The American Spectator

p> VULTURE CULTURE br> Re: John Corry’s Scaredy-Cats : /p>

John Corry is correct in bemoaning the devil’s marriage of leftist ideology and supposed “help” for the trauma victims of 9/11. Seems pretty clear that the NEA and the psycho-vultures (you know, the “mental health professionals” who jet around looking for something bad to happen so they can be “of service”) are using the tragedy to simultaneously fatten their wallets and dispense propaganda.

To make matters worse, over the past eight years or so there has been an increasing body of scientific literature that indicates such “debriefings” are at best of no help, and may well exacerbate trauma symptoms in many cases. Yep, that’s right — doesn’t do any good, and probably causes some harm.

People in charge of such activities (e.g., mayors, police chiefs, etc.) would be well advised to take a good look at the scientific literature before calling in the trauma tourists.

p>Don’t get me wrong; not all psychologists and therapists are so misguided, and I think most of the trauma tourists sincerely believe that what they do helps, scientific evidence notwithstanding. Nor would I indict the entire mental health profession (yes, I’m a Ph.D. child psychologist myself). It’s just that the combination of poor science and liberal activism is toxic. But then again, hasn’t that always been the case? br> — M.B.S. /p> p> CUTTING REMARKS