Jean Mercer has a blog called “child myths” on Psychology Today.
By way of introduction, Jean Mercer earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Brandeis University. For unknown reasons, she failed to obtain a clinical license.
That means she has never seen a patient. Her entire professional career has been as an academic.
One of her blog posts, though, reveals that she was consulted in a case where a woman gave birth the baby was asphyxiated. Where is Mercer’s expertise?
Was this an improper consultation? Not only does Mercer lack clinical experience, this would appear to be a question of physiology, rather than psychology.
Several recent posts attack independent therapeutic practices. Once again, this is an area Mercer has no experience in. In one case, she based her attack on a promotional email, and went so far as to admit that her data was incomplete.
This did not stop Mercer from going forward, though.
What motivates Jean Mercer to attack clinicians?
Some of Mercer’s co-authors have “interesting” backgrounds.
Monica Pignotti spent years at the highest levels of Scientology, and was involved with one of the sons of Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard. After leaving Scientology, Pignotti became a practitioner of Roger Callahan‘s “thought field therapy” and “voice technology.” After abandoning those, she turned to academia.
Pignotti has denied involvement in defamation litigation. Unfortunately for her, the existence of at least one defamation lawsuit is very well documented.
Pignotti spends a great deal of time in an Internet Scientology discussion group. She has said many bizarre things, such as stating that she wished the Internet had never been invented!
Larry Sarner has been described as a mathematician and inventor. The only “inventions” associated with him are voting machines. These voting machines did not work, and Sarner bilked both lenders and investors out of over a million dollars. Sarner was taken to court, where he lost. Sarner drafted his own appeal, which consisted of a fantastic conspiracy theory. The court refused to hear this argument. As a result, Sarner and his wife, Linda Rosa, went into bankruptcy.
Larry Sarner is said to hold bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and political science. These degrees would not qualify him for medical licensure, but he tries to give the impression that he is an expert on therapeutic methods.
Sarner also claims to be a “key figure” in the skeptical community. A close review of the situation, though, reveals quite the opposite.
This screenshot is from one of the numerous blogs maintained by Monica Pignotti.
