Psychologist criticizes her profession.
Canadian Press Wire Service, November 22, 1996.


VANCOUVER (CP) - A psychologist who has practised for more than 20 years says her profession is a sham.
Psychology is neither a science or a profession, said Tana Dineen, but an industry that turns healthy people into victims to give itself a constant source of income.
Dineen, who has practised in Ontario but now lives in Victoria, is promoting her book Manufacturing Victims, in which she is highly critical of her profession.
She accuses psychologists of warping people's understanding of themselves so they can funnel endless services, of dubious quality, into their lives.
Psychologists do this warping not only through recovered memory therapy but also by translating all of life into a series of "abuses, addictions and traumas," she said.
Robert Tolsma, executive director of the B.C. Psychological Association, said Dineen has written a conspiracy book that weaves together examples of poor practice and presents them as truth.
Tolsma said people who have received psychotherapeutic services feel "overwhelmingly positive" about them.
Dineen has worked at Toronto General Hospital, as treatment director of a large Ontario psychiatric hospital, as supervising psychologist at a treatment centre for children and in private practice.
She earned her PhD in psychology at the University of Saskatchewan in 1975. She is licensed to practise in Ontario and British Columbia but hasn't practised since she moved to Vitoria from Ontario three years ago to write her book.
She said she doesn't respect psychologists because they either pretend to have knowledge and expertise when they don't, or they realize they lack expertise but take clients anyway.
Tolsma conceded that not all people setting themselves up as psychologists have equal skills. He said consumers should shop carefully for the best psychologists for them.

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