No Longer Waiting

It is here, arrived a few days ago, and there it was in black and white, 16 pages of the State's decision regarding the charges filed against the former therapist of Keepers. I was not home when it got here so Keepers read it and parts of it to me over the phone. It's effects have already been felt here in our home. What is has done in his we do not know nor do I really care. All I know is that on all charges the State of Missouri found him guilty! The State Board of Psychologists will levy the discipline within 30 days, supposedly, but we all know there is red tape and such but we know he is guilty according to his peers, the Attorney General's office, the expert witness and soon it will be on the State's site listing those who have been disciplined and charged with infractions of the licensing committee's standards.

Sadly it had adverse effects on Keepers almost right away. Reading excerpts from evidence brought forth renewed a lot of old feelings, of him telling them their perceptions were all wrong, that they could not exist in the real world, that only he understood them and cared about them, that I was a bad person only using them, that he was a multiple too so only he could "get it".

To say Keepers, especially the littles, were thrown for a loop would be a big understatement. Ever since the document arrived here they have struggled to regain their feelings of worth, of being good, of having value. That was how far reaching his influence over them was and is to some degree. But, they are recovering. Day by day they are getting a little stronger.

They are receiving supportive comments via their blog and email and phone from their fellow multiples who look at them say "you did good" and "you stood up for all of us and won" and "that took guts" and "thank you for being strong enough to go through with this", all valid points, all true comments, all indicative of Keepers friends and "family" who stand by them.

This was seven long years, years full of self doubt, of fear of him, and part of that fear was brought forth in his reply to the decision, he alluded that Keepers had done things that were not proper and that they were allowed certain privileges by the state in their testimony, which is quite interesting since he wasn't even there to hear their testimony since he chose not to appear because as he stated in a letter to the judge, "my attorneys advise that I cannot win this decision so it is fruitless for me to appear". He then "volunteered to retire his license" but the AG said, "no" we want to prosecute so we can take away his license. It seems if he voluntarily gives it up he could come back and request it be reinstated after some amount of time and the state would have no reason not to. This way that avenue is closed to him. Way to go AG!

In review, he "is subject to discipline because in his treatment of a patient, 1) he wrote a letter of a sexual nature to the patient 2)he reinforced the separateness of her multiple personalities 3) he failed to maintain appropriate boundaries between himself and Keepers 4) his primary focus in his therapy was abreactive work which was inappropriate and could have harmed the patient."

That is it in a nutshell, the 16 pages provide some of the backup for their findings. Some of that was what triggered littles especially. Since then I am trying to reinforce that there was nothing in the 16 pages that said keepers did this wrong or that wrong, everything was on what he did wrong. In addition to his not showing up for the hearing he did not sign his rebuttal. The State board made note of this saying that in their attempts to discern the truth they often have to weigh each persons testimony and decide who they feel is being truthful, his not showing up nor even signing his rebuttal made all of his comments irrelevant in his support and in fact he did corroborate much of what Keepers testified to so the evidence was overwhelmingly against him.

I am very proud of Keepers for not giving up on this procedure, I know it has hurt in many ways, it tore their hearts apart in many ways. They felt used, abandoned, neglected, tricked, you name it. But, they stood up, they went there, they testified and in so doing they won the respect of the judge, the expert witness the assistant Attorney General and many of their internet friends as well as Pastor Brown and myself. This was not easy for them to do. They were hit with more repercussions when that 16 page doc got here. When the discipline is announced that may well trigger more feelings and reactions. All I know is that I hope they are proud of themselves, they deserved to be heard, by authorities, and they were! Their littles now know that the older keepers do care and will do all they can to protect them. They know now that there are people who believe them, people who care about how they are treated and who really respect them.

Keepers and I hope that this man will never have the opportunity to harm a patient again, that others who have been through similar circumstances may well find the strength to report an abusive and harmful therapist if they have one. We also hope that once the annual list of license revocations is put out there and the posting is made of the findings that other T's may reconsider how they treat their patients and correct any bad behaviors they may have for their sakes and most importantly for the sake of their patients.

How often reporting a person in authority to a state licensing committee or board works I do not know, but we do know now that it can work, and that gives me reason for hope after all.

Congrats to Keepers for doing the right thing, for seeing it through, you did good!!!!

Happy trails from here on out!!!

JM