Blog #112; Part 3; Nationwide Mental Health Initiative

 What Is Rational Emotive Therapy?  (RET)

 When depression or anxiety hit, most of the time it is rooted in thoughts that are irrational or illogical.  RET is a proven way to argue against these deceptive and shaming beliefs and replace them with more accurate, more logical beliefs that more clearly mirror reality to us.  I will start this explanation with a thought experiment inspired by the Utah case that would point the way to a more healing approach to mental and emotional problems.

My example is the parent who is faced with a teenager who has been breaking boundaries regarding behavior, say with internet phone use with their peers.  Parents have a wide range of “punishments” or “consequences” for such things.  But to force the child to sleep on his or her floor for seven consecutive months without a bed, and later send the child to a “wilderness camp” that nearly kills him or her?  I mean, a good and well-qualified therapist would be much more reasonable in suggesting consequences that fit the offense, and in such a way that the child in question can honestly agree that the punishment fits the “crime”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truth and Distortion

Now let us examine some of the assumptions of the “Moms of Truth” that led to the shocking child abuse situation found lately in the news coming out of Utah.  First, there is nothing wrong with analyzing and examining one’s thoughts and beliefs in order to come to more logical conclusions.  My example above illustrates that.  But one must be sure that such broad, loaded terms like “Truth” and “Distortion” are not used, at least not lightly.  The definition of Truth, with a capital T, is an insoluble question that poets and philosophers have struggled to find words for since ancient times.  As far as I am aware, no thinker has come up with a definitive way of ascertaining what makes something “true” in the philosophical sense.

 

As we now know, the two minor children in question were being tortured and taught that they were inherently evil.  This very belief, much less to pass it on to the most vulnerable of our society, goes against nearly all mainstream and many off-shoot religions and standards of ethics.  The philosopher Joseph Campbell once said about religion. “A religion or belief system is most accurate to the degree which it is life-affirming.”  Is teaching people that they are born evil healing spiritually?  Is it life-affirming?  The people in question were Mormon, and I know for a fact that the Latter Day Saint faith is very life-affirming.

 

The other concept that these Moms of Truth are so fond of is Distortion, where the “life coaches” encourage their clients to invert what it means to clearly communicate and what it means to deceive.   Time and again, the lesson was to bring shame on the clients, so much so that many of the families were told they must live in separate housing, and open communication was discouraged.  Living in distortion, just like living in truth, is not defined by one all-powerful person, or small group of people.  That is known as a dictatorship.  Or at least a cult.

 

What we saw in southern Utah was the tip of the iceberg of a cult-like movement, hiding under the mask of mental health therapy.  I encourage the proper law enforcement to look into this deep network of bad faith actors working underneath the mental health industry, particularly in Utah.