by Marvin Shilmer 11 Replies latest jw friends
Jehovah’s Witnesses — mental health?
Today I uploaded a letter written in year 1992 to Watchtower by an elder who is also a Doctor of Psychology. What he says is rather alarming considering the size of the Witness community.
My article is titled Jehovah’s Witnesses — mental health? and is available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2011/09/jehovahs-witnesses-mental-health.html
Marvin Shilmer
How did you come by this letter? Is he still a JW? And do you happen to know how/if the society responded? The letter as it stands seems rather indefinite as to what he is trying to say. I think the evidence he references would probably be more hard-hitting. Though I wonder at his ability to share information that would fall under the doctor/patient confidentiality clause. Thanks for sharing.
LF,
I don’t know firsthand if the author of that letter is still a JW, but secondhand I understand he is.
The referenced material is as you suggest, and in time it’ll be published as well. But do not underestimate the value of this cover letter. Look at the numbers.
Marvin Shilmer
No questions about the numbers?
No questions . . . I'm not suprised.
3,000 from one area, over 7 years, treated by one man . . . about 430 individuals per year. And that doesn't include the large proportion who don't seek treatment.
Obviously he knew well before this letter that some things were wrong . . . very, very wrong.
The only thing that surprises me . . . is him still being JW.
Hi Marvin,
Being a registered clinical psychologist myself, I'm very interested in the letter. It certainly is more even-handed and cautiously worded than the "work" by another ex-JW psychologist Jerry Bergman (aka Havor Montague) who made some astonishingly simplistic claims about the Watchtower causing mental illness. Given "this" is the internet, you'll have to forgive my wondering about the source of this letter. Is this the first time the letter has "surfaced" (i.e., has it been publicized elsewhere?) If so, why has it taken nearly 20 years to come to light? Given that the letter writer comes from California, I supposes it's not surprising that he had such a large caseload of JWs - although his stating he had a current caseload of 200 sounds unbelievable (in New Zealand, the Psychologist Board would be most interested in how safe a practice is where the case load is so large). Each psychologist is expected to hve a safely manageable caseload. At best, he would have been only able to see each of his clients less than once a month (for therapy, ongoing assessemt of mood and risk). Safe practice would limit the number he could see each week to about 20 (unless he counts each family member as clients so if he works with one family of six, say, he counts them all as clients).
Any way, any further information on this letter would be appreciated. We live in an age of very sophisticated forgeries and the lack of background explanaion for its late emergence stands out.
Regards, steve2
Steve2,
You have a PM.
Marvin Shilmer
Thanks Marvin. steve2
Marking...
And - Astounding .... This - more than anything else, demonstrates why the Watchtower Society is against college educations...
Another must read! BTTT.
