Therapist-in-training exposes nauseating secrets from the world of counselor education

Naomi Epps Best is a married Christian mother and graduate student in marriage and family therapy at Santa Clara University. Like anyone who enters the counseling profession, she wants to help people thrive.

Sadly, in today’s world, helping people thrive is often synonymous with affirming their delusions. On a recent episode of “Relatable,” Naomi sat down with Allie Beth Stuckey to share what future therapists are being taught about gender identity and care for minors.

“We were taught that if a child comes to us and they are experiencing extreme gender-related distress,” it is our “ethical obligation ... to affirm them in their belief and to not act as a gatekeeper for their medical treatment,” says Naomi. “That is what I am taught at [Santa Clara University], and that is what is being propagated down from the psychological governing bodies in this country.”

“I've talked to so many de-transitioners,” says Allie, “and every single one says that there was a therapist who didn't ask questions that checked off the boxes” and “uncritically affirm[ed]” their gender of choice. And even if the child also suffers from anorexia, bipolar disorder, or autism, the therapist is obligated to “ignore all of that, and say, ‘Yes, here is your letter of recommendation to go on puberty blockers, cross- sex hormones, [or] get your breasts cut off.”’

“Yes, exactly,” says Naomi. “[That methodology] is by design in this profession, and there are great therapists out there, who will ask deeper questions and will walk with a child who has gender dysphoria and provide them good care, but those individuals are going against the ethical standards and guidelines in our profession, and they're taking a risk by doing that.”

Earlier this month, Naomi published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal criticizing Santa Clara University’s Marriage and Family Therapy program, particularly its required human sexuality course. The article, titled “Santa Clara University’s Crazy Idea of Human Sexuality,” exposed explicit and coercive practices like assigning sadomasochistic erotica and mandatory sexual autobiographies, alongside ideological bias, unprofessional conduct, and racial stereotyping. Best argued these elements, coupled with denied accommodations, ethical violations, and retaliations against her, prioritize political agendas over neutral clinical training.

Just days after the article’s publication, Naomi was fired from her therapy internship. But before that, she was “summoned to a 15-on-one struggle meeting,” where her fellow “therapists-in-training” launched “character attacks” at her.

“These people called me unsafe. They called me a danger to the profession,” she tells Allie.

To hear more of Naomi’s wild story about what’s going on in the world of therapy education in our country, watch the episode above.

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