When a counselor or therapist provides treatment for psychological difficulties, a power differential exists between the clinician and the patient. The person seeking help is in an emotionally vulnerable and dependent position. For this reason, all professional psychotherapy disciplines (psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis, clinical social work, licensed professional counseling, and licensed mental health counseling) have developed rules and ethics to prevent exploitation by therapists of their patients. Actually, power-differentials like this occur not only in professional psychotherapy treatment but also in other hierarchical relationships: boss-employee, doctor-patient, teacher-student, mentor–supervisee, and rabbi–congregant.

Abuse and exploitation by therapists, rabbis, or teachers cause serious, long-term consequences for the people who are victimized, and this includes trauma, increased suffering from mental illness, and a much higher risk of suicide. Individuals who have been sexually abused require psychotherapy treatment (and often psychotropic medications) by professionals with specialized training.

All professional licensing boards establish a mechanism for people to lodge complaints against the practitioners whose licenses they regulate and employ professional investigators to look into credible allegations. When allegations are corroborated, the offending clinicians are sanctioned, and (depending on the severity) this may include criminal prosecution and/or suspension of their licenses to practice as mental health professionals.

Like many other insular ethnic groups, Orthodox Jewish communities are vulnerable to an abundance of non-professional “counselors” who have had no real training and who do not report to any licensing board or other governing agency that can provide oversight. Therefore, like other ethnic groups, our communities are at increased risk for receiving deficient treatment from untrained non-professionals and exploitation by charlatans and predators.

This talk will delineate the parameters of professional psychotherapy treatment. Dr. Klafter will explain the differences between psychotherapy treatment and rabbinic/pastoral counseling or coaching. He will outline what we have the right to expect from our professional mental health providers and how to recognize red flags for unprofessional conduct. He will discuss the psychological damage caused when we are exploited (financially, emotionally, or sexually) by the people we turn to for help and give recommendations for how to find treatment when this occurs.