Church of Scientology Attacks On Psychiatrists–Like Me

Posted on June 27, 2011 by admin

The Church of Scientology, a cultist organization, historically attacks the profession of psychiatry. They call it “The Profession of Death.” This so-called “church” takes frequent opportunities to discredit and defame the legitimate medical profession of psychiatry and all those who engage in it. They present themselves to the general public under the guise of “public defense” with front-organizations such as “The Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights,” and internet blogs such as the “Psych Crime Reporter.”

An example of their anti-psychiatry propaganda is their “Museum of Psychiatry” located near Los Angeles, California. Several years ago my son, a musician, was looking for something to do and stumbled across this venue with such a name. He entered at no cost (especially good for someone with little to no income) thinking it would be interesting to see what Dad does for a living. He called me with excitement. Initially, he was interested in the artifacts and stories related to psychiatry, but as he moved on through the fifteen separate rooms or so, he became aware of the anti-psychiatry sentiment. In each room, he was confronted with videos, artifacts, and a live person defaming my entire profession. At the end of the tour, he and his friends were “recruited” to donate money and become members of the Church of Scientology. He felt betrayed and offended by their method of “brain-washing.”

In addition to the general attacks on psychiatry, I have personally become a target of their attacks following allegations brought to their attention by a disgruntled colleague (my wife’s ex-husband). If you search the web hard enough, you can find it.

Like other psychiatrists, I have had members of this cultist organization actively seek to defame me and smear my professional reputation. These acts have included:

1) Disseminating fliers (hundreds of them thrown about on the floor) throughout my professional building, requesting any persons who were sexually abused by their therapist to come forward. (By the way, no one did, because no one ever was).

2) Despite having limited information, they sent multiple letters to the Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Boards encouraging them to revoke my license. (By the way, no one ever revoked my licence.)

3) Blogging about me with malice and with the intent to harm my professional reputation, by the so-called “Psych Crime Reporter.”

I continue to strive to provide quality psychiatric care in the midst of these attacks. I would question the legitimacy of anything written about me by the Church of Scientology, under the guise of the “Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights” or the ridiculous “Psych Crime Reporter.” They obviously have an agenda that involves doing their best to hurt me and my loved ones. Because it’s not me they hate, really. It’s the entire profession of psychiatry they wish to destroy.

Ultimately, who are the victims? It isn’t me or my family. Although they’ve tried hard to hurt us, we’ve survived. No, the biggest victims are the people who become afraid to reach out for help they desperately need, because they’ve been told bogus horror stories by cultists with a hidden agenda.

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Recent Bug

Posted on June 24, 2011 by admin

There was apparently recently a bug that caused this web site to display improperly. Thanks to those who alerted us, and feel free to alert Dr. Geenens any time you see any problem with any of our sites, including this one and also Douglas Geenens dot net.

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Scientology Apostate

Posted on May 26, 2011 by admin

Psychiatrists who have been attacked by Scientologists–an experience we know very well here–will likely find this expose on Scientology fascinating.

There is also some interesting followup to the article, and how its authors and publishers had to be protected, here: Pulitzer-Prize Winning Journalist Gives Insider Look at Precautions Taken When Reporting on Scientology.

There are psychiatric crimes of course. Sometimes they’re committed by psychiatrists, but sometimes, they’re committed against them.

(More on Doug Geeenens’ general background here. We will be discussing direct attacks by Scientologist-affiliated web sites and groups here in the near future, but if you’ve ever seen anything about Douglas Geenens on a site called “Psych Crime Reporter,” you should know it’s a source that derives most of its information from Scientology sources.)

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Impact of Suicide on the Psychiatric Professional

Posted on March 30, 2011 by admin

Suicide: it makes everyone in the psychiatric profession shudder. If this has ever happened to someone you love, you know the intense pain it can cause. And if you’re in the psychiatric profession, you know this is going to happen to one of your patients eventually.

As a professional, this has happened to me, and I can only describe it the way surgeons who have patients die on the table describe it: unbelievably painful. The feeling of failure and grief are indescribable. But, like a paramedic who knows he’s eventually going to pull someone out of a wrecked car who doesn’t make it alive to the hospital, everyone in the psychiatric profession knows this is going to happen to one of their patients one day.

Everyone who knows the victim of suicide experiences many of the same things.  Could I have done something differently?  Did I miss something?  In addition, the physician may have other concerns.  Is the family going to blame me?  Am I going to get sued?  Suicide can make physicians reconsider their careers.  We are falsely taught that we should be able to prevent these self-perpetuated acts of violence.  We tend to blame ourselves just as others do.

Our professional duty makes this dynamic more pronounced.  The “transference” relationship with a patient is similar to that of a parent to a child.  Thus when a patient kills themselves, the sense of loss is similar.  The sense of responsibility, and failure thereof, will resonate for years.

Oncoming suicide is difficult to diagnose because it is invisible, insidious, and can be acute or chronic.  You can’t do a blood test or MRI to determine the lethality of a patient.  The psychiatrist may know and understand the risk factors and demographics of suicide, but those closest to the patient–family, friends and coworkers are the ones who can identify changes in behavior that might suggest impending action–just for one example, the most common reason teenagers kill themselves is over relationship loss.

Suicide is perpetrated by the deceased.  This makes coping with suicide more difficult. It is much easier to accept the death of someone when the perpetrator is unmasked and identified, like cancer or underlying heart disease.  This helps explain why everyone around the suicidal victim looks for opportunities to have done something differently.

The death of a patient by suicide never leaves you.  It comes up intermittently: thoughts; memories; wishes; regrets.  Life and death are a part of medicine.  In psychiatry, suicide is the most prolific killer.  You learn to live with it; but commit to preventing it when given the opportunity.

And there is this to remember: working with the patient and family of the potential suicide to help prevent it, or helping to reduce the pain and suffering of those still coping with the loss of someone who committed suicide, are among the very best reasons to be in psychiatry in the first place.

—Doug Geenens, March 2011

Posted in Hope and Inspiration | 1 Comment

Vaccines and Autism: Is there a Relationship?

Posted on January 23, 2011 by admin

Dr. Wakefield was the original investigator who suggested the relationship between autism and vaccines exists.  His research has come under question for validity and motivational questions.  Independent of these variables, I would like to share with you my clinical experience.

First of all, I have treated hundreds of patients with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD).  At this point in my career, at least 50% of new patient referrals are for ASD.  I can site numerous clinical cases whereby a child received vaccines and was never the same.  I have heard this story over and over again.  Is it the majority of cases?  No.   Is it the only cause?  No.

The etiology of autism is multi-determined and can be genetic, neurobiological, infectious, auto-immune, allergy-induced, etc.  With such a diverse etiology, it is very difficult to make global statements about causality.  This way of thinking is also one of the major criticisms of research.  When investigators are trying to establish statistical significance, they group relatively large numbers of patients and look at overall outcome.  This often diminishes “outliers” who may clearly have had an effect.  I would call this a research artifact.

The decade old case where a child’s autism responded to secretin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas in response to gastric acidity, is a great example of this error in thinking.  This family would swear by their child’s resolution of autism.  Subsequent controlled studies do not support a relationship between secretin infusion and autism improvement.  Does this mean the child did not respond?  No…this is a research artifact.

From my experience, the most common cause for autism is auto immune/infectious/allergy based.  Many of these children show evidence of dysfunctional immune systems resulting in recurrent infections, multiple allergies (food and environmental), and other sensitivities.  Rarely is there evidence of genetic influence, birth trauma, or specific neurobiological problems.  The only medications that are FDA approved for ASD, are non-specific and treat only some of the behavioral manifestations, not the underlying cause.

In my opinion, there is a relationship between vaccines and autism.  It is not measureable in the general population.  We do not yet know which children will be susceptible to this predisposition.  I would suggest if your child shows evidence of significant immune dysfunction early in life…be informed and cautious about giving vaccines.

—Douglas Geenens, January 2011.

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Could the Tragedy in Tucson Have Been Prevented?

Posted on January 12, 2011 by admin

Predicting dangerousness is relatively easy.  Predicting imminent dangerousness is even easier.  I have a considerable amount of clinical and research expertise in the identification and treatment of aggressive disorders.  (MAVRIC, 1991, Bass, Geenens, Popper).

The best predictor of dangerousness is one’s past behavior.  If an individual has incorporated aggression into their repertoire of problem-solving behaviors, then they are likely to use it when faced with a problem.  There are several reasons why aggression might occur.

1)       Aggression is an inborn, primitive trait in human beings.  The cerebral cortex and prefrontal cortex (the large part of the human brain), help control this innate drive. Anything that compromises the functioning of the cortex e.g. traumatic brain injury, cognitive impairment (low IQ), drugs, dementia, etc. can contribute to aggressive behavior.

2)      Behavior is modeled to children.  If a child grows up in a home where conflict resolution means hitting each other, then aggression can become a problem solving tool.

3)      Victims often become perpetrators.  If one is the victim of aggressive behavior, then one is likely to become aggressive in an attempt to exert control over another.

Unfortunately, not all aggressive behavior fits into these categories.  The most common psychiatric symptom predisposing someone to aggression and violence is paranoia.  When someone is paranoid, they see others as threatening.  Distorted views of the world and persecutory feelings are common.  Paranoia dramatically increases the risk for violence and aggression…and can be unpredictable.  If someone is paranoid, they need treatment–now.

The identification of imminent dangerousness is not in the hands of the professionals, but in the hands of parents, family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors.  People who have current information about a person’s behaviors, thoughts and motives have the ability and responsibility to notify professionals and authorities who can prevent such tragedies.

In the case of the Tucson massacre: many knew of his paranoid views.  Someone must have known he purchased a gun.  There were signs of imminent dangerousness; thus, it could have been prevented.

Douglas L. Geenens, D.O.

Posted in In The News | 1 Comment

LIFE OR DEATH: A Metaphor for Those Who Are Suffering

Posted on January 11, 2011 by admin

If you were suffering from a horribly painful disease that might kill you, but you were told there was a treatment and a cure (but it was equally or more painful); would you choose to live or die?

You have chosen to live. The treatment begins. This disease has ravaged your soul and spirit. It has affected not only you, but also those around you. You must stay positive and have faith that you will live; you will live pain-free.

The pain is unbearable. It seems that every day another part of your body is attacked. It brings you to tears. You beg for mercy. At times, you want to give into the pain and, at times, you want to fight it.

Go with the pain. Observe it. Don’t succumb to it. Don’t fight it. The distress you feel is your resistance to what needs to happen. Remember that the pain you feel now is not the pain of disease, but the pain of the healing process and treatment. Because of this pain, you will live!

Be prepared for changes in you. Changes you may welcome, others may surprise you. You will have to give up bad habits. Other people who negatively impact you will be “let go,” as they will interfere with the efficacy of the treatment and the healing process.

One of the things you realize is that the disease is not localized. It has spread to others. They, too, must make a choice to live or die. Despite your wish to save them, they must make the same choice themselves. Energy used to save them is energy taken away from you and successful treatment. Make it known to them: your choice to live; you accept the challenge of pain so that you may live pain-free. Lead by example. Be strong. Be courageous. Be healthy.

They may not like the changes in you or the choice you made to endure the pain. They may try to change your mind. They, themselves, may be unequipped to cope with the pain of healing and choose to live with the diseases (as a result of fear); and thereby die. You must be willing to accept whatever choice they make.

Today, they may choose to die. Alternatively, as they see you heal and as the pain subsides from your soul, they then may choose to live.

Have faith in you. (Your choice to live)

Have faith in the process (The pain you feel)

And know that your life will be.

Written for T. for her choice to live
Douglas L. Geenens, D.O., 2003
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A Child’s Request

Posted on January 10, 2011 by admin

Please don’t be afraid to talk with me. I don’t want to feel alone.

Please don’t give me everything I want. You have to help me learn that I can’t have everything I ask for. I’m only testing you.

Pleaes don’t protect me from safe consequences. I need to learn the hard way sometimes.

Please don’t be too upset with me when I say “I hate you.” It isn’t you I hate, but your ability to thwart me.

Please don’t make me feel smaller than I am. It only makes me feel that I cannot grow.

Please don’t make me act bigger than I am. It only sets me up to not meet your expectations.

Please don’t take too much notice of the bad things I do. I need you to notice the good things.

Please don’t let me form bad habits. I rely on what you teach me as a way of behaving in public.

Please don’t be afraid to be firm with me. I prefer it. It makes me feel secure.

Please don’t forget that I cannot explain myself as well as I would like. Sometimes, “I don’t know!” means, “I don’t know!”

Please don’t put me off when I ask questions. I only want to know how you see the world.

Please don’t give me things immediately when I ask for them. I must learn how to wait.

Please don’t be afraid to laugh with me. I need to know that i make you happy.

Please don’t be afraid to ask questions about how to take care of me. I rely on you to do it right!

Douglas L. Geenens, 1992

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