Watch the Yarn...Watch the Yarn...
The strange case of Dr. Zoe D. Katze.
From the American Bar Association:
Case of the Cat's Credentials
Zoe D. Katze has an impressive-looking set of credentials—Ph.D., C. Ht., DAPA. She has been board certified by three major hypnotherapy associations and holds diplomate status in the American Psychotherapy Association.
Not bad for a 6-year-old house cat. And not even a pedigreed one at that.
But Zoe's not just any cat. She's a Philadelphia psychologist's cat. He had a point that he had been wanting to make about the proliferation of bogus credentialing organizations over the past 10 or 20 years.
So he decided to credential his cat.
To do so, he first had to get Zoe some credit, which turned out to be the hardest part of the process. The credit card company's agent initially asked for her Social Security number, her owner says, but cheerfully relented when the owner told him it wasn't readily available. Zoe was then added to the owner's account as an authorized user.
To get Zoe her first credential, the owner simply filled out an application for certification on a lay hypnosis association's Web site and charged the fee to his credit card under Zoe's name. Since most lay hypnosis associations have reciprocity agreements, he says, it was a snap getting Zoe board-certified by two other credentialing organizations.
The owner then decided to go for the gold: diplomate status in the American Psychotherapy Association (APA), which, according to its own promotional literature, "is limited to a select group of professionals who, by virtue of their extensive training and expertise, have demonstrated their outstanding abilities in regard to their specialty."
The APA is affiliated with the American College of Forensic Examiners. To its credit, the APA requested a copy of Zoe's résumé before it would issue her any credentials, the owner says. So he made one up. And it's a real doozy.
The name itself is the first clue as to Zoe's true identity. In German, Zoe Die Katze translates to "Zoe the Cat." And the owner didn't stop there. He listed a previous job with the St. Felix (as in Felix the Cat) Home for Children. And he gave her a consulting position with the Tacayllaermi Friends School, the first name of which is "I'm really a cat" spelled backward....
Source: Mark Hansen, "See the Cat? See the Credentials? Psychologist's Scam Gets His Pet 'Board-Certified,'" in ABA Journal Ereport (October 25, 2002).
Here's how Steve Eichel himself told the story:
The cat is out of the bag.
After many months, I've finally been pushed to finish this article on questionable credentialing in hypnosis and "psychotherapy." A reporter from a major magazine wrote to "Dr. Zoe D. Katze" for input on an article she was writing on hypnosis for childbirthing. She had stumbled across Dr. Zoe's name on the American Association of Professional Hypnotherapists' website. I had to tell her the truth.
Dr. Zoe D. Katze, Ph.D., C.Ht., DAPA, is a cat. In fact, she is my cat....
I was motivated to credential my cat by two circumstances. First, I have become increasingly heedful of all the questionable credentials out there, and I've grown tired of sounding defensive to therapist-shopping clients who confront me with something along the order of: "I found somebody with all these certifications and diplomas and he/she charges half of what you psychologists charge."
The last straw (and my moment of inspiration) came during an internet search for a colleague. I accidentally came upon the website of another "psychotherapist" who listed a doctoral degree from an infamous diploma mill. Along with his degrees, he listed a veritable alphabet soup of impressive-looking letters after his name, corresponding to various "board certifications" and his status as a "Diplomat [sic] and Fellow" of the "largest professional hypnosis association in the world."
I decided to credential my cat....
Zoe is (or was, since I doubt I will pay certification maintenance fees) certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists, the American Board of Hypnotherapy, and the International Medical & Dental Hypnotherapy Association. She is a Professional Member of the American Association of Professional Hypnotherapists....
I resigned from the Advisory Board of the American Psychotherapy Association after I sensed that they were talking the talk about integrity in credentialing, but not walking the walk. As far as I'm concerned Zoe D. Katze put the icing on this misbaked cake. I initially applied for Zoe's Diploma online. To their credit, the APA wrote back requesting a resume or curriculum vitae before they would certify her. (The lay hypnosis associations did not even ask for that much.) I quickly whipped one up, and it's a doozy complete with some subtle and not-so-subtle clues as to Zoe's "real" identity. (My personal favorite: her Consultant position at the bogus "Tacayllaermi Friends School" in New Castle, DE. Play with the backward spelling of "Tacayllaermi" and you'll see what I mean.)...
Of course, if APA wanted to, they could have requested copies of the certifications listed in her c.v., and I could have provided them....Needless to say, no examination (not even by a vet) was required....
[S]omething happened in the 1980s and '90s that led directly to the proliferation of credentialing (and pseudocredentialing) in mental health. First, the advent of managed care, coinciding with the proliferation of graduate school programs in mental health (especially at the masters degree level), led to uncontrolled growth in the supply of practitioners while demand became increasingly restricted. As a result, many mental health practitioners began to scramble for a means (any means) to distinguish themselves, to be perceived as above the common horde, to be singled out.
Second, the last 20 years have seen a proliferation of specialties and "techniques," some valid, others a bit dubious, and still others the peculiar invention of their creators. In some cases, like trauma treatment, neuropsychology and forensic psychology, specialties were essentially invented where none existed before, due primarily to advances in the science as well as the practice of psychology. However, other more arguably dubious credentials also came into existence, leading to the development of "certified specialists" from "energy therapist" to "alien abduction therapist" to "past life regression therapist."...
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