For more info, please follow this link: 

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-freeburg-5152b06a/

 

 Review: 

ZERO (out of 5) (just kidding, I give her a -100 out of five)

Back in 2010, I was unable to drive for a total of 10 years due to my anxiety.  When I found out about an anxiety support group in town, I jumped at the chance to go.  So I did.  For four years.  The group was run by Kathy Freeburg, who put one of her patients in charge.  In those four years I think Kathy ran our group twice, both times our regular leader being sick.  I was only present for one of those times, as I didn't attend the other time.  Anyways, to find out, the group leader had been taking what we said in group and then publishing our stories in a newsletter without our permission or knowledge.  But Kathy knew.  And she approved every single one of the group leader's submissions before publication each month.  She was using us to take what had happened to us just so she could be published.  Eventually, the owner of the newsletter convinced our group leader to publish all these stories in a book.  She went to Kathy and told her about it and Kathy approved and was happy for her.  All of this was still going on without our knowledge.  Eventually, our group leader came to us and was very proud of herself and said "I'm going to be a published author!"  We were happy for her.  We asked her, "What book did you write?"  She said it was a book about our group.  We assumed it was just her own experiences being our group leader.  But when the book came out a few days later (this was 2014) I immediately bought it and saw personal, private stories that we had said in group, being published word for word as we had said them.  They were stories about our lives, from when we were children up until the present day.  Our group leader was not a part of our lives, so what right did she have stealing our life stories with anxiety and then publishing them?  So I called Kathy.  She acted concerned and said and said she had no idea what was in the book.  Then she told me to have another member call her.  When the other member called her, she was rude to her and yelled at her.  And then another member called her and she denied ever saying anything rude to the first one that called and denied not knowing about the book (meaning she told this member she DID know all about it).  It was this strange merry-go-round of bullshit coming out of Kathy's mouth.  

So I contacted the publisher of the newsletter and got copies of every single newsletter that was ever released and found that our group leader has taken each and every submission and showed them to Kathy before sending them to be published.  So not only did she know about them, she had read them.  She lied to me.  While she got around a violation of HIPAA law, due to the fact that she put a patient in charge of the group, my lawyer still tried to sue them both.  But since our group was full of people with crippling anxiety, nobody would take the chance on suing them.  And I wasn't going to do it alone (even though I really wanted to make this against the law).  So we dropped it.  We did send the publisher a cease and desist, which made her very angry, she did comply and remove the private stories of the members.  I hate that this happened.  But what I hate more than having it happen at all, is that it happened to a group of people both the group leader and Kathy knew were vulnerable and most were unable to stick up for themselves.  That's what they counted on.  

I see Kathy as a victimizer and a liar, and I would never want her in charge of my mental health.  Did I mention our anxiety group leader was Kathy's patient and she was best friends with her and would go out to eat with her and other inappropriate things that a therapist should NOT do with her patient?  You are not supposed to have a personal relationship with your patients.  So, was our group leader a victim of Kathy's persuading her to do this?  Or was she the main perpetrator?  I have no idea.  I just know that Kathy was the one in charge and she let it all happen.  

Our group broke up.  And I was to blame.  All because I stood up for those who were being taken advantage of by some crappy people who were supposed to be in charge of our mental health.  If you join a support group, always, always get it in writing that nothing you say in the group can be used without your knowledge. 

I give Kathy a -100 out of five stars and a F------------ grade as a "therapist".  

I never had her as a therapist, she ran our anxiety group through her client, and I only ever met her once in person and twice on the phone (when I wanted to join the group, and the day I left the group).