Friday, September 4, 2009

"Never, Never, Never, Did You Touch A Child in Therapy!" - Dr. Milton Shore, Former Staffer at Judge Baker in 60's

Today we had a most productive chat with child psychologist Dr. Milton Shore in Silver Spring, Maryland. Dr. Shore, who did his undergraduate studies at Harvard University, was on staff at Judge Baker from 1963- 1964 with two psychologists we've also spoken with -Dr. Irving Hurwitz and Dr. Nicholas Verven. During that period he worked on a special research unit at the Newton, Mass. public schools that was trying to get services for delinquent dropouts.This was his second stint at Judge Baker - he was a psychology student with a fellowship there in 1954-55.

Following Judge Baker, for 23 years Dr. Shore was on the staff of the National Institute of Mental Health and is the author of more than 200 publications. He is also a past president of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, an 80-year old membership association of mental health professionals concerned with mental health and social justice. In 1996 he was the recipient of the APA's Award for Distinguished Professional Contribution to Practice in the Public Sector. At 81, he is semi-retired but continuing to see a few patients.

Dr. Shore told us he did not know Ayres at Judge Baker, but that he had read about his arrest in the New York Times two years ago.

Dr. Shore was flabbergasted that we were even asking the question that is by now familiar to many of this blog's readers: Was any child psychiatrist or child psychologist ever trained or permitted to touch children in therapy at Judge Baker ?

"Never, never, never did you touch a child in therapy!" he said, forcefully. "It was very implicit. You didn't do physical exams. Period. You just didn't do it ! If the child at Judge Baker had a physical need to be examined, you got a pediatrician. Never would a child psychiatrist or psychologist do a medical exam on a child."


Dr. Shore impressed as being a man of strong convictions. We were even more pleased when he became the first Judge Baker-trained therapist we have spoken to who not only acknowledged the problem of pedophiles in the therapeutic and pediatric fields , but brought up the subject himself first:


"It's important that we clean up our profession," he said. "That Mel Levine case was horrible. If we don't clean it up ourselves, our profession will be in real trouble."

Here's our latest running tally of everyone at Judge Baker who has refuted Ayres:

Dr. Stanley Walzer; Dr. Joan Zilbach; Dr. Jacqueline Amati-Mehler; Dr. Dan Ditmore; Dr. Joseph Mullen; Dr. Lee Willer; Dr. Gordon Harper; Dr. Irving Hurwitz; Dr. Nicholas Verven; Dr. Milton Shore: Dr. Roger Bibace; Dr. Pauline Hahn; Judge Baker Department Chair Dr. William Beardslee and Judge Baker Chief Operating Officer Stephen Schaffer

5 comments:

  1. These reports have been outstanding, Trapellar!

    It's a very positive boost to see so many people standing up to the lies and confirming that these excuses are just tactics used to continue to get away with more molestations and avoid being prosecuted for as long as possible.

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  2. I agree DS and Trapellar has done an excellent job reporting and interviewing these healthcare professionals.

    Medicine is known for being self-regulating. It is absolutely imperative that if this is the case that folks like Etta Bryant and others who never came forward to help the victims be held accoutable.

    All patients have had for years are a few brave patients and victims to bring a case such as this to the forefront.

    If all the victims of Ayres had not been so brave in blogging, testifying, reporting to the police etc. I don't think we could have counted on the the self-regulators, the doctors.

    I for the life of me cannot see how this case could have gone on for so long without all the help from the colleagues, medical societies, etc.

    It is simply unacceptable to leave an abundant amount of victims who have suffered damage for life.

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  3. There need to be regulating bodies outside of the organizations who claim to regulate but are constrained by their friends and alliances. The AMA is just as bad. I hate to say it, but there needs to be a powerful and thorough regulating body involved, I think it should be governmental and non-biased.

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  4. See if I have this straight: Solveig trained as a social worker at Judge Baker. Every social worker in Judge Baker's history knew child psychiatrists weren't supposed to be touching kids in therapy and in fact would have been fired had they been caught.

    Pedophiles typically start molesting boys in their teens. Anyone who doesn't think Ayres was molesting boys at Judge Baker, when he was in his thirties, is a fool.

    So how can Solveig stand by her husband when she knows he's been lying about his Judge Baker training the entire time? Doesn't that make her an accessory?

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  5. I read that during jury deliberations several jurors kept repeating "But Dr. Ayres SAID he was TRAINED to give physicals in therapy."

    Let's hope the government's case can dispel that nonsense once and for all.

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