breastfeeding & Adult Cholesterol Levels; Fish Oil & Senile Macular Degeneration

8-3-2008:   Exercise & Weight Loss; Green Tea, Folic Acid & Breast Cancer Risk; Foreign Language Interpreters & ICU Patients

7-26-2008:  Viagra & Sexual Function in Women; Patient-Reported Adverse Hospital Events; Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

7-13-2008:  Erectile Dysfunction & Frequency of Sex; Muscle Strength & Mortality in Men; Cryoablation for Prostate Cancer

7-6-2008:  Sleep, Melatonin & Breast Cancer Risk; Mediterranean Diet & Cancer Risk; New Treatment for Varicose Veins

6-29-2008:  Bone Marrow Stem Cells & Liver Failure; Vitamin D & Colorectal Cancer Survival; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

6-22-2008:  Obesity, Lifestyle & Heart Disease; Effects of Lifestyle & Nutrition on Prostate Cancer; Ginkgo Biloba, Ulcerative Colitis & Colorectal Cancer

6-15-2008:  Preventable Deaths after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & St. John’s Wort

6-8-2008:  Vitamin D & Prostate Cancer Risk; Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) of Kidney (Renal) Cancer; Antisense Telomerase & Cancer

6-2-2008:  Acute Coronary Syndrome- Do You Know the Symptoms?; Green Tea & Lung Cancer; Episiotomy & Subsequent Deliveries- An Unkind Cut

5-25-2008:  Early Childhood Screening Predicts Later Behavioral Problems; Psychiatric Disorders Among Parents of Autistic Children; Social & Psychiatric Profiles of Young Adults Born Prematurely

5-18-2008:  Can Statins Reverse Coronary Artery Disease?; Does Breast Ultrasound Improve Breast Cancer Detection?; Preventive Care Services at Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers

5-11-2008:  Smoking Cessation & Risk of Death; Childhood Traumas & Adult Suicide Risk; “White Coat Hypertension” & Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

5-4-2008:  Super-Size Me: Fast Food’s Effects on Your Liver; Exercise, Weight & Coronary Artery Disease; Contamination of Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room

4-27-2008:  Stents vs. Bypass Surgery for Coronary Artery Disease; The “DASH” Hypertension Diet & Cardiovascular Disease Prevention; Testosterone Therapy for Women with Decreased Sexual Desire & Function

4-20-2008:  BRCA Breast Cancer Mutations & MRI Scans; Bladder Cancer Prevention with Broccoli?; Diabetes: Risk of Death Due to Heart Attack & Stroke

4-13-2008:  Breast Cancer Recurrence & Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Carotid Artery Disease: Surgery vs. Stents?; Statin Drugs & Cancer Prevention

4-6-2008:  Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), Pap Smear Results & Cervical Cancer; Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Infection & Oral Cancer; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & the Risk of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disorder (GERD)

3-30-2008:  Abdominal Obesity & the Risk of Death in Women; Folic Acid Pretreatment & Heart Attacks; Pancreatic Cancer Regression after Injections of Bacteria

3-23-2008:  Age of Transfused Blood & Risk of Complications after Surgery; Obesity, Blood Pressure & Heart Size in Children

3-16-2008:  Benefits of a Full Drug Coverage Plan for Medicare Patients?; Parent-Teen Conversations about Sex; Soy (Genistein) & Prostate Cancer

3-9-2008:  Flat Colorectal Adenomas & Cancer; Health Risks after Stopping Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); Television, Children & Obesity

3-2-2008:  Medication & Risk of Death After Heart Attack; Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Mammogram Results; Selenium: Cancer, Heart Disease & Death

2-23-2008:  Universal Healthcare Insurance Study; Glucosamine & Arthritis

2-17-2008:  Exceptional Longevity in Men; Testosterone & Risk of Prostate Cancer; Smoking & Pre-malignant Colorectal Polyps

2-10-2008:  Thrombus Aspiration from Coronary Arteries; Intensive Management of Diabetes & Death; Possible Cure for  Down’s Syndrome?

2-3-2008:  Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Health; Vitamin D & Breast Cancer; Green Tea & Colorectal Cancer

1-27-2008:  Colorectal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer & Pancreatic Cancer: Update from the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

1-20-2008:  Testosterone Levels & Risk of Fractures in Elderly Men; Air Pollution & DNA Damage in Sperm; Statins & Trauma Survival in the Elderly

1-12-2008:  Statins, Diabetes & Stroke and Obesity; GERD & Esophageal Cancer

1-7-2008:  Testosterone Supplements in Elderly Men; Colorectal Cancer– Reasons for Poor Compliance with Screening Recommendations

12-31-2007:  Minority Women, Hormone Replacement Therapy & Breast Cancer; Does Health Insurance Improve Health?

12-23-2007:  Is Coffee Safe After a Heart Attack?; Impact of Divorce on the Environment; Hypertension & the Risk of Dementia; Emotional Vitality & the Risk of Heart Disease

12-16-2007:   Honey vs. Dextromethorphan vs. No Treatment for Kids with Night-Time Cough, Acupuncture & Hot Flashes in Women with Breast Cancer, Physical Activity & the Risk of Death, Mediterranean Diet & Mortality

12-11-2007:  Bias in Medical Research; Carbon Nanotubes & Radiofrequency: A New Weapon Against Cancer?; Childhood Obesity & Risk of Adult Heart Disease

12-2-2007:  Obesity & Risk of Cancer; Testosterone Level & Risk of Death; Drug Company Funding of Research & Results; Smoking & the Risk of Colon & Rectal Cancer

Dr. Wascher’s Home Page

*CHOOSE bright, flame-retardant costumes or add reflective tape to costumes and candy bags so children are easily seen in the dark. In addition, carry a glow stick or flashlight.

*PLAN a trick-or-treating route in familiar neighborhoods with well-lit streets. Avoid unfamiliar neighborhoods, streets that are isolated, or homes that are poorly lit inside or outside.

*NEVER send young children out alone. They should always be accompanied by a parent or another trusted adult. Older children should always travel in groups.

*ALWAYS walk younger children to the door to receive treats and don’t let children enter a home unless you are with them.

*BE SURE children do not approach any vehicle, occupied or not, unless you are with them.

*DISCUSS basic pedestrian safety rules that children should use when walking to and from houses.

*CONSIDER organizing a home or community party as an alternative to “trick-or-treating.”

*MAKE sure children know their home phone number and address in case you get separated. Teach children how to call 911 in an emergency.

*TEACH children to say “NO!” or “this is not my mother/father” in a loud voice if someone tries to get them to go somewhere, accept anything other than a treat, or leave with them. And teach them that they should make every effort to get away by kicking, screaming and resisting.

*REMIND children to remain alert and report suspicious incidents to parents and/or law enforcement.

“Child safety is important year round, but Halloween is an especially important time for parents and children to pay extra attention to their surroundings and not let their guard down,” said Nancy McBride, National Safety Director of NCMEC. “It is important that parents exercise a few basic safety precautions to help ensure that Halloween is both fun and safe.”

This year the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children observes its 25th anniversary. NCMEC has played a role in the recovery of more than 138,500 children. Today more children come home safely than ever before. In 2008, NCMEC helped recover more children than any other year in the organization’s 25-year history, raising the recovery rate from 62 percent in 1990 to 97 percent today. And more of those who prey on children are being identified and prosecuted. Yet too many children are still missing and too many children are still the victims of sexual exploitation. There is much more that needs to be done.

NCMEC: www.missingkids.com
NACOP: www.aphf.org

It’s a sympathetic and unfortunate reality, and one that society imposed on women, despite their complaints, at the behest and literal insistence of women themselves. At least enough of them to effect sweeping change.

Modern feminism is the feminism of choices, is it not? And haven’t women by and large demanded compliance with that agenda? Women, most of them, understandably want the freedom to choose their path in life, whether that path is of financial pursuit or the path of family or some frequently complicated combination of both. And society, as it always does with women, accommodates these demands. But while we succeeded in opening doors, we cannot and never will be able to provide an out for the responsibilities and pressures that come with such a menu of options.

Indeed, the only way to reduce the pressure on women is to reduce the number of options they have, and we aren’t going to squeeze that particular glob of toothpaste back into the tube.

The great writer/philosopher Kahlil Gibran wrote:

Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility.

A hundred million other people put it even more succinctly.

Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.

And so now women have gotten what they wanted, or claimed to want. And as in so many other areas it brings them a step closer to the world of men, but only in the abstract; only on the surface.

Men, too, are becoming like stressed rope in the tug-o-war of gender identity, though they never collectively asked for it. Today’s man is called on to be, as much as any woman, all things at once. He is expected to be the warrior standing in harms way, ready to kill and die for our protection and often for less noble causes. He’s also the empathetic counselor with the unending patience to listen and accept; the provider for a home but not it’s leader; the teacher of ideas and ideals, but only those that pass feminine muster.

He is the savior, the pin cushion, the straining back of labor and the sponge for our social scorn. He is the powerless servant reviled for having too much power; the identified problem and the secret solution. And he is always, always the one we induce to act when the Ultimate Sacrifice is required.

These splintered expectations of men were not a result of choices, but of obligations; not an escape from their gender role, but proof of men being inextricably chained to it.

And as laudable as are any efforts toward equalitarianism, the seemingly mirrored struggle of men and women with identity is not evidence of progress to that end, but an indicator that we are going in the wrong direction.

For in the final analysis, women are complaining about the stresses that come with freedom and men are remaining silent about the burdens that come with servitude and expectation.

Equality is an impossible yet noble objective. It is something we strive for knowing it can’t be accomplished. It would behoove us to pursue such unobtainable objectives with at least some measure of thoughtfulness. To date, we haven’t done so well in that department.

But we will come perhaps a small step closer to that unreachable finish line when men are routinely encouraged to voice their frustrations with the twisting, often clashing demands of social pressure.

Or, when women are routinely encouraged to stop.

Paul Elam is the Editor-in-Chief of Men’s news Daily and the publisher of A Voice for Men.

And with a flourish, that MRA disappears from the scene.  Sometimes even for good.
What that person is typically missing is the viral nature of the men’s rights movement. We do not lead.  We do not tell the “masses” what to think…  This is not a top down organization, if “organization” as a term even remotely applies.

We are not a shaper, a mover, a shaker, or any other kind of “power” in the sense that we can effect real change ourselves.
It is the failure to recognize this blunt fact that some MRA’s have trouble coming to grips with.

…What we do is refuse to allow people to be silenced…
In a relatively well known essay, another prominent MRA has described us as people who are simply “telling [society] what time it is”.  I personally agree, with a caveat.  In knowing the time before others, we can shape the “message”…the spin, as it were, on the issue.

I know, it’s crass.  But it’s the truth.  We have naught but the ability to frame an argument, in the hopes of public support.  We cannot effect direct change without massive expenditures for minimum return.

But, like the rocket scientists we all wanted to be until we found out how mind-numbingly boring it would be, we can effect change in the long term.  Small course changes amount to big corrections over time.  We can frame the debate on OUR terms, if we start now, and persist.

In fact, we should press that agenda at every turn.

Want proof this is necessary, and effective?

Look at Feminism.  What did they do?  Effect change directly?  No, they manipulated public opinion through various channels, until the changes they desired could be supported through public sentiment (however manufactured).  It must also be noted that they shut down opposition vehemently, and continue to try to do so to this day…at the expense of actual equality it seems…

These lessons are not meant to be lost, but modified.  We have no need to lie, or cruelly manipulate, like feminists have done for decades.  But we need to frame the debate in terms of men, and maleness, as being essentially, and inherently, valuable.

The “worst” part about a false accusation of rape is NOT, for instance, any supposed “chilling effect” on “real victims”…that detracts from (hell, completely ignores) the REAL victim of false accusation…namely, the guy.  Not allowing ANYONE, be it a “friendly” person or not, to frame this type of issue in this way without first and foremost acknowledging the hell it puts a man through is, I think, the first thing MRA’s should have in mind.

By that, I mean that denigrating men, even through omission or inference, cannot, and should not, be tolerated.

Again, for proof look to feminist behaviour.

“Oppression Olympics” ring a bell?  How about shaming language meant to shut men up mid-complaint?  “Poor white male” comments ever get thrown your way?

Simultaneously controlling both the debate and the language, while suppressing dissenting voices, was the formula Feminism followed for success.  Our job as MRA’s is merely the job of publicizing that fact, and exposing the government, certainly various swaths thereof at best, as the massive cynical man-hating parasite it really is, feeding from such a hateful ideology…

It really is that simple.  And that complicated.
Getting heard is not easy these days, and lack of credibility will lose you a ton of public respect…hey, just ask me, I’ll tell you.

It takes diligence, and a focused effort..but really, only sporadically.

Want to be an effective MRA?  Want to effect real change?  In a hurry?  Here’s how.  Go to www.standyourground.com (for simplicity’s sake), post on a thread in the introductions section, and list your skills.  What do you do for a job, what do you like to do for a hobby.  What city you live in.  Make yourself available for some small labour projects.  I understand about the protesting and the embarrassment thing…if you’re not into it, no one’s going to twist your arm.

Write articles, if you can write.  I do a magazine…send an article in for consideration.  Do research for someone if he can write, but can’t research.  Put yourself on a mailing list (try SYG again…why not?) and offer to email your representatives with questions.  Are you an artist?  Make some art…we can always use cultural pieces regarding men’s issues…hell, it’sactually a glaring deficiency, so if you can, please do!  Know how to crunch numbers?  Compile data for the poor souls like me whose eyes cross immediately upon laying them on a multi page spreadsheet…

Many of you do this already.  Keep doing it, or if you get bored, move on to something else for a while…come back when you feel ready for it again.

This is a grassroots movement here people.  Try not to forget that.  All we need do, is let the most men know as we possibly can, that it’s OK to feel however they feel, that it’s OK to think certain aspects of society are bull, that men deserve equal rights, and that anyone who takes issue with this idea is the jerk, not the person advocating for it.  The important thing is, to do the absolute best job of it we can, and put our best argument as far forward as we can.

When the term “mens rights advocate/activist” no longer confuses, we will have won.  And the best part is, to arrive there, all we need do is tell the truth. And no, it doesn’t have to be a full time job…as long as the job gets done…you know?

Thanks for Listening

He had never been married to or even cohabiting with the boy’s mother. The two had a brief affair and when the mother had the baby in 1987, she told Hatley that the baby was his.

A couple of years later, the mother applied for and received public assistance. The state demanded reimbursement from Hatley who agreed to make those payments believing the boy was in fact his son. In 2000, DNA tests showed that Hatley was not the biological father. A court ordered that Hatley be relieved of any obligations for future support of the boy. However, this order did not relieve him of the back payments owed when it had been assumed he was the father so Hatley continued making those payments from the money he earned at his job of unloading charcoal grills from shipping containers.

In 2007, Hatley was laid off from his job. Unable to afford housing, he lived out of his car. Nevertheless, he continued to make child support payments to the state out of his unemployment benefits.

However, he fell behind in his payments, was found in contempt of court and jailed. He was recently released because he is indigent. Soon after his release, a judge relieved him from any obligation to pay the support on which he was in arrears – but which he never should have owed in the first place.

It is good that Hatley is free and relieved of any future financial obligations in the case. However, this does not rectify the injustice that he has suffered. It does not return the money he already paid out of his extremely limited funds nor does it make up for the thirteen months he spent in jail.

The Hatley case illustrates a crying need for an overhaul of the child support system. Firstly, there is the fact that poverty is not a defense against the failure to pay child support. Even if the child had been his, the facts are that Hatley was unable to adequately support himself and did not have the money to support the child. However, the law took a jobless, penniless man living out of his car to jail for not making child support payments. This is a modern day version of the old Victorian horror of debtor’s prison.

People should not go to jail in 21st Century America just for being poor – but Frank Hatley did and so have many others.

Of course, the case began because of a misidentification in paternity. Many observers would criticize the mother as a liar and see her as someone who should be prosecuted for what is often called “paternity fraud.” I do not. The mother was there at the time of the conception but it is unlikely that she was taking notes. Human memory is extremely fallible and this fallibility is exacerbated by the emotionality of questions involving sex and reproduction. Given these truths, a DNA test should be routinely taken before paternity is assigned. If the DNA test is negative, a man could still voluntarily agree to assume the role of the father – with the financial responsibilities incurred as a result – but it would be his free and informed choice.

That we need to fix this system is obvious when a man has been treated as a criminal and jailed for failing to provide money he does not have for a child who is not his.

ALL ABOUT  MANIPULATION OF CLIENTS

I recently stumbled upon a mental health information and referral website operating at allaboutcounseling.com. In it, I discovered several misleading elements, including the dissemination of fraudulent statistics on several social issues, including, but not limited to, domestic violence. Most disturbing, however, was the way the site publishers used the misleading information as an invitation to radical feminism, a political ideology.  It was a bait and switch with a horrific paucity of ethical values mandated for the professionals they represent.

Most of the mental health related “helping professions” e.g., psychotherapists, social workers, psychologists and counselors, have a code of ethics that guides their professional conduct.  They are sworn, supposedly at the risk of their professional licenses, to follow the ethical mandates of that code in how they conduct their practices and in their relationships with clients.

The rules require them to maintain objectivity, to offer accurate information to the best of their ability and to act in the clients best interests at all times.

Failing to do that is considered professional abuse and is subject to sanctions.  In most places, professionals are admonished to take all this into account regarding their professional affiliations as well.

In other words, aligning themselves with other professionals or organizations that act to the detriment of those ethical standards is strictly forbidden.

Why then, one must wonder, are there so many therapists that get client referrals though the website that operates under the name ALLABOUTCOUNSELING.COM?

ALLABOUTCOUNSELING.COM is on the surface a simple referral resource for helping people find mental health services, and for connecting mental health professionals to possible clients.

What is disturbing is that the site doubles as a tool for the political indoctrination of prospective clients.  They weave information on mental health services with a pro-feminist and overtly anti-male agenda, and target that message at people who are logically presumed to be at highly vulnerable points in their lives.

ALLABOUTCOUNSELING.COM quotes statistics on issues like rape, sexual abuse, domestic violence and even alleged wage gap information. Almost all of it is wildly inaccurate and misleading, much of it without the benefit of research sources.  Most of this “information” has been thoroughly debunked by sound and unbiased research so its presence on the site can only be interpreted as calculated to deceive.

For example, they state that half of all marriages experience domestic violence, a complete falsehood.  The Centers for Disease Control put the percentage at less than one quarter, and many other valid studies point to even less frequency.

The site erroneously claims throughout in the information pages that it is almost exclusively women that are the victims of that violence and that the small fraction of women who are violent only commit that violence in self defense.

Women who are victims of violence are a serious problem, but they won’t be helped with deceptive propaganda that is designed more to indoctrinate than it is to help.  And this is where ethical violations are quite clear.

ALLABOUTCOUNSELING.COM proffers a redundant message that demonizes men, and paints women as victims in every way imaginable. And intertwined with their entire body of false statistics and misleading statements are pitches for feminism, dangling the philosophy like a carrot before clients with the unmistakable implication that it is an integral part of the overall mental health picture for women.  In short, to be sane is to be feminist.

Think about what that means.  People come to the website, usually in enough emotional pain to make them vulnerable and impressionable, and rather than offering an objective, truthful and beneficial doorway into improved living, the authors of the site exploit that pain and vulnerability in order to further their own political agenda.

What would you think of a psychotherapist that implies to their clients that some of the solutions to their emotional difficulties are to be found in the Republican Party?  How about a solution that tells people that saving the environment will also save their marriage?

That is precisely the approach taken by ALLABOUTCOUNSELING.COM

Political organizations and philosophies are not considered a valid form of mental health treatment by caring, objective and competent professionals. In fact, the truly professional and skilled in the field would never associate themselves with such practices.

This insanity needs to end, and that starts with the professionals who list their services in the ALLABOUTCOUNSELING.COM directory.

Following is a list of said clinicians (original article only) from the state of California, with their names and contact information as listed in the directory.

I will start with them, sending and email and a link to this article and an explanation of why they should divest themselves from ALLABOUTCOUNSELING.COM

It is hard to know how many of them are aware of the breeches in ethics on the site, but they will after being contacted.

End.

I linked this piece in an email to all the treatment providers listed for California advising them that according to the ethical standards for their state, a professional affiliation with an organization that is using disinformation as political propaganda is patently unethical.  Many of them subsequently divested their involvement with allaboutcounseling.com but the site itself has refused communication with me about its practices and continues unabated.

After consulting with Publisher Mike LaSalle, we are both in agreement that just walking away from this egregious abuse of the public trust is unacceptable.

On behalf of MND I am now asking all MRA’s to copy this article in its entirety, or link to it from their blogs and websites, and to use key words, e.g. allaboutcounseling, client abuse, breech of ethics, hate speech, that will help with search engine results.

Per the following email, I have given the California group 30 days to have their services removed from allaboutcounseling.com After that time, I will write an update to this article which will include their names, phone numbers and the addresses of their practices.

Email:

The internet is awash in men’s rights movement sites. They are ‘organic’ rather than manufactured. They are growing rather than fabricated. Many have been around for a while, while some burst upon the scene and disappear in a year for want of nurture.  Each is built around one man, often working in the evening in a small room. These string & waxmen are paving the way, often with an idea to help society by gathering information and opinion and ‘friends’.  Creating the necessary elements of the MRM.

It is astonishing what a little technology and wit can produce. There are forums, mini-communities where discussion and ‘education’ goes on informally. There are more formal and directed efforts which focus attention on specific issues. There are sites which gain a reputation either as a small centre of critical opinion limited only by the verve of the owner or because of a striking personality or both (AH for example) or because of a strong and maintained focus. They become Nodes.

Most remain small and have little or just small effect. Some rise to prominence and lead aspects of the Movement. Repetition of content or view is rife and often the ‘next step’ is not taken, whatever that step might be. Unless one comes across them almost by accident, they remain unidentified by the public even when Joe does a ‘search’. We remain ‘obscure’. In the factory on the bench; in the greenhouse on the shelf.

Men’s Rights Organisations are on the ground too. You might be surprised to know just how many there are. In fact I doubt anyone actually knows how many there are or where they are or what they are doing.  And not just in America, the land of the Unknown Braves, but elsewhere in the world.

They are all tackling many aspects of MRM issues, Father’s issues, Children’s issues, social issues, educational and legislative influence issues, sometimes – I suspect – completely oblivious to the efforts of the others or what works and what doesn’t.

Now we can all name a few, our ‘favourites, local to us or far afield, but who is to be asked? And if I ask YOU, what ‘coverage’ can you give? What is the depth and breadth of your knowledge?

There are people, men and women, who have written books of essential interest to men. I have never been able to find a list anywhere of all the books that are relevant to the MRM. Where do I find such a list? I have had people react in surprise when I have mentioned a particular book with ‘I have never heard of that one’. I am not at all surprised. New people coming into the MRM could be directed to a wealth of material, but who is to do that?

I could name perhaps ten Journalists in five countries that I would consider MRM-friendly. How many more are there out there? Barbara Kay in Canada. Who has read any of Barbara’s work?  Who gets it regularly? Andrew Bolt in Australia. That woman, Wossername in the UK. Thingy in WosseState in America. Who do YOU know of and do you have a list of their articles relevant to MRM matters?

Several fine MRAs have taken it upon themselves to provide ‘Service’. Our own Leader here is Mike LaSalle. What a publication he has started. Our best so far.  There is John Dias with his Misandry Review. A great servive to your email in-box. There is Pierce Harlan with his False Rape reporting. Yep, a good Lawyer. Thare had to be one !  There is Glenn Sacks with his tireless efforts that have galvanised people to action around a variety of issues. There are already stellar organisations – again, born in and living in small rooms in the evenings – like RADAR, for example – reliant on just a few people.  Small stars but shining Light into darkness.

Such people have a vision and a drive to share themselves unselfishly. We need courageous men like this who answer the question – Who does the Grail Serve. It does not serve them as there is neither fame nor fortune in their sights. They serve us.

We need such men. We also need some more who can do the dogged work behind ‘service’. We need the chaps in their small rooms to do a variety of ‘Taxonomy work’.  Of vital need are men who can find out who is doing what. Men who can collect basic information; identify all, and I mean all, the Groups, the sites, the blogs, the forums, the Organisations, the men’s charities, the legal provisions for men, the health providers, the Journalists and the newspapers the TV stations and radio stations that are MRM-issue friendly, the Men’s academics, the men’s writers, etc etc. In every country. And we need a central organising effort that can direct this modest task and collate the information, the lists, the types etc and act as a repository.

So, some of you might comment here on this small offering, this small voice on a page. Please, append with your comment an identification of five or six MRM ‘elements’ that you know of.

Make a start. Someone, somewhere might take it up.

In fact, if the idea of doing six month’s work appeals, an hour here, an hour there, collecting and collating information, volunteer and get to it.

A good mechanic could bolt them all together in no time.

Ask, ‘Who does the Grail Serve’.

And answer with your service, even a small service.

By the way, do we have any Learjet pilots around?

Producer/director Angelo Lobo says he made SUPPORT? System Down to, “give a voice to millions suffering through custody battles and losing sight of their children, in many cases forever!”

The film is educational and provocative, and Lobo hopes to spark a call to action.  He insists that reform is much-needed in the family courts.  “How is it that society accepts the idea of ’standard visitation’ which often allows children of divorce or separation to see their beloved parent, usually fathers but sometimes mothers, only 4 days a month, if that? It’s not enough time,” said Lobo.

One recent child support case reported on CNN (8/11/09) supports the film’s premise that something is seriously wrong with the system. Georgia’s Frank Hatley spent a year in jail for owing back child support reimbursement although he is childless. The system knew that Hatley was not the father, yet incarcerated him anyway. Hatley was recently released from jail after his case came to the attention of a human rights group who intervened on his behalf.

SUPPORT? includes interviews with parents, professionals, family rights advocates and equal parenting activists like New York’s John Murtari of akidsright.org.  After refusing to eat or drink voluntarily while incarcerated for child support arrears, Murtari was fed via Nasal-Gastric tube for 123 days.  The film also includes Harry Crouch of the National Coalition for Men, California Men’s Centers and PaternityFraudDNA, Glenn Sacks of Fathers & Families in MA and yours truly.

Murtari, who watched the film with Karen DeCrow when it played in New York and who plans on attending the Atlanta showing says, “Karen DeCrow [Syracuse area, former President of NOW], who I believe is one of America’s legendary feminist icons, will appear in the new documentary movie Support? System Down expressing the views of millions of Americans.  We have a serious problem of our families being torn apart by a broken system in Family Court.”

Crouch said, “During the production of this film the producer, Angelo Lobo, was rejected from court houses, refused interviews, and even threatened. It appears a concerted effort has been to suppress his film too, though I trust the film’s showing in the Atlanta Film Festival will be the first of many showings regardless of political pressures to bury the truth about the family (in)justice system.”

You can see SUPPORT? System Down at Underground Atlanta’s Event Loft this Satuday, September 26 at 4:00 pm.  A single film viewing pass is just $3.99.  Buy your ticket here.  MAP Due to the recent flooding in the Atlanta area I’ve included this road closure map.

Watch the movie trailers HERE.

Subscribe to my family rights articles by email or RSS.

• Tortured for child support – part one
• Tortured for child support – part two
• Tortured for child support – part three
• Tortured for child support – part four
• Dirty little secrets of domestic violence programs
• Abducted child’s father faces prison for peaceful protest
• Family Rights 101: Why is there a fathers rights movement?
• Family Rights 101: Where can I learn more and hear victim stories?
• Parental alienation information and support
• Equal custody advocates offer help to unmarried and divorcing parents

According to Ash Patil, President of shared parenting group Fathers4Equality, “These provisions in the family law act were specifically implemented to reduce the epidemic of false allegations and parental alienation that permeate every corridor of the Family Law Courts, to the clear detriment of the innocent children caught in the cross-fire.

But Bryant wants them removed, and fails to explain how the innocent victims of maliciously false allegations would be protected without them.

James Adams adds, “What is more astonishing it seems is that unlike the parliamentary committee that recommended these laws in the first place, the Chief Justice has not consulted widely before making such an extraordinary intervention (in fact she has not consulted with any fathers’ groups at all).

Rightly or wrongly, Bryant will now be perceived to have compromised views on this issue, denying her the opportunity to have played a unifying force in the process of family law reform in this country, much like the wasted opportunities of her predecessor.”

The two provisions Bryant wants specifically removed include:

*the order of costs, at the Judge’s discretion, against a parent who has been proven to have “knowingly” made false allegation in Court,

and

*unspecified actions, at the Judges’s discretion, against a parent who has purposely alienated or deliberately maligned the children against the other parent.

The importance of these provisions Patil explains.  ”These provisions have been specifically implemented to reduce the disturbingly common practices by some separated parents in making contrived and sinister allegations in Court against the other parent, and to otherwise engage in concerted efforts to destroy the relationship between the child and the other parent. This is done knowing full well the children will be irrevocably harmed in the process, both psychologically and emotionally.

Yet it goes on and will continue to go on given human nature, unless we have laws to help it stop.

“So these are ‘good’, modest provisions designed to stop misguided parents from misusing the system and abusing innocent children”  were introduced only after extensive community consultation.

According to Adams “These provisions were agreed to by a bi-partisan parliamentary committee (both Labor and Libs/Nats) that went around Australia canvassing the views of all Australians for over two years.

Finally this committee was so appalled at the extent of institutional abuse in the Family Court that it recommended measures to protect innocent children and parents who were victims of contrived allegations and parental alienation by spiteful ex-partners.

” But Bryant wants to override the will of the Australian people and the will of Parliament, and to completely remove all disincentives against lying in the Family Court.

Really soft penalty for a very serious crime.

Patil, who claims that many F4E members are subjected to false allegations, states that “Proving that someone has ‘knowingly’ made false allegations rather than ‘mistakenly’ or ‘recklessly’ is quite a tall order. The standard of proof in these matters is a very tough hurdle to pass, and as a result ‘knowingly false’ allegations have only been proven in a relatively few cases in recent years.

If they are proved, they may result in a costs order, although this has been rarely applied in children’s matters by the judiciary. “Now given that perjury in any other Australian court may result in 10 years or more jail time, one must be mindful of the fact that this is a really soft penalty for a very serious crime.

It is a provision however that can work as a disincentive, albeit a modest one, in dissuading many parents from lying in the Family Court in the first place.” So these are “good”, modest provisions designed as a disincentive to those misguided parents who may in a moment of weakness be tempted to make contrived allegations in Court.

Measured responses to issues of concern Patil and Adams are frustrated by the logic used by the Chief Justice, and Patil adds that “Bryant justifies the need for these changes by suggesting that some people have misunderstood these provisions.

Even if this is true, her suggested fix is a remarkable over-reaction to an issue that could be addressed through a number of simple measures.” “Given that most parents in family law proceedings are either represented by lawyers, have visited a family relationship centre or have sought government funded legal services, a simple review could identify the cause of this misinformation from within these service providers, and provide an opportunity for corrective measures to be implemented.”

Adams wonders why the Chief Justice needs to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and opines that “a request to the Attorney General to implement an educational campaign to educate parents about these provisions would go a long way in addressing any existing misconceptions, and would be a more measured and effective approach to the issue at hand.”

Adams continues “Given the unprecedented nature of these family law amendments, what is required are sensible, well-measured & ultimately timely approaches to these issues, in order to allow for proper outcomes based research to develop. Anything less than this would put at risk the very wellbeing of those we are trying to protect.”

Broader consultations as a first step Fathers4Equality would like to encourage the Chief Justice to put some thought into what checks and measures she would alternatively suggest be implemented, if the current provisions are removed, to protect children from the devastating damage resulting from alienation and perjury in Court.

Given that lying in the Family Court and parental alienation are forms of child abuse, we stress the importance of carefully considering the implications to the welfare of children if these safeguards are removed.

Secondly and in reference to a recent campaign that has promoted a less than accurate reflection of these new laws, we would ask the Chief Justice to consider making a public statement to the effect, as is the case, that no evidence exists of any escalation of child abuse as a result of the new amendments.

This would be an important statement from the Chief Justice in the interests of an informed community discussion on this matter, and would help ensure that the debate is discussed in terms of facts, not innuendo.

Finally, we would like to draw attention to the increasingly under-resourced and overworked child protection authorities in this country, and the fact that too many cases of genuine abuse are not thoroughly investigated, in part because of the level of false allegations emanating from the Family Court.

It must be recognised that for every hour that a child protection officer is investigating a false allegation, it is one hour less protection that can be given to a child in genuine need, and this is a cost that the children of Australia simply cannot afford. Fathers4Equality would be open to discussing these important issues further with the Chief Justice, if she is willing to accept our invitation.

Dispensing with morality is the trademark modus of feminists, yet they still insist on spreading the belief that they have the high moral ground. It is all false of course and holding the two opposing stances leads inexorably to neurosis; another Feminist trademark.

Such neurosis marked feminism up to the 60’s; after which it turned psychotic.

The psychosis evidences as the full-blown anti-life stances of feminism which graduates up from the ‘pill’ to abortion to infanticide. Stopping life is one thing, killing it before or after birth is another. But women have taken the God-kept right to themselves.

Dr Jennifer Roeback Morse puts the matter of abortion in clear and incontrvertible terms:- Human existence contains only two defining instants, which are conception and death. And this is not a matter of “religion” or ‘Feminist religion’ but of biology.

All other milestones, no matter how dramatically recognized in society, amount to transitional phases in the human life cycle.  So despite all of the grandiose but empty oratory, any individual who does not advocate the defense of all innocent human life between those two landmarks is an individual who holds no regard for the sanctity of human life on the whole.

Feminists demand abortion. On their demand. On their whim. No questions asked. No interference – especially from a father – countenanced. Any reason will do to assuage whatever conscience they have.

But that still, small voice will not be silenced by Legislation or mendacity or the shrill Hilary. Even shouting loudly in just her one ear, it talks, for women of course. But it opens the door for all of feminism to be aborted.

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/09/04/killing-girls-is-bad-killing-b

Special Report

Killing Girls Is Bad, Killing Boys Is Okay.

By Doug Bandow on 9.4.09 @ 6:09AM

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is upset about abortion. Well, not abortion per se. But some abortions. Of girls. Apparently killing boys is okay.

Abortion is one issue never likely to disappear. It sets protection of life and liberty in apparent conflict and raises challenging issues such as responsibility and privacy. Abortion isn’t amenable to easy political compromise and any resolution is apt to leave a lot of people feeling uncomfortable.

But the issue can’t be avoided. The bottom line of abortion is a dead baby.

No amount of obfuscation and euphemism can hide the obvious. And if abortion is a legal right, beyond regulation by government, then motivation is irrelevant.

If you have a right to kill all babies, you have a right to kill girl babies.

However, Secretary Clinton, a supporter of unrestricted abortion, appears disturbed by the logical outcome of her policy preferences.

In commenting on her international agenda for women, she observed that in some nations “girl babies are still being put out to die.” Moreover, she explained: “Obviously, there’s work to be done in both India and China, because the infanticide rate of girl babies is still overwhelmingly high, and unfortunately with technology, parents are able to use sonograms to determine the sex of a baby, and to abort girl children simply because they’d rather have a boy. And those are deeply set attitudes.”

Secretary Clinton’s remarks received surprisingly little comment from those she should have most offended — other advocates of abortion “rights.”

Pro-lifers suggested that Secretary Clinton was a traitor to the abortion cause, but Laurie Carlsson defended the secretary’s “nuanced view” on an issue that is “neither simple, nor clean-cut along lines of political beliefs or moral values.”

Yet Secretary Clinton challenged two fundamental precepts of the case for legalized abortion.

First, she tied the “infanticide rate of girl babies” to sex selection abortions.

If sex-based infanticide and abortion are morally equivalent, then non-discriminatory infanticide and abortion should be morally equivalent as well.

Secretary Clinton has raised the core moral challenge of abortion: once we enter the continuum of life, our essential humanity has been established. The moment of birth has no obvious moral distinction.

Else why would Secretary Clinton be as upset with those who abort baby girls as with those who put newborn girls out to die?

Second, Secretary Clinton undercuts the essential argument of abortion activists: there is a right to unrestricted abortion (or abortion “on demand”).

That means for any reason.

However, the secretary has identified, to her, at least, one illegitimate reason.

If there is one, might there not be others?

There are obvious social consequences of sex selection via abortion: for instance, a lot of men who can’t find wives. But that doesn’t seem to be Secretary Clinton’s point. Rather, she is concerned, rightly, about the moral implications of this practice.

It is almost an axiom on the Left that there is no worse offense than to “discriminate,” which makes sex selection abortion so odious to some.

National Post writer Barbara Kay says “sex selection is a form of bias — arguably even a form of hatred — against an identifiable group.” But surely sex selection is not the only form of inappropriate discrimination. How about abortion of the handicapped, whether physical or mental?

Writer George Neumayr has warned: “Without much scrutiny or debate, a eugenics designed to weed out the disabled has become commonplace.”

This also is discrimination. But discrimination, or even “hatred,” doesn’t necessarily stop there.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently discussed Roe v. Wade and noted the “concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of.”

Presumably she was referring to racial minorities, though there could be other disfavored groups. Cannot abortion be considered a form of society-wide discrimination?

And if we can judge the motives of those who choose abortion, then should we not critically assess other purported justifications? Why is it worse to decide that the baby’s sex is “wrong” than to decide that the pregnancy’s timing is “wrong.”

Secretary Clinton’s apparent position, that people are free to choose abortion for any reason, except the one reason she finds most offensive, is intellectually unsustainable.

Perhaps the secretary still believes the procedure should be legal, and that the “work to be done” is persuading people not to abort their baby girls. Yet she mentions infanticide in the same sentence as abortion, and presumably she believes that more than persuasion is necessary in the former case.

Again, there is no clear line between infanticide and abortion.

The females are killed: the only question is when?

In any case, the law is never going to be able to control motives. If other abortions are legal, then anyone desiring one for the purpose of sex selection merely need state anything else — or nothing — and the law would not stand in the way.

Australia, Canada, China, and India all formally ban the practice. Oklahoma has legislated against sex-selection abortions. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) has introduced a bill imposing a federal prohibition. However, these measures are wasted effort so long as abortion is largely unrestricted.

Secretary Clinton has grasped an essential truth: It is wrong to kill baby girls. But it also is wrong to kill baby boys.

The problem is not sex selection abortion.

The problem is abortion.

Many politicians desperately hope that the issue will just go away. But it won’t. Abortion remains one of today’s most profound moral challenges.

Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfer, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, recently published a very interesting research report about the subjective happiness of men and women. If you want to you can read the whole paper, but the most important findings are summarized in the abstract:

By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women’s happiness has declined both absolutely and relative to men. The paradox of women’s declining relative well-being is found across various datasets, measures of subjective well-being, and is pervasive across demographic groups and industrialized countries. Relative declines in female happiness have eroded a gender gap in happiness in which women in the 1970s typically reported higher subjective well-being than did men. These declines have continued and a new gender gap is emerging—one with higher subjective well-being for men.

These results are very interesting. What the research shows is that as women have entered the workforce, their subjective happiness has declined. Contrary to what is politically correct, women were happier when they were housewives than they are nowadays. How can we explain these results?

1. Working outside the home is not as glamorous as feminism would have us believe. Many jobs are exhausting without offering a large monetary reward.
2. Many women are torn between the feminist expectation to work fulltime throughout life, and their own desire to work part-time when the children are small.
3. Young women are taught that they can have it all: a successful career, a loving relationship, beautiful children and interesting vacations. In reality, life is much more messy and you often need to sacrifice what is important to you in order to achieve something that is even more important to you. Impossible standards lead to unhappiness.

The researchers themselves also have an interesting theory about the declining happiness of women:

First, there may be other important socio-economic forces that have made women worse off. A number of important macro trends have been documented—decreased social cohesion (Putnam, 2000), increased anxiety and neuroticism (Twenge, 2000), and increased household risk (Hacker, 2006). While each of these trends have impacted both men and women, it is possible for even apparently gender-neutral trends to have gender-biased impacts if men and women respond differently to these forces. For example, if women are more risk averse than men, then an increase in risk may lower women’s utility relative to that of men.

In effect, what they are saying is that women and men have had certain roles for thousands of years, and our biological and cultural makeup have adapted to those roles. Sudden changes to those roles may cause a stressful reaction in either sex, and according to this research women’s liberation has actually been more stressful to women than to men.

So what can we learn from this research report? First of all it informs us that the traditional gender roles gave women a higher subjective happiness than men, a finding that flies in the face of feminist theory. Second of all, it is inviting us to admit once and for all that there are innate differences between the sexes, and that gender equality does not necessarily mean gender sameness. This is not to say that we should go back in time and re-create stereotypical gender roles that offer little freedom to either sex. It simply means that the project to make men and women exactly the same is a futile one, and a better strategy would be to support men and women in their individual choices, and in having the lifestyles that they desire. If we do that, instead of shoving radical feminism down people’s throats, chances are that the subjective happiness for both sexes would increase.

Pelle Billing is an M.D. who writes and lectures about men’s issues and gender liberation beyond feminism.

It did take a while to get autism as the official diagnosis. But we started asking questions right away. The first roadblock was that the autism upsurge we are seeing began a year or two before X was born. We were told how badly the system was slammed, so they wouldn’t even begin the evaluation until he was three years old.

During our 18 month wait for assessment we started hearing word about the MMR and stopped his vaccinations. From that point, to this day, folks (like teachers of autistic children, social workers, etc.) have been telling us not to give autistic children the seasonal flu shots and to skip the second MMR too.

As much as I disagree with most of what the public is told about autism, I do understand what’s going on. Currently the autism prevalence figure widely promoted is, 1 in 150 children are autistic. There was an upsurge in the mid 1990’s and the vaccines or rather a mercury based preservative (Thiomersal) in the vacancies was blamed. But, the studies said it wasn’t to blame. Yet without any legal mandate the producers of vaccines stopped using Thiomersal in all vaccines except in the seasonal flu shots, which require it for some reason.

Now we have an even larger — try massive — upsurge in autism. Currently the CDC and NIH have the next/latest autism prevalence figure undergoing “peer reviews.” I’m all for thorough peer review and do admit I tend to ignore studies and figures that aren’t exhaustively vetted before release. However, many believe this review set is being dragged out for more than just political reasons.

The reform effort is all about “the numbers.” So I’ll cover some with you. The 1 in 150 prevalence figure is somewhat rounded up to an easy to say number. The accurate currently published autism prevalence figure is 6 in 1000. Thus 1 in 150 is actually too high. The new prevalence figure for autism is expected to be more than 12 in 1000, but is already being called 1 in 100. So the media is prepping to say something like “… Autism prevalence is up from 1 in 150 to 1 in 100, a 33% jump …” when the truth is, it will be more than a 100% increase (doubled) in 2 years!

This new prevalence number reflects the addition of the children that started school in the 2007-2008 through 2009-2010 school years, thus those born between 2003 and 2004. This massive upsurge comes from the children born those two years. Currently more children are annually diagnosed with Autism than are for AIDS, diabetes, and cancer combined. Once the new prevalence figure is released autistic children will represent at least 1.2% of all school age children.

See: “Introduction to Future of Autism Keynote Panel” for the first unofficial release of the new prevalence figure by the Autism Society of America.

Here are some of the raw numbers, by state.

State index

State Level Autism Insurance Reform Efforts

Although my personal focus has been on support for the autistic, all developmentally disabled (DD) are currently excluded from health care equity/parity under the current Federal Statutes. This leaves the states and private insurers able to deny coverage under both private and public health insurance plans.

The best reference for what is classified as DD is found in the World Health Organization’s, “International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, Version for 2007″ (IDC), in Chapter V, Mental and behavioural disorders, Disorders of psychological development, Blocks F80-F89

All those listed in these blocks of the IDC that do not have an associated medical condition(s) or mental health classification(s) are currently at risk of total omission from the current health care reform bills. Inclusion of the full range of Developmental Disability classifications, along with the existing classifications of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, need to be addressed in advance of any health care reform legislative actions.

The shortest route to these ends would be an amendment to include DD in the Mental Health Parity and Addition Equity Act of 2008. However, the two authors of this Act are gone; Paul Wellstone was killed in an airplane crash and Pete Domenici retired due to health reasons. Finding sponsors who will enact legislation that will cost insurance companies a lot of money, arguably more than any one health inclusion has to date, has been a tough sell to say the least.

Early estimates say this latest upsurge in autism alone is going to cost between $300 Billion to upwards of $600 Billion – just for autism treatment – over the next ten years; above and beyond what we are being told Health Care reform will cost. This estimate does not include the cost of research to determine what caused this unexpected upsurge. Based on current costs of services, you can figure about $100K per autistic child, per year (for ball-parking numbers). How long they need treatment ranges from grades Pre-K through 6, up to lifetime support. The level of services needed range from $60K to $200K per child, per year depending on the degree of their affliction. So you can see that developing actuaries is going to be a daunting task.

Insiders say the real push for Health Care reform to happen now is being driven by various insurance and Pharmco entities so the laws, as written – that currently exclude parity/equity for autism – are passed and signed into law before the new prevalence figure goes “media public.”

Among the myriad of lies we are being told is that the current health care reform bills all include parity/equity for DD children, including autism. Not true. Review of the bills by legal scholars, coupled with a strong understanding of the complexities of our federal statutory construct tells the whole truth.

For example; H.R. 3200: America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. TITLE I–PROTECTIONS AND STANDARDS FOR QUALIFIED HEALTH BENEFITS PLANS, Subtitle B–Standards Guaranteeing Access to Affordable Coverage, Sec. 114. Nondiscrimination in benefits; parity in mental health and substance abuse disorder benefits.

(a) Nondiscrimination in Benefits- A qualified health benefits plan shall comply with standards established by the Commissioner to prohibit discrimination in health benefits or benefit structures for qualifying health benefits plans, building from sections 702 of Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 2702 of the Public Health Service Act, and section 9802 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(b) Parity in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorder Benefits- To the extent such provisions are not superceded by or inconsistent with subtitle C, the provisions of section 2705 (other than subsections (a)(1), (a)(2), and (c)) of section 2705 of the Public Health Service Act shall apply to a qualified health benefits plan, regardless of whether it is offered in the individual or group market, in the same manner as such provisions apply to health insurance coverage offered in the large group market.

Note how H.R. 3200 references existing statutes for inclusion of Mental Health and Substance Abuse related disorders. It does not create the language that defines what it is or is included. See the Mental Health Parity and Addition Equity Act of 2008 for some of the definitions and the statutes that act references and the statutes they reference to see what exactly is included for Mental Health and Substance Abuse related disorders, not H.R. 3200 or any of the other “Health Care Reform” bills.

Also note the words, “autism,” “autistic,” “ASD,” “DD,” or “developmental” are nowhere in any of the current health care reform bills. Then note there is no federal health insurance parity/equity statutes that cover autism specifically or the more general class of developmentally disabled.

Critical to the autistic and where the greatest level of health care discrimination to them is what are called, “essential services” or “essential benefits”. Again let’s review H.R. 3200, SEC. 122. ESSENTIAL BENEFITS PACKAGE DEFINED. Nothing related to developmental disorders or disabilities, or autism specifically is included. Not a word or reference to existing statutes. Currently, countless parents of children with an autism diagnosis, diligently call private insurance providers and asked for premium quotes for a policy, for their child. Each and every company explained that they will not sell a policy for someone who has an autism diagnosis.

“This is just not right,” says Jeff Sell, The Autism Society of America’s Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy. “Not only are these families being unfairly refused coverage for treatment of autism, but the companies are also refusing to sell coverage so these young people can see a doctor if they get strep throat, break a bone, develop a stomach ulcer, require intensive behavioral interventions or otherwise simply need access to prescribed medical care. In the future, with meaningful health-care reform, these families will be able to buy health coverage because insurance companies will no longer be able to exclude anyone just because that person has autism, or any other pre-existing condition.”

[Emphasis added]

Only if parity/equity for autism in health insurance that mandates autism be included in public and private insurances “essential coverage packages” exists in some federal statute before the health care reform is passed and that or those statutes are referenced by the health care reform act that is passed into law will the autistic realize, “meaningful health-care reform.”

So why the push to pass “something” now?

The motive is, of course, money. The cost of covering autistic children will either crush insurance companies’ profits or force them to raise premiums at least $100.00, per month, per policy if they have to cover autism to the same degree they cover medical and mental health conditions. That’s exactly why they don’t cover them presently and the insurance lobby has all but declared war on autism coverage. Currently, both private and public insurances can deny coverage to the autistic, including basic medical coverage, which the state of North Carolina attempted to do this year (attempted to drop coverage from Medicaid and CAP programs for autism and other DD patients). The insurance industry doesn’t want this to change and make no bones about that fact. Thus leaving only “the public option” — whatever that really means — to cover the mess no one wants to be completely honest about.

The insurance and Pharmco lobbies in DC are each so big the oil and labor lobbies look like underfunded amateurs in comparison. So if we are going to get “health care reform” — that is really Health Insurance reform in disguise — while Congress can’t get an already pissed-off public to buy into a public option (never mind having to tell the public that the current plan, as the bills are currently written, means autism will have to be covered by the public option) — some major omissions of facts and mutations of truth is going to have to be proffered as truth (and it certainly is) and the current effort will needs to be passed before the new autism prevalence figure and its associated costs become well known.

The plain fact is; we are being told that the “public option” will only cover “a small percentage of people.” True, but this is the most expansive example of constructive fraud (a lie by omission) in history. That small percentage of people are some of the most expensive to treat and are the fastest growing group needing health care insurance that are currently, largely uninsured. If insurance equity/parity for the autistic isn’t legislated, passed, signed into law, and codified before the health care reform becomes law, this small percentage of people will be the single most expensive part of health care reform. Moreover, they will be entirely on the shoulders of the taxpayers who played no role in what has happened to these children or their complete abandonment.

So our bought-and-paid-for-government needs to ram the health care reform down our throats before we find out how badly they are screwing us to protect the biggest of all special interest groups, insurance and Pharmco. But as long as they get this colossal swindle passed before the upsurge numbers go media-public, then technically they didn’t lie to us to get our support. Because there is only the old “official government stamped” prevalence figure for autism, they believe they can say they didn’t know the exact level in the upsurge of autism prevalence when the bill or bills were passed.

Are you getting the picture?

So our battle is on several fronts: Equity in insurance and in legislative actions overall for the autistic — and all DD patients — and demanding an objective investigation into just did this to our children are on the top of the list. The fact is, whatever did this wasn’t by natural or environmental changes. This upsurge was sudden and without warning. The service providers have yet to get staffed to eliminate waiting times for evaluation of two years or longer even after having years to plan.

For the record: Environmental changes don’t happen over night or cause widespread, abrupt disruption to the world’s gene pool – BS on that story. Except in cases of massive detectable exposure levels, naturally occurring or environmental exposures do not cause almost instant changes in a child’s entire developmental processes – BS again.

Somewhere, some group is responsible for a monumental error. One so huge no industry or even group of industries can afford to pay for this mistake. Likely, the responsible parties are powerful and influential enough to keep the truth hidden. It does appear the taxpayers are about to get stuck footing the bill for this colossal screw-up, under the guise of Health Care Reform and like the parents of the autistic – without any warning.

Any plan that does not include everyone is not, “Universal” or “Comprehensive,” these are just words being using to mask the truth. In closing, please recognize that if 1 in 150 or 1 in 100 children were being kidnapped or developed cancer — all of a sudden with no explanation -– a national emergency would be declared.

We have a national emergency and we, as a nation, are failing to respond.

Health Report:

H1N1 Swine Flu Update

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers…”