Psychologist Leaves California as License Threatened After Questioning Transgenderism for Children
A a-href=”https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-california”>California Psychologist whose license to practice was threatened when she spoke out against teachinghttps://www.theepochtimes.com/t-transgender”>transgender Students in third grade were given ideology as an option. They also received statewide lockdowns during COVID-19, which stated that the best alternative was to leave the state.
Dr. Shannae, a forensic and clinical psychologist with 23-years of experience, was harassed by trans activists last June at Thousand Oaks school board meeting. She claimed she was threatened with death and targeted by left-wing extremist groups like Antifa.
“I got a phone call from a friend of mine who works for the FBI who said my name came across his desk because Antifa was creating a list of people to go after,” She spoke to The Epoch Times.
Anderson moved to Virginia in September to become the co-director for ethics and advocacy of the American Association of Christian Counselors, which bills itself as the world’s largest faith-based mental health organization.
Controversy over School Board
Anderson is a Thousand Oaks native.http://conejovalleyusdca.swagit.com/play/06162022-519″>confronted The board Conejo Valley Unified school District in June 2022. They claimed that 8-year-olds were being exposed to sexual issues at school beyond their comprehension.
“At that age, children operate with concrete thinking. They don’t have abstract thinking, so they can only think in black and white. They don’t understand gray,” She spoke to The Epoch Times. “And so, if you’re talking about these abstract concepts, such as transgender ideology, it’s just going to confuse them. They’re not going to understand.”
Anderson was getting ready for another meeting on June 20 when she was called by a member of the local council to alert her to an email informing her of a transgender activist that advised a school board committee had sent a 51-page complaint to the California Board of Psychology.
The Epoch Times obtained a complaint from the activist stating that Anderson had presented an “Activist” document. “imminent risk of substantial harm to students and families” She was in the school district as well as to all Ventura County residents and was charged with a variety of crimes. “making claims about transgender people that reinforce bigotry, exclusion and harmful acts.”
Anderson addressed a Thousand Oaks City Council meeting that same night. She referred to gender issues in a patient whom she did not identify as a “gender issue”. “red herring.” This complaint is about a Video Anderson is accused of actions at the meeting “perceived by the local community … to conflate all transgender people as suffering from a mental disorder.”
The complaint also alleges that she cited clinical examples that suggested that transgender children should have mental disorders treated, contrary to policies of American Psychological Association.
Anderson discovered that Anderson had not only filed a complaint to the licensing board, but also emailed it directly to Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Jacqui Irwin, Assemblywoman Jacqui (D-Camarillo), and the entire Thousand Oaks council.
“I was devastated,” Anderson stated. “I have been licensed since 1999. I have had an impeccable record as a psychologist. I’ve been trained by some of the best clinicians in the world. I now supervise and train others. I’ve been a professor, and so to have my license assaulted like this was very upsetting.”
The Pandemic
Anderson raised concerns about the impact of social isolation and masking on children during the California pandemic of 2020. She also expressed concern to the school board.
“All of that was just creating a profound mental health crisis that I knew we were going to be seeing. We obviously are recognizing it now,” She spoke to The Epoch Times.
After speaking with friends and Pastor Rob McCoy from Godspeak Calvary Church in Thousand Oaks, about the matter, “suffering” she had witnessed from her clients during the pandemic, she—like McCoy—criticized the state-imposed lockdowns, which she also believes were a violation of her religious freedom and right to worship.
“I have a very high acuity patient load and so it was very difficult for me to go virtual,” She spoke. “I really only did virtual work for maybe about a month, and then I started seeing people back in my office, and I started noticing that the level of pathology just increased dramatically.”
Anderson appeared weekly on McCoy’s “fireside chats” We examined government policies that ban large gatherings. This includes worship at churches and mask- and vaccine mandates.
“We’re not meant to be locked away and not have any interactions and not to see each other’s faces and not hug,” She spoke.
Anderson also attended freedom rallies such as Reopen California. There, she mentioned research that physical touch improves immunity, while social isolation lowers it. Anderson was later dropped by a patient who saw her name listed on the speaker’s list.
“I was quoting medical research that we’ve known for decades that due to this fear just got thrown out the window in the last few years. A lot of research has shown the lockdowns have caused an increase in anxiety, depression, trauma, eating disorders, substance abuse, all sorts of addictions, suicidality, self-harm—you name it,” She spoke. “Now we’re recognizing it [as] a mental health crisis in our country that we’ve never experienced before, and it’s a direct byproduct of the lockdowns.”
Transgender Debate
Anderson is a psychologist with a Ph.D. at the University of Southern California. She was recently called to testify as an expert witness in a case in which parents were found guilty of child cruelty for refusing to use their preferred pronouns. She testified that refusing to use a child’s “preferred pronouns” The parents won the case and it was not child abuse.
Anderson spoke at another meeting of the local school board despite being charged with a violation of her license.
“I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do. It almost caused me to retreat, finding out that my license, which is my livelihood, could be in jeopardy. It did almost silence me,” She spoke.
“There were probably about 500 people outside the meeting, and inside the building, there were protesters [and] rumors of Antifa. There were people with signs screaming, yelling. I had to walk through a gauntlet of people screaming obscenities at me.”
Anderson and her husband hired a church bodyguard to help them get through the crowd and into the building. “called out the school board” She stated that she supported her complaint against her.
Two more bodyguards were called in by the Andersons before they left the meeting and drove into the parking lot, where activists waited as they approached the Andersons’ vehicle.
“They were trying to doxx us,” She spoke.
Anderson was awarded the Medal of Honor later. “fraudulent referrals” Many people asked her whether she was a convert or not. “non-affirming” She spoke out in support of transgender therapy
“I believe that people were calling to set me up because, in the state of California, you’re not allowed to do non-affirming therapy,” She spoke.
‘Gender-Affirming Care’
Dr. Karl Benzio, a New Jersey psychiatrist, said that there are many national clinicians who fear they may lose their licenses, or face disciplinary action, if they ask the question. “gender-affirming” Model of care, despite strong indicators that Europe is moving away from it.
“There are people posing as fake patients just trying to see what a therapist will do in that process,” He stated.
Some advocates of gender theory refer to non-gender-affirming and caring care as “conversion therapy,” This was a non-clinical practice that was once used to stop smoking and deter same-sex attraction.
“It’s certainly not a practice of Christian clinicians, or faith-based clinicians, or any even non-faith-based clinicians to practice in that kind of way,” He stated. “That is not the way clinical psychotherapy is done.”
California and New Jersey became the first two states to ban smoking in public places a decade back. “pro-heterosexual therapy” Benzio spoke out for minors who were uncomfortable with the same-sex attraction impulses.
Benzio stated that the New Jersey court did not allow testimony from faith-based practitioners who wanted to speak about psychotherapy as a healing modality in an unattractive same-sex attraction.
“So, we’re not even talking about somebody with wanted same-sex attraction,” He stated. “They didn’t even allow any testimony to be heard from many practitioners who were faith-based that presented an opposing view—that this was a choice, and not an innate characteristic.”
Gender confusion is a common problem for people who are victims of sexual abuse or addictions. “repercussions” Benzio explained that such things can occur when people are looking for love and belonging.
“Instead of saying, ‘Hey, let’s look at the science and … our understanding of psychological dynamics that occur inside a person’s inner being in their mind,’ we’ve said, ‘Hey, let’s just care for these people’ and because a six-year-old believes that they’re a female when they were born a boy, or that they believe they’re an animal when they were born a human, they must be right and we can’t contradict that. We can’t tell them no,” He stated. “[W]e should be able to recognize that this is dysfunctional, not healthy.”
“Gender-affirming care” Benzio explained that schoolchildren who are in transition are not the right answer.
“We need to come alongside and provide them opportunities for healing, and those … certainly are not social transitioning—letting them think that they are a different sex … with chemical transitioning [and] its incredible dangers, and then surgical transitioning,” He stated.
“Good, sound psychotherapy” He stated that this can help people heal, to see a more clear and healthier view of their sexuality and gender, as well as their relationships, to be able and to move forward in their lives.
‘This is Not Normal’
Anderson is a specialist in trauma, personality disorders and eating disorders. She has helped many teenage girls with their addictions. “burgeoning sense of identity” Having issues with your body image.
“It’s just part of the process of what happens when you are raised in a highly objectifying culture where you’re dealing with … how a woman is supposed to look,” Anderson stated.
It’s common for teenage girls, especially those who’ve been sexually abused, to say they hate their bodies and wish they were boys, Anderson said. But, because teenagers don’t have a fully formed prefrontal cortex, they often don’t have the capacity to reason things out, She spoke.
“They’re very dramatic and very emotional,” she said. “They make claims in the moment that can change in two days.”
In most cases, it doesn’t really mean they want to undergo a gender transition, she said.
Anderson has seen many harmful fads over the past two decades. “contagions.” 20 years ago, social contagion was eating disorders among girls and young ladies, and it was 10 years ago that was cutting and self-mutilation.
But today, it has become trendy for troubled teens—especially girls—to say they are transgender, or gender neutral, Anderson said.
“They are now being told that their angst has a reason and a purpose—that their body hatred, their depression, their confusion around identity and sense of self isn’t just a natural part of adolescence or a byproduct of other psychological disorders. It’s actually its own entity: transgender,” She spoke.
Anderson acknowledged that gender dysphoria isn’t her expertise but she said that gender identity has been more prominent in her counseling sessions.
“I am seeing it pop up in individuals who actually are presenting with eating disorders, personality disorders, and unresolved sexual abuse,” She spoke. “They’re already experiencing psychological struggles, but what I’m seeing is they want to pin all their problems on this issue.”
In today’s culture, it’s easier for some sexual abuse victims to say their body image problems are because they’re in the wrong body rather than connecting it with the trauma they’ve experienced because transgenderism is presented as normal and healthy, Anderson said.
“It makes them cool as opposed to having a mental illness,” She spoke.
California: Leave
Andersons claimed that she and her husband had thought about leaving the state before the controversy broke out.
“We had been wanting to get out of California … but we really didn’t feel that God had released us yet, because we were very active in the fight in California,” She spoke.
In a state that has been at its forefront of the push for her survival, she is now in danger of losing her livelihood. “gender-affirming care” The couple was subject to increasing harassment and threats for more that a year. They finally left the state last fall after facing over one and a half years of harassment.
Anderson said she isn’t backing down, but rather taking her fight for liberty to the national level.
“I do feel like God is calling me to a bigger platform,” She spoke. “I know there are not many people who have been in this fight for religious freedom. There are not many psychologists or counselors nationwide that have been doing this.”
She doesn’t miss what she calls California’s cancel culture mentality.
“It was nice to get away from the insanity,” She said about her exit. “People have no idea that this is going on, and they need to know. I’m not special. The fact that they’ve come for me means … they’re going to be coming for everybody else. This is just how it starts.”
Brad Jones is a Southern California-based award-winning journalist.
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