CTA is keeping readers up to date with the Lara Sheehi case as the unfolding of this crisis illustrates the inevitable consequences of opening the doors to a radical authoritarian political ideology (aka Critical Social Justice). The likelihood is that scandals such as this one will help to tarnish the public reputation of the therapy professions, create division and discord within the professions, and, most significantly, undermine the confidence of the general public in what therapy has to offer.

The upcoming American Psychological Association (Division 39 – psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychology) conference with the theme of “Our Beautiful Struggle” is hosting some controversial speakers including Lara Sheehi and her husband Stephen Sheehi – it is worth looking at the programme to get a picture if you don’t already know this of the extent to which CSJ has colonised psychoanalysis. As the Sheehis (and some other speakers) have expressed their anitpathy towards Israel in public forums this event is attracting the attention of the media and protests are being planned. “Our beautiful struggle” is clearly a misnomer. Things are getting ugly. It would appear that an elite cadre of the occupying CSJ army is about to inflict significant reputational damage on APA.

The Lara Sheehi case should be warning, if such warnings were still needed, that the turn to the social/collective and its accompanying politicisation of therapy represents an existential threat to the therapy field. We therefore urge everyone with a stake in real therapy to engage with critical debates (Thomas, 2023) and familiarise themselves with important current critical scholarly inquiry (Mills and Burston, 2023).