Monica Pignotti, MSW

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If you Google "Monica Pignotti" Please read this first

If you Google "Monica Pignotti" you will probably come upon some rather strange postings invoking my name, proclaiming I am being sued (I am not), "liar and hypocrite", "sex for endorsements" that I left FSU "under a cloud" or was "fired" (nothing could be further from the truth -- I graduated with my PhD in good standing as a student, teacher and researcher). There have also been postings not written by me that have my name forged, so if you see something online posted in my name, do not assume it actually came from me. It might not have. There are also phony testimonials appearing of people claiming to have been my students who, judging from their bizarre descriptions that bear no resemblance to what went on in my classes, clearly were not and I have data from my teaching evaluations that refute their allegations. Were the allegations true, it would not have been possible for me to get the high approval rating I have repeatedly gotten in my student evaluations, especially when it comes to respect I show for students and my colleagues as well.

If people have genuine questions about me, I strongly urge them to contact me and for those who are sincere and identify themselves and their verifiable affiliation, I will provide genuine references from people I worked with at FSU and other reputable professionals who will attest that I am a hard working, stable professional person, not the unstable drama queen I am being misportrayed as by individuals who are upset by my scholarly criticism.

Some people have strongly criticized me for responding at all to these attacks, maintaining that by doing so I am somehow being manipulated by them. While it is understandable that they feel the bizarre nature of such attacks does not deserve the dignity of a response, the reason I have chosen to refute them is that on several occasions, people have seriously asked if any part of what was written about me was true, thus I have reason to believe that some people are taking them seriously enough to ask that. Hence, my need to make statements to refute these lies about me, many of which are not even partially true.

Please understand that these are not your typical internet trolls just trying to get a rise out of me, or even a typical stalker, fixated on one person. These people are fixated on a belief system, not a person. Many people miss this point so please, if you think you already understand this situation as being one of an internet troll or typical stalker, please reconsider. I understand those kinds of dynamics of trolls provoking for their own entertainment and the dynamics of a typical stalker, but that is not what is going on here. These are people who have a very definite agenda to attack people who have criticized their cherished notions about a type of therapy I have criticized. I believe that their purpose is not only to silence me, but also to hold me up as an example of what happens to critics, thus discouraging others from criticizing for fear of having their careers and lives ruined. And if anyone thinks I am being paranoid, I have actual proof in the form of an e-mail one of the therapists wrote to my Dean, ccing me, containing many of the same lies that are being circulated about me on the internet. Calling me paranoid is yet another form of attack, denying its reality.

Some people feel that where there is smoke there is fire and have asked why I have been singled out for this attack. Why me and not my colleagues who also debunk pseudoscience? Well, actually I have not been singled out, as there are plenty of others in the same boat as I am. It has to do with what I have chosen to criticize, a topic that not all of my colleagues have focused on: namely certain coercive so-called attachment therapies. The proponents of certain attachment therapies have been especially virulent in their attacks on critics and they have leveled equally vicious attacks against my colleague and coauthor, developmental psychologist Jean Mercer, PhD.

Other individuals such as psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, who did seminal, ground breaking research in another controversial area, recovered memory, have been subjected to equally vicious personal attacks, as have the Harvard psychologists Richard J. McNally and Susan Clancy, especially since the publication of her latest book. For some reason, however, attacks against females seem to be particularly personal and vicious in a way attacks against male critics are not. I am not really sure why that is, but I am not the only one who has been attacked for criticism. So perhaps there is fire where there is smoke, but please understand that the "fire" here is the scholarly criticism, that some people cannot seem to be able to take without leveling personal attacks against critics.

I could easily back off and choose a safer area for my scholarly research and writing. Why don't I? The reason I persist is that legitimate disciplines require criticism. Criticism is essential to move a field forward in a scientific, rather than an authoritarian manner. Without criticism, what we would have is an ideology and an authoritarian system rather than a genuine profession based on scientific evidence. If freedom to criticize is squelched by ruining the reputation of the critics by lying and personally smearing them, then this would not be a profession I would in all good conscience want to be part of.

If these attacks on me are intended to make an example of what happens to scholarly critics and to discourage people from criticizing and challenging authority, then I will give them their wish, but not in the way they are hoping for. I want to set an example of someone who will not be stifled and intimidated by a personal smear campaign. People such as psychologist Elizabeth Loftus (who has undergone a similar smear campaigns because of her outstanding research in memory) are good role models for me and I wholeheartedly endorse her advice to "do justice and let the sky fall".

So again, I encourage sincere people with questions who are willing to identify themselves and their affiliations, to contact me and I will gladly respond and provide legitimate references to refute the lies that are being circulated about me at the instigation of certain mental health professionals who do not wish to have their claims and authority challenged, even when there is good reason to believe they may be harming others.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents (most recent entries first, click on entry to read)

If you Google Monica Pignotti please read this first Part II

Special Series Debunking Roger Callahan's Thought Field Therapy and Voice Technology 

Roger Callahan Blog an Invaluable Educational Resource (for pseudoscience, that is) 

If you Google Monica Pignotti please read this first 

Roger Callahan Blog Threatens me with "Legal Proceedings" 

Releasing the Bonds of the "Cult Mind Control" Narrative 

Steve Hassan and his Counseling Claims 

Inaccurate Statements by Steve Hassan to CNN 

Scientology Critics and the Death of Jett Travolta 

Misleading Claims about Tapping and Weight Loss on CBS The Early Show; 

Monica Pignotti does NOT consider TFT a "Cult" 

Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology Trade Secret to be Revealed 

How Thought Field Therapy Proponents Evade Media Questions 

Matrimania Jumps on the Neurobabble Bandwagon 

Open Letter to Anonymous: There are Worse Things than Scientology 

Remembering Cathy Cariotaki and the Stanford Prison Experiment 

New Thought Field Therapy Forum Bans Monica Pignotti 

Singled Out 

Clarification on my Published Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology Study re Number of Rounds 

Article on My Experience with Thought Field Therapy 

Buyer Beware: Goodtherapy.org 

Holding Therapy Recommended in Book on DSM 

Roger Callahan does indeed charge $120,000 for Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology 

Link and my Comments on NPR Program on TFT 

National Public Radio Program on Thought Field Therapy 

Response to a Callahan Fan 

Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology Study Published 

Petition to Support Albert Ellis 

Attachment Therapy Parenting Cited at Murder Trial 

A Mother's Denial, A Daughter's Death 

Soliciting Testimonials 

Thought Field Therapy in the Media 

Thought Field Therapy Hall of Shame Awards

Therapism: Just Say No! 

Therapists and Treatment Effectiveness 

Dr. Bratman's "Rogue's Gallery of Confounding Treatment Effects" 

Trade Secrets in Mental Health Practice 

Thought Field Therapy and Animals: Truth is Stranger than Satire 

Cat Therapy Bill 

Dog Shrink Cartoon 

Dr. Katz 

Thought Field Therapy Voice Technology : Business as Usual 

Law and Order SVU Gets it Wrong About Trauma 

Why are Mental Health Professionals Clearing Drugs 

Rebuttal to Feinstein's Response to my LTE in Psychotherapy Networker 

Debunking Thought Field Therapy 

Letter to the Editor Psychotherapy Networker 

Introduction 

Radio Interview on TFT: A Former Insider's Perspective 

Cyberbullying: Have you been a target? Post your experiences here

Bullying has been around as long as human beings have been, but the internet is making it easier than ever for bullies to have a forum. More and more reports are coming in about children, teens and adults, who have been made targets of cyberbullying. The tendency all too often seems to be, to blame the target for somehow having been a "magnet" rather than putting the attention squarely where it belongs: on the bullies. Interestingly, the reviews I've read on child bullying have shown that children can be made the target of a bully for a variety of different reasons, and that given the right circumstances, any child can be a target.

Please note that the focus of this article is the online aspect of this tragedy. Of course, I realize that there were differences between the situation I describe with Phoebe Prince and my own. There are also similarities, however, especially the juvenile sexual innuendos that were so devastating for Phoebe that it led her to commit suicide. As a mature adult, the ugly sexual innuendos did not have that power over me. However, the sexual innuendos (the lie that my hard earned achievements come from sexual favors and also the lie that I was fired) are extremely potentially damaging to my reputation, not to mention hurtful. There are also very similar group dynamics involved here, whether the target is an adult or a teenager. The cyberbullies are often able to successfully manipulate others into blaming the target and minimizing what is being done and unless some tragedy results, such as was the case with Phoebe, the whole event is minimized by people who are ignorant of such phenomena.

I also want to note that I, too, have had the experience of being bullied as a child/teenager. Like Phoebe, I came from a family that moved around a great deal and being the new kid on the block made me a target. So I understand this situation, both from the perspective of an adult who is currently being bullied and someone who was bullied as a child for not fitting in because I came from a different place.

The most recent tragedy, which occurred in South Hadley, Massachusetts, is the death of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, who committed suicide by hanging herself after unrelenting bullying by her cyberbullying classmates, the "popular" kids at the school she attended. Of course, bullying has always existed but the internet makes it so much easier and pervasive in a person's life.

This bright, beautiful child's life was cut short because nothing (or not enough) was done to stop her bullies. As an adult, cyberbullying has been difficult enough for me to deal with. Its difficult to imagine what it would be like for a 15 year old who is just beginning to develop an identity. For the victim blamers who want to ask why she was a target, it seems she was a target because she was different from her peers. She had come to the US from Ireland. Being the new kid on the block can make one a target, particularly a talented or attractive new kid and based on descriptions I have read, Phoebe was both. Ayn Rand, aptly called this kind of envy, "hatred of the good for being good." Anyone who is different or stands out, for positive or negative reasons can become a target of a bully. Anyone who rubs the bullies the wrong way, can become a target.

What is the message here? To stay passive and keep a low profile? Is that how people are being conditioned, thanks to a state of anarchy in some places on the internet where bullies rule? Advocates of anarchy say that it has never really been given a chance to be tested. While the internet might not be representative of real life, it is the closest we have come and thus far, completely unmoderated internet groups have shown that the people who end up controlling the forums are all too often, the bullies and if anyone tries to set limits, they scream "Censorship"! Critics of anarchy have argued that the gang who has the most brute force ends of ruling the others. Paradoxically, anarchy ultimately takes away the freedom of others, who have no rights to be protected from the physical or verbal brute force of others. Although there is no physical brute force on the internet, libelous, defamatory, reputation destroying words by anonymous individuals who cannot be exposed, are certainly a form of brute force. Am I advocating censorship here? No, I am all in favor of free speech but I am not in favor of anarchy. When so-called "free speech" becomes brute force as it does with libelous, defamatory cyberbullies, limits need to be set.

I am sure there are also group dynamics involved here of what happens when people get together in groups (as what happened in Zimbardo's Prison Experiment) and behave in ways they may not have, as individuals. Feeding frenzies against the target can easily develop and this appears to be what happened to Phoebe.

Recently I have been castigated by my cyberbullies for having made negative statements about the dark side of the internet. One particular statement I made was plucked out of context, where I was wondering if the human race might not be better off if the internet had never been invented. I would be willing to bet that Phoebe's mother and loved ones of others who are being relentlessly bullied on the internet, feel the same way. Or course, I am not foolish enough to call for the abolition of the internet: that's not going to happen and the internet does have many positive functions, but something does have to be done to turn things around for people who have been made targets of the dark side of the internet.

Maybe providing a safe place for people to talk about their experiences is one way we can turn things around and make the internet a more positive force. If you are someone who is going through such a situation, I invite you to post your experience here. I promise that I will not blame you or reveal your identity, if you would like to post under a different name. Post your experiences here [please note that I am asking for people to post their experiences; I really do not want to get into a debate with anyone here who does not know the facts about my situation and seeks to minimize what is being done to me, just to clarify what I have in mind for this particular discussion]:

Monica Pignotti's New Websites

Yes, this time, the website is really mine:

http://www.monicapignotti.net

I have also bought the .info and .org domains with my name. Please note that someone else owns the .com domain with my name and for awhile this was being linked to and misrepresented as my site promoting tapping therapies and Scientology, topics which I criticize. Right now the .com site is not active, but any material that may appear in the future, is not anything I have endorsed.

My new websites are works in progress. Currently, the material is similar but when I get the time, I intend to make each one the focus of a different topic. The monicapignotti.net website will focus on Evidence-Based Practice and its flip-side, pseudoscience. So, something positive has come out of all this trashing of me in cyberspace. I was made aware of a provider, GoDaddy where it is easy and relatively inexpensive to purchase user friendly software to start ones own website. Since I do not have the technical know-how to do this on my own without a good program, nor can I afford to hire a website designer, I was very glad to find out about GoDaddy and the easy to use software they provide for a very reasonable fee, much cheaper than it would have cost me to hire someone. So kudos, to GoDaddy.

Monica Pignotti: Actual Websites

If you Google Monica Pignotti and are confused about which websites are actually mine, here are the links to my actual websites:

http://www.monicapignotti.org

http://www.monicapignotti.net

htpp://www.monicapignotti.info

These are the domains I own which accurately portray my work, although they are currently under construction and works in progress. Note that presently, the content of each of these websites is identical although when I have more time, I plan to cover a different area of interest with each one.

Please note that I do not own the domain monicapignotti.com which was apparently purchased by someone intent on misrepresenting me and what my work is all about. So, for accurate information about me, go to the first three links I have provided.

monicapignotti.com not my website

The smear campaign has just reached a new low. They have now put up a website, monicapignotti.com that has nothing at all to do with me and my activities, is full of promotions of quackery and gives people the false impression that I endorse these, so please be advised that this is not my website and I do not endorse it in any way, shape, or form. My name has been misappropriated and misrepresented.

Update: I just checked and it seems to have been taken down, but people might try to pull this stunt again, so please be advised that any websites with my name in the URL that contain promotions for pseudoscience and quackery, are not mine.

Someone posting to Jean Mercer's blog under the name "Aaron Epheason, PsyD" (probably also a phony name) just admitted that this is his website, not mine. Apparently he slipped up. In case this is ever deleted, here is what was written:

"My website

"Submitted by Aaron Epheason, Psy.D., on January 24, 2010 - 3:50pm.

"see my website which has great info about me and mercer

""" http:// www. monicapignotti. com/""

Gotcha!

Donations to Haiti: How to Help

For people who are able and want to do something to help the earthquake victims in Haiti, here is a link to Feed the Children that explains what people can do to help. There are a number of other charities as well, that are accepting donations.

Going to Haiti is a very bad idea, unless you have specialized training and are part of an organized effort that has been invited in to help. Well meaning people who travel there have ended up adding to the burden by being unprepared and untrained to actually make a difference. An especially bad idea is to travel there offering therapies to people when what people need right now is emergency medical and material aid. Mental health efforts come later, for people who need them, using legitimate therapies that have actual evidence to support their efficacy.

Here is an example of how not to help. Again, the way to help, if you desire to and are able, is to contact a legitimate charity and donate money and other requested supplies.

Attachment Therapy on Trial Book Cited in APA Journal Article

The book, Attachment Therapy on Trial by Jean Mercer, Larry Sarner, and Linda Rosa, has been cited in an article recently published in the APA journal, American Psychologist, doi: 10.1037/a0017299. This will go very far in refuting the misportrayals of this book by AT proponents as "fringe". Now, it has been cited in a major APA journal. The article is entitled: How would we know if psychotherapy were harmful? Authors: Sona Dimidjan and Steven Hollon.

Faked Negative Testimonial about Monica Pignotti's Teaching

The smear campaign on the internet against me continues, by the people who are upset because I criticized their therapy. This time, someone is pretending to have been my student and this comes up on Google searches of my name so once again I need to set the record straight. The lie is immediately obvious because the individual described him/herself as a "graduate student" at FSU and I did not teach graduate students at FSU. I taught undergraduates.

And just in case this person wants to say that he meant that he was a student of mine who graduated from FSU, that would also have to be false, because he was referring to classes I taught Fall term and none of my students in those classes is scheduled to graduate until Spring 2010 or later. None of my students would at this point in time describe themselves as "graduate students" of FSU in either sense of the word. Note that the way I know this was referring to my Fall 09 teaching is because the liar made references to things I had posted on the internet in November 2009, that he claimed I discussed in class. That too is a distortion. My apologies if this is getting confusing, but a tangled web of lies on a number of different levels is being constructed by these folks.

So the posting begins with a statement that gives the liar away and gets more and more absurd, describing things I would never do in a class. For instance, the person alleges I described myself as a "cult survivor" when that is a term I would never use to describe myself, particularly not to students as "cult survivor" is in no way, shape or form part of my role identity as a teacher. So please be advised that if people read negative statements about my teaching, they are malicious lies that are part of the smear campaign by people who are upset because I have criticized attachment therapy. I believe that what may be happening is that they are trying to get back at me because they believe I am responsible for the testimonials on http://stopchildtorture.org which I am not. I do not run that website and have no control over its content. The website is run by survivors of attachment therapy and while I do find the testimonials highly credible and consistent with other evidence I have about AT, such as videotapes of the therapy itself, I did not have anything to do with those testimonials. However, I believe that this could be their motivation for manufacturing fake testimonials against me.

In my teaching evaluations for the past term, the characteristic I was rated the most highly on was my respect for the students -- 100% agreed I was respectful. In no way did I discourage questioning -- I actively encouraged students to think critically and question things. The description is so far off base, that anyone who has actually seen me teach would immediately realize it was fake, but for people who do not know me, this could be very damaging to my reputation, thus I felt the need to respond.

To make matters worse, some even sicker individuals have gotten attracted to all this. One of these individuals took something I had posted and altered all the spelling and grammar to make it look like I was completely illiterate when in fact, I have been consistently praised for the quality of my academic writing, which is considered to be one of my strengths. But that's what verbal abusers do. Take anything that is of value to the person and try to stomp on it but I will not allow that. I know what I have achieved and I am proud of it because I worked very hard to earn it. No internet cyberstalker can ever take that away from me. Not ever.