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by Joan Grey (Author), Gary Schoener M. Eq (Foreword by)
In a vulnerable and courageous memoir, Joan shares how her therapist-turned-husband broke her self-confidence, emotionally abusing her for over a decade-and how she escaped, found herself, and reclaimed her life one breath at a time. Joan spent years pushing her body and mind to the very limit as a professional dancer. When she entered therapy, she felt it would be a safe place. At first, it was not only safe, but also exciting. Her therapist at the time was everything she had ever dreamed of in a partner, and she ended up falling for him. Not to mention, he encouraged her attention. After several years as his client and an additional five years of grooming, they married. Six days later, the interrogations began. Mind F**ked: A Story of Therapy Abuse is Joan's memoir of her thirteen-year relationship with her therapist-turned-husband. His knowledge of how her mind worked, how her insecurities manifested, and how she processed emotions made his actions all the more harrowing. Interspersing abusive episodes with deep affection and love, Joan was trapped in a never-ending cycle of pain. "But like a frog in boiling water, I finally woke up to realize that he was literally trying to kill me. I left with only the clothes on my back."
Despite the risk, Joan found a chance to escape and, within a few short months, uncovered a civil suit, board reprimands, and other female clients he had abused.
Mind F**ked exposes the hidden epidemic of intimate partner violence and therapy abuse-often endured in silence by even the strongest among us. It speaks directly to women or anyone who has lost themselves in relationships, trusted the wrong people, and are searching for a way back to themselves.
Joan Grey has written a harrowing cautionary tale about the predator who began as her therapist and wound up as her monstrously abusive husband. He represented himself as her savior and under the sway of her own transference and years of his manipulative grooming, she ignored red flags, the advice of friends and loved ones, and even her own gut instincts. As his control and gaslighting intensified, she lost her grasp on reality and wondered if she really was psychotic as he claimed. Ultimately, she found the courage to escape and to try to hold him accountable, finding that the institutions that should protect the public from incompetent and abusive therapists have failed us. I hope that women reading this book will question therapists who present themselves as too good to be true, who hold themselves up as the ultimate authorities, who think the boundaries are for lesser mortals, who lack humility and can never admit they're wrong.Arrogance and narcissism are dangerous traits in a therapist and Grey's therapist demonstrated both early on in abundance." -Deborah A. Lott Author of In Session: The Bond Between Women and Their Therapists
