Check out my abstract art blog! http://kellywantuchartwork.blogspot.com/

Friday, November 19, 2010

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

My class project about therapist sexual abuse

For my senior level psych class I am putting together a blog and a presentation about therapist abuse. Here is a link to my blog that is still under construction, and should be finished Dec. 1. http://stoptherapyabuse.webs.com/apps/blog/

I will have many personal accounts of clients who experienced sexual abuse from their therapist (some local stories as well) and along with this the research data that will show the detrimental effects on a client that this causes.

I am in support of new movement that is wanting requirement of psychotherapists to remain in supervision through out their careers and for the requirement of a pamphlet (like California now requires) to be given to every client that enters into therapy that states therapy should not EVER include sex.

I believe to be successful in reducing the rates of therapist abuse, there needs to be patient education and awareness (kinda like "stranger danger" that is used with children.) Therapists have been having having sex with clients since the beginning of Freud therapy, even with training classes and research about how harmful this is, some therapists still continues to abuse. So trying to educate therapists is not enough to protect the client.

Studies have found that most abusing therapists are over the age of 40 who have been in practice for ten years or more. Many times they are the ones who are supervising beginning therapists and/or sitting on many professional boards within the community. A lot of times their record is clean. (with only 3% of victims of therapist sexual abuse reporting, this seems rather obvious) The first step a therapist takes on the "slippery slope" is with his self disclosure. Then what is described as "grooming behavior" proceeds in most cases.

While only 3% of patients taking action against an unethical therapist with the APA board, it sure must give those who are engaged in unethical behaviors a good peace of mind that they probably won't be caught. Then according to my research the therapist is often protected by his colleagues. Many are in disbelief that someone they know who has been charged with something of this nature and their first instinct is to blame the victim or not belief them. It comes to a shock to most therapists who find out one of the colleagues are doing this behavior. Many times they have been in the community for a long time with a good reputation. So even if the victim decides to trust another therapist (many don't go back to therapy) and try therapy again, the client may have trouble finding another therapist in the community to be objective since the abusing therapist is well known by all their colleagues.

Then you have the fiduciary relationship that should protect the client, but in cases of abuse, the power of position that the therapist has over the client also protects the therapist. Who is the APA or anyone else going to believe, the "crazy" patient or the PhD. therapist? Therapist have the cognitive training in order to make anything the client says or does look like they are unstable and/or lying about the therapist's actions. It is easy for them, they are privy to this information. They will use their position of power in order to save their butts in a lawsuit or a board complaint, at the expense of the client. This is why many victims do not go forward with a complaint.

I want to do more about this to prevent more clients from going through this abuse, I hope with my blog it will help educate them and promote changes that are needed within the "helping people" profession. While most therapists are ethical, the ones that are not, really cause a lot of personal harm, a lot of times with the client attempting suicide. An ethical therapist for years may start to have problems, and this is why supervision should be required through out their careers in order to keep themselves "in check."

Friday, November 12, 2010

UNTITLED by Kelly Wantuch


Acrylic on canvas with mixed media

Part 2 of a series

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Friday, October 29, 2010

UNTITLED by Kelly Wantuch


Acrylic with mixed media on canvas

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Come by and see one of my works at the South Bend Museum of Art!

 http://www.southbendart.org/

From October 30, 2010 through February 13, 2011 in the Jerome J. Cowley Community Gallery

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Pine by Chase Twichell

The first night at the monastery,
a moth lit on my sleeve by firelight,
long after the first frost.

A short stick of incense burns
thirty minutes, fresh thread of pine
rising through the old pine of the hours.

Summer is trapped under the thin
glass on the brook, making
the sound of an emptying bottle.

Before the long silence,
the monks make a long soft rustling,
adjusting their robes.

The deer are safe now. Their tracks
are made of snow. The wind has dragged
its branches over their history.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

CLOWNFISH by Kelly Wantuch


Acrylic on paper

*on display at the South Bend Museum of Art until Feb 14, 2011

Photos of the Garden This Morning

Friday, October 1, 2010

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

BLIZZARD OF '78 by Kelly Wantuch

Crawling out the lace-frosted
Apartment window on that fifth
Snow-day, venturing cautiously
Atop Pintos and station wagons
Frozen in place in the parking lot,
To visit my best buddy Scott’s
Home to see if he could come out
To play. All week we built snow forts
And created tunnels of mazes.
With our rolled red plastic sleds
We followed our foot-plowed trail to
The hill behind Peddler’s Village.
He liked to run ahead of me
So he could catch my face with a
Snowball. I laughed because I would
Always get him back- so much worse.

The hill shined with long stripes of packed
Snow christened from the day before.
For added speed we laid on top
Of each other blasting ... faster
Down... over and over again.
Layers infused sled,clothes,bodies
...energy, heat, arousement
That permeated life right through me.

The snow pile melted well into
The month of June while my Barbie
Never quite looked at Ken, the same.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Lady Be Good to Me -Clark Terry (my favorite trumpet player)

I was so fortunate enough to enjoy lunch with him a few months before he passed away.

Close Up Tight- Bill Chase

Put this in a poem and smoke it!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Facebook Friend's Color Choice Painting by Kelly Wantuch

I was feeling bored so I asked my Facebook friends on what colors I should use in my next painting. I took the first 4 suggestions and gave it a try. I would never think to put these colors together, but I was up for the challenge. The colors were British racing green, Blood red, Ochre, and Fuschia. The scan turned out a little dark though.