Your letter is very concise and doesn't sound vindictive in any manner. Kuddos.
In addition to sending it to the webmaster, maybe you want to also send it to J[email protected]. He was included as the contact info for the city of Fort Worth.
Texas KH advertizing free pastoral counseling!
by rebel8 32 Replies latest watchtower scandals
-
-
rebel8
i wonder about the wording " faith based" thats a phrase used by the bush administration to provide services to the poor by churches and the churches then qualify and recieve federal funds for that service .
ya I was wondering that too.This issue is bothering me a bit. Imagine yourself unsuspecting, uninsured, and in dire need of mental health care. The only place you can turn is a place that offers counseling for free. You turn to JWs and they start out by pretending to care for your psychological needs, only to learn months later it was a recruitment tactic and your continued care is totally dependent upon you getting baptized! Now you have unresolved mental health issues AND a mind control cult is messing with you. I just can't imagine.
In my area local service agencies rely heavily upon such community directories to refer uninsured folks. I seriously hope none have ended up availing themselves of the fictional free counseling.
How can JWs in good conscience lie to the public like this? I'm going to look into finding a digital recorder if it doesn't cost too much. In addition to calling this KH, I also want to call the WTS HQ and ask them about this.....but I definitely want it recorded.
-
jgnat
Here in Canada the JW's have to claim some sort of community service in order to maintain their charitable status.
-
carla
Great letter!
They don't even have answering machines?! I once called a church but hung up without leaving a message. The church *69'ed me and called me back a number of times that day trying to reach me and see if they could be of service to me. They didn't even know what I was calling about! They were as helpful as they could be, just uninformed about jw's.
carla
-
sunshine2
Digitally record your conversation so we can all listen in, if you can
sorry, I don't know how to do that, but it would be a great idea.
-
daystar
More information on that hall if anyone here is interested in some free faith-based counselling.
Jehovahs Witnesses Ridglea Congregation, (817) 244-2326, 4950 Williams Rd, Benbrook, TX 76116
If you do a google search on the phone number, you will find it listed, publicly, in a number of other places as well.
-
crazyblondeb
Since I used to be a nurse in the DFW area, I emailed them, too. After all, I (we) all have first hand experience of their "couseling" methods. I used to have to make referrals out. That is one referral I would NEVER do. If I knew how to get the DAMN quote button to operate I'd post it. )Yes, I'm getting an attitude with the "quote". It doesn't like me. It's acting like a monkey's ass. (Not yours KLS) LOL
shelley
-
Lady Lee
The sad thing about this is that some people will get caught in it.
Most professional associations will have nothing to do regarding someone who is not a paid member of the professional group.
Unless there is a professional group for "pastoral counsellors" no one is really going to do anything. They don't have any power outside the group to take action. Now if there IS a professional group of pastoral counsellors they might take action. They could only take action IF someone is claiming to BE a pastoral counsellor and therefore one of the group. And of course if they don't meet the qualifications then they could force the person who is claiming the qualifications to stop claiming to be something they are not.
Now sadly a situation could arise where somebody did have the qualifications and used that to start Bible studies. If they are a paid member of the professional group they could get their license revoked.
But and I like this one and the letter posted above. Somebody had to make up the list. They need to be notified of the possible unethical use of the term pastoral counsellor. They certainly wouldn't want to look like they are endorsing this "service".
And if someone did use this "service" and realized that it was a scam well it could open up a whole new can of worms for the WTS - as in lawsuits!!!
I would hate to see someone get taken for a ride. Heck I would sign up for it myself just to assess the "service"
-
rebel8
Here in Canada the JW's have to claim some sort of community service in order to maintain their charitable status.
That is not the case in the US.
If they are a paid member of the professional group they could get their license revoked.
Here’s how it works in the US. Licenses are always something issued by the government. If something requires a license, you cannot legally do it unless you possess a license. Professional certifications are not ever required to legally perform any particular function. (Employers might require it to hire a candidate but it's not legally required.)
Pastoral counselors are not licensed. They can join a professional organization and be certified by them, but it is not necessary in order to legally call oneself a pastoral counselor. The professional organization, just like any club, could revoke certification or cancel membership if a person was a member and not acting in accordance with the org’s rules. However, our professional organization requires things that I doubt the JWs have—see below. (Source: http://www.aapc.org/membership.htm#associate ).
I seriously doubt they are even doing actual pastoral counseling at all. I imagine a local elder thought it would be free advertising and a way to recruit new members. The fact that this is so intentionally misleading (and that word really understates it) probably didn’t enter his mind.
Certified Pastoral Counselor
The standards for this membership category of time-limited certification include:- B.A. and a Master of Divinity or a Masters Doctoral level degree in theological/spiritual or biblical studies, or a Masters or Doctoral level degree in Pastoral Counseling, from schools accredited by agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education
- Religious body endorsement to ministry
- Active relationship to a local religious community
- Completion of a supervised self-reflective pastoral experience, the most common of which is one unit of clinical pastoral education
- Three years in ministry
- 375 hours of pastoral counseling together with 125 hours of supervision of that counseling with one-third of such supervision to have been with an AAPC Diplomate, an AAPC Fellow (who is under supervision of supervision), or in an AAPC approved Training Program in Pastoral Counseling
-
rebel8
OK now here's a question.
Does anyone have a US post office box? Could I write a letter to the WTS and use your box as the return address? It's just that I don't want anyone visiting me. I would like to inquire as to the availability of this service.