Really enjoyed the \"Bullshit\" song on youtube. After the hideous side effects of twenty different medications and numerous therapies I broke free from the dark world of mental health. It can be done.

Hi Daniel, Just watched your video on YouTube in critique of psychotherapy and after a lot of experience in this field as a client share your views extensively if not completely for my thoughts wandered a bit as I watched it and have to go back and see it and others you have posted on this same subject for they are so full of important information from both sides of the issue and that is what seems to give the most credibility in this subject. The power structure of it you mentioned is one of the things that I so asked myself about many times and then presented to a counselor once as a question as to why and where did that come from and how did it happen that there was a judgment position held by some people and how could it be guaranteed to be accurate? But the answer I got was a silent stare and nothing at all, and this counselor was close to retiring and had admitted to not knowing what was going on anyway and had been at times outwardly very verbally abusive as if I were the counselor and she venting at me about her own problems. I should mention here that I was told by a Vedic astrologer once that I have a natural kind of aptitude for psychology which explains I guess why I\'ve found myself on the receiving end of a lot of this kind of behavior throughout my life with people venting at me and my own empathy naturally kicking in, not so good as a child and so that is another story. You made so many good points about the impossibility of this being a really hard science and more of an art form that seems it needs to be exposed more and more for the power of this profession is something that has what seem to be very serious consequences in the lives of millions of people all over the world and seems veiled a lot out of what I have seen as a desperation for answers and nothing else stepping up to give them so it is the last resort in the West generally for such problems as are dealt with in other ways in other cultures to good effect, though there are definitely some things that can be addressed by psychotherapy very well it seems. I told that counselor that it seemed to me since she admittedly had no answers then the best that psychotherapy could do was to triage the issues and give some outside description of the dynamics of a situation but as far as healing that was not going to happen because there were no real answers for solving the problems after they were identified, nothing other than logistical things that might be suggested but that deep healing was going to take something more like an Indian Saint could do. What you said about childhood trauma as the basis for the trauma that is what drives most people into psychotherapy makes sense but the further one goes into that the more one finds even deeper causes that are as I have said above only addressed by the modalities of Saints as far as I have seen and experienced. I suppose a combination if one can find it of a good counselor you very aptly described as being vulnerable in a good way and as you mentioned the leveling of the power in the relationship to be more on equal footing so that there is an interplay of mutual respect and added in an Indian Saint are things that make the most sense to me. Demystifying the hype there is that has put psychotherapy and psychiatry where they are today and showing them for their limitations is something I would sincerely like to see more of and I think is sorely needed in the world today.

Hi Daniel, I\'ve enjoyed watching your films for a while and encouraged my students to do so. Since retiring I have tried making a film about voice hearing and put it on YouTube. It\'s called Listening to Voice Hearers. It\'s not anywhere near as professional as your films, but I do think it is a much better way of communicating than writing academic papers. Best wishes Bob

I want full recovery for my son, James, 24, first diagnosed with major paranoid schizophrenia on 11/11/11. He will be discharged next week from the Hawaii State Mental Hospital with Pychosis with Schizophrenic tendencies. He refuses medications, a good thing. He told me that he wants to start a band and play specifically in Finland and Sweden! Without knowing about the treatment available there! How can I get James into treatment in Finland? Or get the same model started in Hawaii on Maui?? I make connections almost everyday now!

Just found your website, thank you for being out there.

Hi Daniel, I just kind of stumbled upon one of your videos. I liked what you had to say, and really respect your honesty... Thank you Rosemarie

I struggled greatly with confronting my father a few years back about his emotional absence and the way he played the victim. As a holocaust survivor he felt \"entitled\" to play the victim and does not know how to take responsibility. Many felt i was brutal in standing up to an absent father that had \"suffered so much\". Sadly the children get lost and not heard when the perceived victim has manipulated others to believe their story. Reading Daniel\'s book on Breaking away from Parents made me realise i had been on the right track all along. Intuitively it felt right if i was ever to heal and not continue to carry his unresolved trauma. Therapists that trained me felt this was unfair and selfish of me and i needed to find compassion for him, and in the process suppressing my own internalised feelings of shame and anger. I think Daniel is a visionary who is way ahead of his time. I sense there are but a few people have done enough self development and healing of their early life attachment trauma to truly \"get\" him. I would say some of his views on parenting are even a tad radical for me, although i agree with much if not most of what he has to say. The world needs more like him who are prepared to make a stand against the narcissistic dysfunctional codependent sickness that is manifesting itself in our society. We have a long way to go, many generations before there is a seed change in humanity - but it has to start somewhere.

Hi Daniel, I am an author and devote of Alice Miller. You might find it interesting that her work triggered a full kundalini experience that lasted 5 weeks (the story of what happened I plan to write about at some point ... almost unbelevable)....this, after working my entire life on recovery from childhood trauma. I wrote a book entitled \"unSpirituality - Permission to be Human\" which makes the connection between the spiritual quest and childhood trauma. I wanted to connect and thank you for spreading the word....its nice to know someone cares enough to talk about it publicly since the thought of \"feeling\" the past in the moment is terrifying for most.

Hello Daniel Mackler, My name is Dimitra Zervopoulos and I am very gratefully in therapy with Dr Ayme Turnbull. The only comment I\'d like to make for the time being is that I was UNable to subscribe to your blog using the subscription button you provided. Just wanted to bring to your attention.. I supposed I could just visit your blog periodically to read, but it would be nice to get email alerts of your postings. I find your point of view extremely interesting; though certain ideas, disagreeable. I would like to post some comments soon to interact with you and other readers. Many Thanks for this website!!

Hi Daniel, I was really (positively) impacted by the family interviews you showed in the Healing Homes film. After reflection, I wondered more about the community of the families hosting people in crisis. Specifically, are they Christians or part of another spiritual community or support social network? I\'m here in Seattle part of a Mindfreedom group as well as working toward the eventual goal of a Soteria type house. Thanks for your work on the films! Michael

Hey Daniel, just stopping by to say hi. Hope you are doing well!

Gracias por tu ayuda y aportaciones.

I\'ve come to some of the same conclusions as you. I stopped seeing my parents in my early 20\'s. It was a healthy move. I also feel most therapists are not good enough (to use a Bruno Bettelheim expression) and the power imbalance makes that very dangerous. Most are well-intentioned, but they know not what they do. I agree about how common trauma is in the lives of children, and how oblivious adults are. It\'s hard when a person is sensitive to that when most people aren\'t. Have you read Andrea Celezna\'s (or \'Celenza\', can never remember) paper on the power differential between therapist and client? It helped me a lot when I was dealing with a therapist whose only response to my needing to discuss the power imbalance was, \"I don\'t feel any power over you\". He was really good-looking. Anyway, wish you the best with your valuable work!

Hi Daniel, I wanted to thank you for your website and videos. I can understand how alone you are in expressing your point of view. I find that I reach a lot of the same conclusions myself, and my opinion is very unpopular (very unpopular, sometimes depressingly so). It is very scary to express my thoughts and feelings, but the fact that you have the courage of putting yourself out there inspires me to stand up for myself, and find the courage to be myself too. Keep it up! The world needs more honesty. Let\'s all work for life and truth, because, what else is there to do? Caroline