Re: You make a fair point .

Hi Unique, When I say that psychologists may "manipulate" people that way, I don't mean they do it on purpose. Obviously, people who seek psychological help must have confidence in their therapist, and if their mental situation is very confused, then they will often be inclined to buy almost everything the therapist says. So their situation is not much different from that of the naive boy in your example who is in danger of being manipulated. In fact, in the last 25 years or so, gradually as child sexual abuse became the big issue and more and more therapists began to believe that serious psychological harm is mainly related to sexual abuse, there have been many cases around the world where adults in their 20's or 30's, or even older, made accusations against their supposed "abusers" after having been in therapy. Although these accusations were often very accurate and well detailed, and the persons who made them seemed honestly to believe that they had been abused, they were finally proved to be false because of evident inconsistencies and other factual reasons. All this being said, it's not my intention to claim that sexual abuse is just a trifle without consequences, and neither do I think that "manipulated consent" and consent are the same thing. But when people, after having been in therapy, claim that their lives have been ruined because of a pleasant and truly consensual relationship 40 years before, I would at least take it with a with a pinch of skepticism. Have a nice day and may the Lord be with you WP