I was watching a YouTube lecture the other day given by a phychiatrist who claimed to be one of only ten physicians in the country who are willing to see and prescribe for… potential (and active) sex offenders. We all know there are people living among us who do terrible things to children and we try to utilize everything in our collective power (outside of public execution) to catch and punish the offenders.
Apparently, there are people who actually seek help for their pedophilia. Some of them haven’t acted on these feelings yet, but they have been fantasizing about it. They call around, trying to find a shrink who’s willing to take them on as a patient. Incredibly, not a single therapist is to be found. The professionals, the people society has trained to treat the mentally ill, are giving these patients the middle finger and guess who ends up paying the price? The current and future victims of these patients who are trying to get help.
Refusing to take on a patient because the subject matter is disturbing is a social crime. These patients are offering themselves up as a golden opportunity for therapists to really make a difference in the world, something they often chant about in college. I can understand not wanting to get your hands dirty, but the world already has proctologists and urologists so the subject matter excuse seems to fall apart. Nobody wants to look at assholes all day, but they get sick and need treatment from time to time just like any other part of the body. I don’t know about therapists but physicians take the ancient oath to “first do no harm”. Well folks, we’ve got a lot of children being harmed because therapists are putting their own feelings in the way of treating sex offenders.
Now I do understand there is a sort of catch-22. The law of unintended consequences struck when we started demanding that medical professionals report suspected child abuse to law enforment. This breaks the also ancient tenant of doctor-patient confidentiality. Priests and lawyers face the same conundrum. And besides, if someone told me they were raping little kids, they’d be lucky to be standing within the next few minutes. But I’m not the pro here. I’m not a shrink. Those who are trained to actually help these people overcome their deviant fetishes need to put their own feelings aside and step up to the plate.
I think I have a simple fix for this, inspired by Dr. Melfi’s approach on HBO’s The Sopranos. I know, it’s fiction, but hear me out. She told Tony (a mob boss) up front in their first meeting that if he discloses anything illegal, like having somoene killed for example, she’s required to report it to the authorities. This way, she can still treat Tony’s depression and panic attacks without having to have her own patient thrown into jail.
How hard would that be in real-world practice? If I were the therapist (and I’m not, I’m just a layman), l’d tell my new patients that I am willing to help them but they must never disclose to me any actual violations of the law as I have a duty to report it. With such an understanding in place, the patient might be able to get the help they need to keep from acting on their fantasies. Isn’t that what we all want? We want our children to be safe. Let’s take the necessary steps to ensure this, even when it’s uncomfortable.