Thanks very much for the lead Aptrick, but I was there until last November, when the female counselor I was assigned to asked me to leave. It's sad to say, but some people have enough agenda of their own that they don't need to be counseling someone else, but because no one else wants the job, they still are allowed in the position to do just that.
I was seen for 6 mo. by Eric Fogle, and he handed me off to this other counselor because he said his caseload was large enough with his speciality of kids.
I was fondled by a counselor who tried to engage in a sexual relationship with me when I was 17, and was patted on the ass about 5 years ago by a PhD level counselor who always wanted to hug me each time as I left. But I have never had to deal with such indiscriminate, demeaning, and overtly hostile behavior as I did during the last 5 months I was seen there. I went as far as obtaining and interviewing with an attorney, but backed down after I thought about how many girls were actually recieving some benefit there. And I know the intention is good with the 2 men you mention, despite the extremly limited amount of time and resources available put into the program. So I figured it was not worth upsetting anything that soemone else might be able obtain, simply because I was mistreated.
But the fact still remains. I was told by the female counselor that I was recieving more than I was entitled to, and that after all "Society likes me more because I am a male."
Just take a moment the next time you arrive there and look at their sign on the bullitin board next to the clerk window, that is the disclaimer against discrimination. Read it carefully and see that it says that "No one will be discriminated against based upon RACE, CREED, AGE, or RELIGION." Nowhere on that sign or in any of the written mission and goals statement, or anywhere else I can find, does it say you will not be discriminated against based upon your GENDER. Nowhere. Period.
Look for yourself. And again I choose not to make waves, because this might be the ONLY experience other people might have, token males included, and despite my own anger with individuals there and personal sad assed experiences simply trying to find soemone safe to talk with about the sexual molestation of a child.
I may be limited, but I will NOT give up the right to be able to choose, and make my own educated decisions. No man on earth or therapist from hell has the amount of authority or dominion in my life to take that away. I am discovering that I am not the only male who has been perpetrated on, and there are towns outside Nashville, with group programs as well as individual therapy that focus upon sexual abuse of all ages and gender. I just want to explore them all and make my own decision, however limited that might be.
BTW, Aptrick, we may have crossed paths at RASAC and 'a walk in their shoes'? But anyway, copy this message and take it with you to show Eric and Dave the next time you meet. And tell them I would like my 'Battlefield of the Mind' book back from the assigned counselor, how about it??
Thanks again Aptrick and Mike. I really do look foward to sharing more with you fellows. Just the discovery of this site has been a thrill ! I could spend days here, but I have work to do.
Tom S.
