Lee-Anne M. Thoms, LICSW, OTA

Now that I have a different therapist, some of our work is unpacking the damage my previous year with Lee-Anne did.  I'm unclear if she's not actually appropriately trained in EMDR, or just so blatantly misunderstands the method as to treat it more like magic than a specific modality.  She was open with me about her being untrained in other modalities she eagerly brought into our practice.  Her overall approach was incredibly disorganized; I eventually left her practice due to recognizing she was not keeping track of even the tasks she'd assigned me and said she'd follow up on from one session to the next - I distinctly got the impression she was just showing up each week with me and winging it.  I felt pressured throughout the experience to report to her that I was making progress, which she would then praise me for like I was a young child or a dog being trained.  Meanwhile when an approach she was trying didn't make sense to me - I didn't understand how to follow the instructions she'd given - instead of adjusting or further explaining she would remark about how I overthink these things.  We never discussed a plan for my long-term recovery beyond that she wanted me to "listen to the beeps," which she promised from our first session together would cure a range of ailments, well beyond the realm of mental health.