DR. ERIC FRAZER, PAS EXPERT: HE IS FOUND TO BE LICENSED BUT STILL GUILTY AS CHARGED OF BEING STUPID!

I've had many people tell me how smart I am -- thank you -- which did not protect me from the mistake of thinking that Dr. Eric Frazer, a psychologist practicing out of Westport, CT, did not have a license.  I did investigate very carefully prior to publishing that information, but I still ended up being misled by the way the State database worked.  So I am not immune to error.  However, I would not say that I am stupid, which is more than you could ever say about Dr. Eric Frazer. [And before I proceed, I do want to thank those who were quick to contact me on that point.  I am very grateful to my readership for keeping me on track!]

Recently, a mother contacted me to let me know that Dr. Frazer had become involved in her case as a PAS (Parental Alienation Syndrome) expert and GAL and that he had investigated her case and concluded that she was alienating her child from the father.  She assured me that this was not so and showed me additional information that led me to believe she was telling the truth. 

In contrast, from the documents I saw it appeared as though Dr. Eric Frazer had misrepresented the facts of PAS on the stand and had lied about the mother. 

Of course, I am not surprised that anyone who characterizes him or herself as an expert in the quack theory of PAS also turned out to be a quack as well.  Licensed or not, a psychologist who acts on the basis of a quack theory remains a quack. 

The end result of his wrongdoing and false testimony was that this mother lost custody of her son who had been living with her for many years and the young man was summarily transferred into the primary care of the father.  This demonstrates more powerfully than anything else how the testimony of a psychologist can end up devastating a custody case even though such testimony is completely bogus. 

Remarkably enough, however, before this family court case was over, nobody bothered to check out Dr. Eric Frazer's credentials.  They should have--because they are seriously not that great!   

First of all, so-called Dr. Frazer claims that he received his Psy.D. from the Miami Institute of Psychology.  The Miami Institute of What?  What is with our Court system that it could actually place the serious responsibility for the wellbeing of a family in the hands of a graduate of some obscure college in Florida that no one has ever heard of!  Are there no professionals who actually graduated from the University of Connecticut or Yale University that the Family Court could have checked with, schools that have some kind of track record and credibility? 

He does have a license in the State of Connecticut--but my question is--how did he get it despite being so poorly qualified!  I am sure there is an explanation!

 

So what about Dr. Eric Frazer's education?  What is interesting about Dr. Frazer's "about me" page is it doesn't say a thing about his academic credentials which would be the first thing you would want to know about a professional who is going to take on powerful responsibilities such as deciding which parent a child ends up with.  For that information on Dr. Frazer I went to the Yale University School of Medicine where he claims to be an Assistant Clinical Professor--ah hemm--part time. 

On the Yale University School of Medicine website where Dr. Frazer has been listed, the only academic credentials he provides is the information that he received his Masters of Science at the Miami Institute of Psychology in 1998.  The only problem is that at another location online--his "linked in" page--Dr. Frazer claims that he was working on his Psy.D. at the Miami Institute of Psychology from 1996 to 2000 and makes no mention of a Masters in Science.  So what did he get--a Master's Degree or a Psy.D.? 

You might speculate that he got both, but that is not how it works.  Ordinarily, a credible Master's Degree takes at least two years to obtain.  A Psy.D. takes minimally four years.  Based on that, there is no way that Frazer was able to get both a Master's degree and a Psy.D. degree at the Miami Institute of Psychology in only four years.  He either received one or the other. Or else, considering the timeframe, and this is something I hadn't considered when I first started writing this article, Dr. Frazer obtained two degrees that are of seriously poor quality! 

I am aware that the Miami Institute of Psychology made arrangements for students at Miami-Dade Community College to transfer credits into the Institute, but that would hardly be a quality level education.  Still, it is possible that this is what Dr. Frazer did because there is a gap of two years between his graduation at Fordham in 1994 and the start of his education at the Miami Institute in 1996. 

Of course, then that turns attention onto Dr. Frazer's time at Fordham where it seems that Frazer only spent two years from 1992 to 1994.  Perhaps this was also a community college supplemented education, although Dr. Frazer doesn't tell us. 

And this is my problem.  That information should be up front and available to people who are considering whether to take advantage of his professional services.  It leaves me wondering how much I can believe of what he has posted up there.

At one point in this conversation, I had a person ask me "Where did Dr. Frazer get his doctorate?  And this is where I again kind of have an argument.  Can you legitimately call a Psy.D. a doctorate?  For me personally, I don't think you can.  You see, a Ph.D. and a Psy.D. are two entirely different degrees.  In order to obtain a Ph.D., you are required to do an original piece of research which you ordinarily write up into what is called a dissertation which is required to show a mastery of the subject matter.  This dissertation is frequently up to 100 pages or more. 


Once you have completed your dissertation, you are required to stand before a department committee consisting of professors in your department where you defend the results of your dissertation from their scrutiny.  Frequently, these dissertations end up being published as a book and/or certainly the results of the research could end up published in a professional journal. 

With a Psy.D. all you do is pass an examination and you are done.  In terms of respect and prestige within the academic community, a Psy.D. is considerably less.  As a point of interest, the Miami Institute of Psychology is accredited for a Psy.D. degree, but it is not accredited for the Ph.D.  So Dr. Frazer could not have obtained an accredited Ph.D. at the school he went to because it is of insufficient quality to offer one.


Be that as it may, somebody please tell me how this guy was ever able to become a psychology fellow at Yale University Medical School with such slim qualifications!  He's not even a member of the American Psychological Association, although he appears to be affiliated with the infamous AFCC and he is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association without being a lawyer.  I mean, why get picky about whether you have a J.D. or not! 

So tell me how this guy is able to walk into courtrooms here in the State of Connecticut and change lives forever on the basis of a diploma that is of such poor quality? 

Who is in charge here? 

Who is at the wheel to see that the experts who provide testimony in Connecticut Family Courtrooms meet some basic standards in terms of professional capability?

I have left messages with Dr. Eric Frazer at his office at Westport and also with the Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University Medical School.  If either returns my call and provides me with additional information, I will certainly include their responses in this posting.  So far that hasn't happened. 

P.S.

Dr. Eric Frazer is now associated with Dr. Linda S. Smith in their mutual business Child Custody Analytics which is listed as being in practice from September 2014 to the present.  For those of you concerned that you might face false charges of PAS, I'd stay away from these guys. 

 

"BULLIES, BATS AND BULLDOZING" DR. JEANNE KING TALKS ABOUT HOW TO RECOGNIZE AND SURVIVE ABUSIVE BULLYING!

Dr. Jeanne King talks about abusive bullying as follows:  "Bullies and abusers have a way of bulldozing their way right through the “ask.” They know what they want and nothing is going to get in their way. Sound familiar?

 

It may start with an apparent pitch that looks like this, “I think we should...”

 

At first, you may not be certain whether the pitch invites your opinion or is the introduction to the bulldozing effort to follow. You seek to comprehend their suggestion/request, and before you can process it—much less formulate your reply—their eagerness percolates."

 

For more information on this topic, please click on the link below:

 

http://www.preventabusiverelationships.com/articles/bullies_bats_bulldozing_501.php

DECEMBER 2014 RULES COMMITTEE MEETING COMING UP!

The next Rules Committee Meeting will be held on Monday, December 15, 2014 at 2:00p.m. in the Supreme Court Building, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford. 


For those who are unfamiliar, this is the Committee that decides what rules will be placed in The Connecticut Practice Book, the rules which determine court room procedures, i.e. what can and what can be done in legal proceedings including those taking place Family Court.

No agenda for the meeting is available as of this time. 

MALCOLM X: HIS WORDS ADDRESS THE PRESENT GENERATION AS WELL AS HIS OWN!

IN MEMORY OF MIKE BROWN. DIVORCE IN CONNECTICUT BELIEVES "BLACK LIVES MATTER"!

A SLAP VERSUS A PUNCH: IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES CAN LAW ENFORCEMENT TELL THE DIFFERENCE?

I might as well say right now that I have been a victim of domestic violence and so in writing this I am speaking from my own personal experience.  I won't say it was from my marriage because I don't want to get into that.  But let us say that I was subjected to violence before I got married and we'll call the guy who did it Tom. 

One of the things I remember about Tom the most, aside from how strong he was, is that he never took responsibility for his actions.  Whenever he beat me up, it was always my fault that it happened.  One time I can recall I was sitting in a chair reading a book and Tom threw a full can of soda at me which would have hurt me seriously if it had hit me.  Luckily, I ducked and the soda can  sailed through the window completely smashing the window pane. 

Tom had the window repaired and kept following me around afterward asking me to pay half the cost of the window saying it was partially my fault that it got broken.  I still give myself credit for not agreeing to do so. 

This is why I am particularly upset with the fact that yesterday former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice won the appeal of his indefinite suspension from football.

More than anything else, the inept way in which this case has been handled is very frustrating.  What occurred in this case reflects a completely inadequate understanding of what domestic violence is all about.  But before I proceed with those ideas, let me just review exactly what happened. 

Apparently, both Ray Rice and his then fiancé Janay Palmer had been out socializing with some friends; they acknowledge they had been drinking.  As Janay describes it, the two were generally bad tempered with each other when they returned to their hotel and got on the elevator to go back to their room. 

Once on the elevator, she says that she made a grab for Ray's cell phone and he spat at her.  She then slapped him, and in return he knocked her unconscious.  However, she is rather vague about her memory of what happened because she says when she woke up, she was in a fog. 

Other versions I've heard of the story say that she spat at him. The video is grainy and Ray Rice had a hat on.  He is also quite bulky so it is hard to see what the interaction was--who spit at whom, who slapped whom.  Who knows exactly, but it is certain from the video that Janay was charging in Ray's direction just before he knocked her out. 

You also can't be sure what the two were talking about before their argument got physical--perhaps that might provide some clarity.  But the fact is,  Ray Rice knocked Janay out and then dragged her off the elevator and left her face down on the floor for several minutes with her skirt riding up so high that you can literally see her underpants.  This is pretty degrading and humiliating in and of itself.

A hotel security officer then showed up and questioned Ray Rice about what was going on.  From what you can see, it does not look as though either showed evidence of any concern regarding Janay's wellbeing while they were standing there. 

Subsequently, the police arrived and took Ray Rice and Janay Palmer to the police station where they were both arrested--Ray for aggravated assault and Janay for simple assault, although the latter charge was later dropped quietly.  Subsequently, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodall gave Ray Rice a two game suspension for his actions which was later expanded into an indefinite suspension in the face of the general public outcry against such a light punishment. 

Meanwhile, the NFL pressured Janay to apologize for her behavior at a press conference as if she was the one who committed the wrongdoing.

And now, just yesterday, Ray Rice succeeded in getting his suspension overturned by U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones.  Is there any better way to demonstrate judicial indifference towards victims of domestic violence, and send the message that we just don't care?

In regard to the criminal charges against Ray Rice, those charges were also dropped and  instead Ray Rice was allowed to enter a pre-trial intervention program for first time offenders which requires him to stay out of trouble for a year and obtain counseling with his now wife, Janay, who was the victim of his assault. 

The question I have, and the question I suspect many other people have is: why isn't this man in jail? 

It is bad enough that the National Football League was so ready to sweep this incident under the rug.  But the fact that Ray Rice got off so lightly says volumes about how indifferent the criminal justice system is towards victims of domestic violence.  

In particular, if you look around courtrooms throughout the State of Connecticut you will see pamphlets and posters warning people against domestic violence.   They could actually give you the impression that the State of Connecticut genuinely opposes domestic violence.  But this is not truly the case. 

Recently, a friend of mine who filed for divorce was attacked by her ex husband.  He ended up smacking her around, inflicting bruises and breaking some of her ribs.  You would think this would be enough to get him arrested and charged criminally.  But no, when the police arrived on the scene, her ex stated to the police that she had slapped him and so the police decided to arrest both of them. 

When they came to court, each was given a restraining order against the other as if they had both committed crimes of equal severity.  Yet there was no evidence that my friend had slapped her ex at all except his personal statement.  Furthermore, this is what  I don't get--there is every difference between a slap versus knocking a person unconscious, covering them with bruises or breaking their ribs.  Still, all an abusive man has to do to get further revenge once he has beaten up his wife is to humiliate her with an arrest by fabricating false charges such as "She slapped me first!". 

This is why I find it ridiculous that the NFL put pressure on Janay Palmer to apologize for her behavior and act as though what she did is on an equal level with what Ray Rice did.  She should not have been asked to apologize any more than I should have had Tom asking me to pay half the price of getting that window fixed. 

The question is:  Who is the victim here?  And the answer is Janay Palmer, as I was in my day, and as my friend was who endured bruises and broken ribs. 

No we do not share responsibility for those attacks against us.  Why?  You might ask.  Because men are ten times stronger than women any day of the week. 

And if you are going to dispute me on that, I will simply say that it is pretty clear that Ray Rice, as a trained football player, was definitely much stronger and bigger than Janay.  My friend's soon to be ex-husband is a weight lifter.

I can recall trying to get help in getting Tom to stop and people would say to me, "Oh, but you are a such a big, strong girl, how can Tom get away with it?" implying that I had to be making the story up.  It didn't matter how big and strong I was.  Men are simply much, much stronger, bottom line.  I found that out, and my friend with the bruises and broken ribs found it out as well, as did Janay Palmer. 

People who think otherwise are watching too many staged versions of "Superwoman." 

Earlier today, I drove by a Karate studio which had a big sign up advertising self defense classes for women.  I would never waste my time taking a course like that.  Sure you might learn how to do something unexpected that would buy you a little extra time, if you were assaulted.  But, again, the bottom line is no woman is going to be able to fight a guy off who has decided to beat her up.  What these courses do is give women a false sense of security they would be foolish to indulge in if they want to stay safe. 

Women's advocates are working hard to improve the lives of women across the line.  But no one can say we have dealt properly with violence against women until we can differentiate between a slap versus a punch, or even more wisely recognize that there is absolutely no possible explanation or excuse when a man beats up a woman.  And no woman should have to apologize or face arrest simply because she is a victim.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM "DIVORCE IN CONNECTICUT"!