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James P. Leone, PhD
- Psychologists
- Cambridge, MA
About this business
Location details
875 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Get directions| Weekday | Schedule | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. | |
| Tue | 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. | |
| Wed | 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. | |
| Thu | 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. | |
| Fri | 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. | |
| Sat | Closed | |
| Sun | Closed |
I was yelling at a group member that they are a 'bitc*, teenager, and immature,' but I was just repeating what Leon said and being his sidekick! He orchestrated the whole thing from the beginning. Then a member was repeating that I am bad for group and don't belong there. Leon was smiling happily but pretending it is our problem that he is helping us solve. All that we did was guided by Leon telling us this is therapy and setting the theme for us to repeat so he could look like he had nothing to do with it and it is just nat... read more
The therapeutic conversations he had with me are harmful and stayed in my head to this day distracting me from normal thoughts that I had before thus creating in effect a mental alienation, he convinced me that his therapeutic process talk of how he problem solved everything with me is good but in fact it is a nasty thing I would love to get rid of; he altered my emotions, reactions and social interactions with my social circle in a way that obstructs and creates problems for me with people. This is so so bad, and very invas... read more
He called a female group member a 'dinosaur' and told her 'not to be snarky', called a straight male patient a 'hermaphrodite', and called me a 'fragile flower that he had to take special care of'; encouraged a young man to try psychotherapy with his dying grandma with dementia by confessing that he 'always found her scary' because 'it may be good for her to know.' He instructed group members to confront people in their lives by throwing tantrums and insisted something good will surely come out of it because his therapy educ... read more
His methods of client acquisition and retention violate established ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct due to being obviously premeditated, misleading, and manipulative seemingly more for own interests (paying bills) at the expense of the clients' best interest and deviate very far from the standard of care.
He exhibited all 8 signs of being a manipulative person. To make it seem normal, he bragged that he is so, acted like him being manipulative is wrestling with patients to get them to go with his therapeutic process. It was group therapy and a lot of people believed him because he would mix good therapy and advice with his manipulative behaviors which were a constant barrage. If you talked about it, he got mad and made you doubt yourself (which is one of the signs).
He would cite knowledge from the field of therapy to give credibility to the wild and inappropriate things he does, the same way David Koresh cited the bible to make himself sound credible. Then he would strongly imply that his position as a therapist and his life experience made everything he did okay, even if it obviously violated social and professional norms. The problem it seemed that once having crossed the social norms as encouraged by Leon in the group, people had practiced and could repeat the bad modeled behaviors ... read more
It's like we were bitten by a rabid dog [Leone]. You need to help yourself and seek out appropriate support, and normal pleasant things. The way it worked for me was almost like taking a u turn and then going back to where the two paths diverged, then starting there all over again. It sounds radical but better than continuing in dysfunctional agitation. Also don't burn your support network (probably Leone training) but don't take crap from someone in your network either. There are better ways to deal with someone giving you ... read more
Leone encouraged people to lose control and lash out openly putting two people against each other while urging and guiding each person individually toward a conflict, decent therapists will say acting opposite to your bad impulse while keeping composure is giving you power over the situation. Leone would encourage people to lose it, then throw their uncontrolled behavior as an accusation against their character. Decent therapists say your uncontrolled behavior isn’t even you, and you can learn to overcome it. Leone induced... read more
I came to Leone because I groped my dance partners during a school dance in 8th grade and was embarassed and confused that I did that. Leone told me, 'Some of the girls enjoyed it for sure because at that age you and the girls are both figuring out what you can do and what you like or don't like. You can talk to women in my group, it will be the perfect place for you to talk to women, learn to date and make friends. Everyone, especially the women, will go crazy over you in my group.' So you see - he gave incorrect counseling... read more
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James P. Leone, PhD has a 1.5 star rating with 258 reviews.
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James P. Leone, PhD is closed now. It will open at 9:00 a.m.
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