JP Counseling and Consultation, LLC

"My teenager was in Jamie’s care for approximately 4 months. Near the end of that time I discovered that my teen had recently begun cutting. After making this discovery we had a family session during which Jamie stated multiple times that “cutting was completely normal for a child this age”. I didn’t share her sentiments and when I said as much she told me that I was more than welcome to get a second opinion. That same day I got a second opinion from a clinical psychologist who has 20+ years of experience treating adolescents. After which my husband and I discussed the entire situation at length. Together we agreed that we didn’t feel that our teenager was making progress in the right direction at it would be in their best interest to find them a new provider. When I approached the subject with my teenager they told me that while they really liked Jamie and thought she was super nice, they also felt that she wasn’t getting to the root of their issues. They said she felt more like a life coach and was easy to talk to but wasn’t really helping them any more than talking to a friend does. They agreed that finding a new provider was the next best step. This decision was not personal, we were simply doing what we thought was best for our child. We had no hard feelings towards Jamie and in no way do we blame her or hold her responsible for our teenager’s self harm. When I informed Jamie of our decision she thanked me for letting her know and wished us all the best. I obtained a referral for a new provider and when I called to schedule an appointment I was informed that they weren’t taking new patients. So I began a new search on my own. After nearly 4 hours I was only able to locate one provider but unfortunately their first available appointment wasn’t for another two and a half months. I then decided to turn to a private Facebook group to see if by chance there were any providers that I had somehow missed. To protect my teenager’s privacy I made an anonymous post that stated “Looking for a counselor/therapist for my teenager that takes (our insurance) and is not: Jamie Flynn Oswalt, (& I also listed two other providers who were frequently recommended in the group but that I had also already ruled out)”. Three weeks later I woke up to find a text from Jamie. In part it read “(Teenager) was the priority in ever knew (they) were scratching (themself). But now I understand why. (They) disclosed alot and made progress. (They) trusted me and did so well with (their) special talk time and you made it about you. I will never bother you again but I had to stand up for myself.” “I hope the next therapist will do what you want. I'm so sorry you felt the need to mention me as not to be recommended when I was completely professional and did everything correct by (teenager)." Naturally I was quite blindsided by this text. Jamie and I hadn’t had any contact since our parting, which I was under the impression was amicable. Nowhere did I state in my Facebook post that I did not recommend her. I mentioned the names I did simply because I was trying to be as specific as possible so I didn’t get recommendations for providers that I had already ruled out. There was absolutely no ill intent behind my post. If Jamie felt that there was an issue with my post there are countless other ways she could have handled the situation. Yet as a Licensed Professional Counselor she thought the appropriate response was to unleash an unwarranted attack from behind a screen in the middle of the night. Stooping so low as to use my teenager’s self harm as means to deliberately take a jab at me as well as making false accusations and using blatant lies to “stand up for herself”. I fail to see how this display of deplorable behavior is an appropriate response to someone who was simply asking for recommendations. While this entire situation has left me questioning Jamie’s integrity and personal and professional boundaries, it has confirmed that I was right to trust my instincts and remove my child from her care."