Absolutely. Unfortunately, Scientologists are programmed with phobias of psychiatrists- in fact all mental health professionals. Something they need to undo. Yes, there are some bad therapists, and some bad policies that have been in place- including overuse of medication and wrong/ missed diagnoses. Former cult members do not have a lot of mental health professionals who are trained to serve this population.

Thank you for addressing this, Steve. Your last sentence sums it up. My husband is a psychiatrist. He prefers therapy to meds, not that he objects to meds, but he likes the connection that comes from a true therapeutic alliance. It is a position of great responsibility, however, and must always be treated as a sacred trust.

Jon Atack is and has been a voice of logic and reason operating in a sea of deception and insanity!
I offer an alternative to the confusion embedded in psychological, psychiatric and Hubbardian descriptions of how the mind works: The mind is constructed so that it can “re-wire” itself in multiple layouts. To accept Hubbard’s Dianetics or Scientology, for example, means that a person has “re-wired” his mind to fit his concepts. Similarly we re-wire to accept any of the other ten thousand or so non-Hubbardian descriptions of how the mind works.
A second observation is that the human mind is a superb rationalizing machine. Given points A, B, and C, we can each of us easily make them have meaning in their relationship to one another! — because our minds automatically rationalize their relationships. Given a nudge by another, such as Hubbard, we can just as easily rationalize that A, B and C have the relationships that he has described for us. A form of religion historically has been the overriding rationalization that all lived by until the development of a new method of behavior called “science.” But science itself is not a change from first aspects of religion. In science first one rationalizes a phenomena (just as does religion) and then one must show that it is true, i.e., that it works. Thus “proving that a rationalization properly explains phenomena by its workability” is the extension of religion from first a mental construct brought about by imaginative rationalization and then second a substantiation of that rationalization by demonstrating workability!
Only once in several hundred years or so has there been born a human with some of the abilities that Hubbard declared would be shown by a “clear.” Most of these humans have been labeled as “Idiot Savants,” folks with fascinating abilities to remember, or play musical instruments or cypher. I know of no one reported in history to have acquired or been born with all of the gifts a Hubbardian “clear” would have. Thus, when Hubbard defined a “clear” and claimed that his processes would bring one about, the fact that he could not demonstrate workability should have been enough for all of us.
Pity it was not!

I was serious!! 🙂

Lol! Oh, yes, I had lots of space “experiences”. As a lowly slave on planet Cirus, I tried to over take the SPs in a space ship, followed by other spaces ships, we were a fleet, but we were blown to smithereens! Another PTS story!

I also created a situation between three planets as a Fourth Invader. I was a bad guy then. Ha, ha! Needless to say, I was caught and exterminated.

I’ve “been” on many space stations. It seems I do indeed have a vivid imagination.

Good points! One of my more bizarre ‘memories’ was being executed as a very naughty space pirate by having my body atomised by some machine that literally tore you apart! Hilarious, I get a warm flush even thinking about it. Oh that Ron!

Lol! Thanks.

I’ve also “been” a bear cub tumbling down a mountain. I did lots of things on the edge of mountains, can’t remember them now!

Other “memories” that turned up in auding were that I was a high priest bathing in a copper cauldron of blood. Yet another one, I was pilate who had stolen a chest full to the top of sparkling green emeralds. Unfortunately, someone caught me and I lost them. Drat! I did wonder at the time if emeralds had even been mined at that time.

I must say, I had fun with it all. Perhaps someone should write a book of similar stories.

I really like your imagination 🙂

In my PTS rundown, one of my “pictures” was myself as a giant crab being bullied by a dinosaur! It was tossing me around like a cat does to a mouse.

I was also a giant turtel hiding in the depths of the ocean. Yet, I saw ships on the horizon. Really?

I’m glad Jon Atack has explained how this bullshit happens. Thank you, Jon, what you say makes total sense.

I’m immensely relieved to have gotten out when I did. Someone recently mentioned that the bright are the ones who can confront and then leave.

Sounds like it was a Ford Model T…