Chapter 53: Threats to My Career - The Impact It Would Have on Lynn

[Disclaimer: I have used aliases for clients to protect their identity and confidentiality.]

While all these things were happening, while I was trying to stay to hold onto my sanity amongst the grief over what had changed in my life with Lynn and the feelings that I had been drugged, I learned that grievances had been filed against me with the North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensure Board (NCSWCLB). Everything was happening all at once.  

This was during August of 2000. For the most part, this entire section of the book covers just one month in my life when everything changed. I was in a fog. Things didn't seem real. I was trying to process that the love of my life, Lynn, might die. 

Everything had been fine just yesterday – I mean it felt like just yesterday. It felt like one day things were great and the next day I was living in a nightmare. There had been some gradual worsening of Lynn’s health, as I tried to indicate previously; but I had not noticed what was happening. 

I had been on top of the world, successful in my career, living a happy life with my wife. We had a "normal life." … until it wasn’t normal!  

How could I mount a defense against the complaints or grievances? For me, I never imagined anyone would complain about my services. I felt shame!

Looking back, I had not been reflecting on the reality of all the people who had been totally and completely happy with me over the past decade! Easily hundreds of people!

It wasn't comforting enough to know that these individuals had been brainwashed by John Freifeld. Why was he so obsessed with me? I learned that he had composed one single grievance letter or statement and the same exact letter or statement was signed by all five clients.

Let me give a summary of what was said. Again, this was the same exact grievance statement. That in itself is strange since each client had different issues. They all had Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and two of them had been referred to me by John Freifeld. 

They didn’t feel that I could treat DID. They claimed that I insisted that I speak to their alters – ironically, that was what Tracy said she hated John for doing. She had not been involved in this grievance since she had returned and left the area a couple of months ago.

They speculated that I was working with them because they were female, and they speculated that when I left the room to use the restroom it was to masturbate! Gee, I wonder where they got such a bizarre idea? Maybe from the guy who brought Tracy down to Wilmington to help her and then made unwelcome sexual advances on her, forcing her to escape the area?

They claimed that I spent too much time in sessions with them. They also claimed that I planted false memories of satanic ritual abuse. 

What do I mean, brainwashed by him? Well, Sadie had left my services over two months previous to this. She had NEVER once mentioned the topic of satanic ritual abuse or anything that bizarre. She had NEVER expressed any dissatisfaction with anything I had done. Neither had her mother, other friends, and family, nor her wife.

The only two of them that even spoke about these conspiracy theories or anything related to that were Vanessa and Jessica. What they had shared was very vague and it had a religious tone to it. It was only enough to send me looking online to find out more about what might be going on with them. That’s when I had gone down the proverbial rabbit hole. That had only just happened. 

I remembered how Michelle had been triggered by something she and Vanessa saw in the movie “Conspiracy Theory”, but I never found out what it was that triggered her or what it might mean to her.

They had retained lawyers and filed malpractice civil suits against me as well. My malpractice insurance company assigned me a lawyer who helped with the NCSWCLB complaints/grievances as well. 

Lynn was in the hospital during this time, and I was going to have to tell her about this. I dreaded bringing more stressful information to her. I knew how much she loved me and wanted me to be happy and successful.