Meanwhile, a referral network for Jewish patients started by two New York-area psychologists steered 300 clients who were either uncomfortable in their therapy or were newly seeking a therapist to providers. <\/p>\n
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Stein said that for vulnerable patients to receive that kind of treatment \u201cis such a break of our ethical code.\u201d \u201cAren\u2019t we supposed to, at a minimum, do no harm?\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Everyone, including mental health providers, is entitled to their opinion of events in the Middle East. But mental health care providers also have a professional obligation to treat patients with dignity and respect, a standard that too many have been willing to abandon when it comes to Jews, Israelis, or anyone with Zionist beliefs. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just patients who have noticed the problem. One survey<\/a> of 218 Jewish mental health professionals published in 2026 found that 74 percent had experienced antisemitism, and an eye-popping 91 percent considered antisemitism a problem in their field.<\/p>\n Locally, Boston Medical Center faces a federal civil rights complaint that it retaliated against a Jewish Israeli mental health counseling intern last year who complained to her supervisors about signs on a colleague\u2019s desk in a shared workspace that said, referring to Israelis, \u201cThey killed our babies\u201d and \u201cThey stole our lands.\u201d <\/p>\n The signs violated the hospital\u2019s own policies against political displays, but the worker alleges that when she complained, clinicians moved the student\u2019s desk away from their group and excluded her from routine professional interactions, with one man failing to give her patient-related briefings. She received a negative evaluation that cited her poor relationships with staff.<\/p>\n (A Boston Medical Center spokesperson said the health system \u201cis committed to maintaining a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for every patient, employee, and member of our community, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, or gender. We are aware of the matter, take all concerns seriously, and review any issue raised through the appropriate channels.\u201d)<\/p>\n State regulators, professional associations, and schools that train social workers and psychologists have to take the problem seriously \u2014 including by disciplining providers who discriminate and reining in academic programs that may promote or rationalize unprofessional conduct.<\/p>\n Dean McKay, a Fordham University psychology professor who studies the politicization of health care, said one problem is the teaching of \u201cdecolonizing therapy<\/a>\u201d in graduate schools and continuing education courses, which he described as \u201ca growing ideological movement that fuses politically inspired components directly into treatment,\u201d with the goal of dismantling what its practitioners view as oppressive systems.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how prevalent \u201cdecolonizing therapy\u201d is, but it is discussed in professional settings. For example, at a conference about a type of behavior therapy, the head of Villanova University\u2019s counseling center presented a series of slides<\/a>, copies of which were viewed by the editorial board, that portrayed Zionism as outside the window of acceptable discourse and featured a picture of the brain titled, \u201cThe colonized mind,\u201d surrounded by concepts including homophobia, misogynoir, rape culture, and Zionism. <\/p>\n That\u2019s a perversion of Zionism, the belief that Jews have a right to self-determination in Israel as their ancestral homeland, and ignores the fact that many Jews hold Zionist beliefs as part of their religion. But more to the point, whatever one may think about Israel or Zionism, it\u2019s wildly inappropriate and unprofessional for therapists to assign to themselves the task of changing a patient\u2019s values, religious beliefs, or views about the Middle East. <\/p>\n In response to these trends, McKay and clinical psychologist Miri Bar-Halpern, a trauma expert and lecturer at Harvard Medical School, are developing a curriculum that will roll out in doctoral psychology programs in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, to teach psychologists to avoid \u201ctraumatic invalidation<\/a>,\u201d the practice of dismissing a patient\u2019s trauma, with a focus on how to offer trauma-informed care to Jewish patients. <\/p>\n Bar-Halpern said she realized the need for this after hearing stories from Israeli or Jewish patients who had their pain minimized. For example, she had a client who left a LGBTQ mental health support group because the facilitator wore a keffiyeh as a political statement and displayed art reading \u201cglobalize the intifada.\u201d <\/p>\n There have been instances of licensing boards intervening. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation reprimanded<\/a> a counselor who published a list of Zionist therapists urging colleagues not to refer patients to them. <\/p>\n It bears repeating that therapists, or anyone else, are free to call for globalizing the intifada \u2014 on their own time. But when therapists choose to deprive Jews, and only Jews, of therapy spaces where they can feel safe, that is antisemitism. <\/p>\n In response to the problem, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a complaint with the US Department of Health and Human Services against the American Psychological Association in August 2025, charging the professional association with espousing antisemitic propaganda at conferences; elevating leaders who espouse antisemitism; promoting decolonizing therapy; permitting the misuse of official listservs to promote an anti-Israel agenda; ignoring complaints of antisemitic discrimination; and issuing discriminatory statements. <\/p>\n While a federal investigation \u2014 and investigation by Congress<\/a> \u2014 is ongoing, an association spokesperson said the APA has implemented reforms<\/a>, including strengthening moderation of social media channels and listservs and improving processes for handling complaints. That\u2019s a start, but there is more organizations can do, including ensuring that conference materials and continuing education modules are evidence-based.<\/p>\n The mental health profession can\u2019t be skittish about defending what should be a basic principle. Providers need to be willing to treat all their patients\u2019 beliefs and backgrounds with respect \u2014 not as diseases to be cured.<\/p>\n Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n