The OBPE has officially dropped the case against Dr. Miller and her license is fully restored. This victory belongs to everyone who refused to let the facts be ignored. Stay vigilant and keep checking our page for updates on how we work to prevent these baseless attacks from happening again.
June 19, 2016
Final supporters
False allegations derived from an anti-attachment therapy website resulted in the Oregon Board of Psychological Examiners (OBPE) suspending the license of Portland-based Dr. Kali Miller, Ph.D., in March 2014. The anonymous website purports, among other things, that attachment therapists torture and kill children. Although there was no complaint filed against Dr. Miller, she was accused of making bizarre and controversial recommendations based on the website's unsubstantiated allegations against other therapists.
OBPE's case rests on the fact that a child had an emotional outburst which included wrapping pajamas around his throat and shouting that he was going to kill himself six months after discontinuing therapy with Dr. Miller. They allege that she was responsible despite the fact that in the 6 months prior to ending therapy she had only seen him 3 times briefly. These 3 contacts totaled less than an hour and the child did receive treatment from other providers both before and after Dr. Miller stopped working with him.
Not only were Dr. Miller's recommendations for this child and their family safe and supportive, but when the child was later hospitalized due to parent child conflict which was unrelated to anything that Dr. Miller recommended, the hospital notes document the child utilized many of the tools she had taught him two years prior. These included specific relaxation and breathing techniques, journaling, the use of "I feel" statements and how to recognize and address trauma triggers. Attachment therapy, as practiced by Dr. Miller, focuses on increasing nurture and attunement between parent and child. It additionally encourages parents to have sensitivity to previous trauma and to parent in ways that reduce current stressors.
Despite these facts which were documented in Dr. Miller's client file, OBPE created six iterations of allegations against Dr. Miller over a period of two years. At the initial hearing, OBPE hired an out-of-state psychologist who has authored several anti-attachment articles to serve as both a consultant and expert witness. While he acknowledged that he had never seen nor treated a single child with the diagnosis of the child in question, and had never met this child, he disputed the child's diagnosis and the use of attachment therapy. Three weeks prior to this hearing, OBPE added new allegations of being "immoral" and "grossly negligent," revoked Dr. Miller's license and added a $5,000 fine. Denied the right to defend herself and with no means of income, Dr. Miller has served as her own attorney, and her case is currently under consideration by the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Dr. Miller desires to protect the rights of traumatized children and their families to continue to get appropriate and effective therapy. She is concerned that if OBPE prevails, other therapists and the families they work with will be threatened and sanctioned for both things that they did not do, and for providing supportive treatments which may be useful on a case-by-case basis. In this case these interventions included rocking the child at their request, using a 3-second sit with arms and legs crossed versus a lengthy time out, allowing the child to exercise in conjunction with self chosen affirmations to earn prizes (for example "I am calm and relaxed"), encouraging the parent to seek eye contact with the child then putting a candy into the child's mouth or hand when they voluntarily make eye contact and participating in neuro-reorganization programs such as the SMART program if beneficial.
* * *
If you would like to contribute to Dr. Miller's legal defense fund, please visit:
https://gofundme.com/Support-for-Dr-Miller
Thank you for your prayers and good wishes!
Updates
April 20, 2016
The OBPE continues to ignore the facts of Dr. Miller's clinical history. Contact the Board office today and demand they review the actual hospital documentation that exonerates her. Post this link on your Facebook page so the public sees the reality of these unfounded accusations.
April 20, 2016
The momentum behind this campaign proves that people see through these baseless allegations against Dr. Miller. Call the Oregon Board of Psychological Examiners today and demand they review her file immediately. Email your state representative to insist that they prioritize transparency in this case.
Reached 100 supporters
April 20, 2016
48 Comments
Dr. Miller has a gift for working with attachment-challenged children. To suspend her license hurts not only Dr. Miller but the children and families she serves.
How exactly does destroying Dr. Miller's entire career and depriving her patients of competent care "protect the public"? Shame on the OBPE!
The injustice done to Dr. Miller is horrific but unfortunately not uncommon. This is true for many practitioners -- therapists or medical doctors, in Oregon or in other states -- when good providers practice outside of mainstream convention. Stand up for your good providers if maligned by licensing boards.
she has provided countless practical safe ideas to maintain emotional regulation for myself and my children to help enhance bonding and confidence
Dr. Kali Miller is one of the kindest and most genuinely caring therapists I have ever met. Her desire to help families heal and thrive is evident in her study and work. Unfortunately there is a lack of understanding of attachment healing. I wish more people would try to learn the ideology of current attachment therapy.
I personally never worked with Dr Kali but my twin sister who passed away due to suicidal drowning in November 2022 did work with Dr Kali for a number of years. She spoke very highly of her and when the news came to her about her termination my sister was super upset. She believed that Dr Kali was a big reason of her living and the treatment of therapy and her therapy pets where a big glue part of her life and from not coming undone. So I am signing this petition as Tanya Luke and I know if Natasha was here with us today she would also .
This woman is a nutcase and deserved to have her license permanently revoked. She gives mental health professionals a bad name. Thankfully there are amazing trauma therapists out there who actually know how to help heal those of us with major trauma. Debra Miller was not one of them.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
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The OBPE has officially dropped the case against Dr. Miller and her license is fully restored. This victory belongs to everyone who refused to let the facts be ignored. Stay vigilant and keep checking our page for updates on how we work to prevent these baseless attacks from happening again.
June 19, 2016
Final supporters
False allegations derived from an anti-attachment therapy website resulted in the Oregon Board of Psychological Examiners (OBPE) suspending the license of Portland-based Dr. Kali Miller, Ph.D., in March 2014. The anonymous website purports, among other things, that attachment therapists torture and kill children. Although there was no complaint filed against Dr. Miller, she was accused of making bizarre and controversial recommendations based on the website's unsubstantiated allegations against other therapists.
OBPE's case rests on the fact that a child had an emotional outburst which included wrapping pajamas around his throat and shouting that he was going to kill himself six months after discontinuing therapy with Dr. Miller. They allege that she was responsible despite the fact that in the 6 months prior to ending therapy she had only seen him 3 times briefly. These 3 contacts totaled less than an hour and the child did receive treatment from other providers both before and after Dr. Miller stopped working with him.
Not only were Dr. Miller's recommendations for this child and their family safe and supportive, but when the child was later hospitalized due to parent child conflict which was unrelated to anything that Dr. Miller recommended, the hospital notes document the child utilized many of the tools she had taught him two years prior. These included specific relaxation and breathing techniques, journaling, the use of "I feel" statements and how to recognize and address trauma triggers. Attachment therapy, as practiced by Dr. Miller, focuses on increasing nurture and attunement between parent and child. It additionally encourages parents to have sensitivity to previous trauma and to parent in ways that reduce current stressors.
Despite these facts which were documented in Dr. Miller's client file, OBPE created six iterations of allegations against Dr. Miller over a period of two years. At the initial hearing, OBPE hired an out-of-state psychologist who has authored several anti-attachment articles to serve as both a consultant and expert witness. While he acknowledged that he had never seen nor treated a single child with the diagnosis of the child in question, and had never met this child, he disputed the child's diagnosis and the use of attachment therapy. Three weeks prior to this hearing, OBPE added new allegations of being "immoral" and "grossly negligent," revoked Dr. Miller's license and added a $5,000 fine. Denied the right to defend herself and with no means of income, Dr. Miller has served as her own attorney, and her case is currently under consideration by the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Dr. Miller desires to protect the rights of traumatized children and their families to continue to get appropriate and effective therapy. She is concerned that if OBPE prevails, other therapists and the families they work with will be threatened and sanctioned for both things that they did not do, and for providing supportive treatments which may be useful on a case-by-case basis. In this case these interventions included rocking the child at their request, using a 3-second sit with arms and legs crossed versus a lengthy time out, allowing the child to exercise in conjunction with self chosen affirmations to earn prizes (for example "I am calm and relaxed"), encouraging the parent to seek eye contact with the child then putting a candy into the child's mouth or hand when they voluntarily make eye contact and participating in neuro-reorganization programs such as the SMART program if beneficial.
* * *
If you would like to contribute to Dr. Miller's legal defense fund, please visit:
https://gofundme.com/Support-for-Dr-Miller
Thank you for your prayers and good wishes!
Updates
April 20, 2016
The OBPE continues to ignore the facts of Dr. Miller's clinical history. Contact the Board office today and demand they review the actual hospital documentation that exonerates her. Post this link on your Facebook page so the public sees the reality of these unfounded accusations.
April 20, 2016
The momentum behind this campaign proves that people see through these baseless allegations against Dr. Miller. Call the Oregon Board of Psychological Examiners today and demand they review her file immediately. Email your state representative to insist that they prioritize transparency in this case.
Reached 100 supporters
April 20, 2016
48 Comments
Kali is an amazing therapist- she helped our family through some very difficult times as our daughter healed from her trauma. Even though it's been two years since they last saw her, they still talk about her and miss her. What was done to her was a travesty. The world needs more people like Dr Kali, not less.
Dr. Miller has a gift for working with attachment-challenged children. To suspend her license hurts not only Dr. Miller but the children and families she serves.
How exactly does destroying Dr. Miller's entire career and depriving her patients of competent care "protect the public"? Shame on the OBPE!
The injustice done to Dr. Miller is horrific but unfortunately not uncommon. This is true for many practitioners -- therapists or medical doctors, in Oregon or in other states -- when good providers practice outside of mainstream convention. Stand up for your good providers if maligned by licensing boards.
she has provided countless practical safe ideas to maintain emotional regulation for myself and my children to help enhance bonding and confidence
Dr. Kali Miller is one of the kindest and most genuinely caring therapists I have ever met. Her desire to help families heal and thrive is evident in her study and work. Unfortunately there is a lack of understanding of attachment healing. I wish more people would try to learn the ideology of current attachment therapy.
I personally never worked with Dr Kali but my twin sister who passed away due to suicidal drowning in November 2022 did work with Dr Kali for a number of years. She spoke very highly of her and when the news came to her about her termination my sister was super upset. She believed that Dr Kali was a big reason of her living and the treatment of therapy and her therapy pets where a big glue part of her life and from not coming undone. So I am signing this petition as Tanya Luke and I know if Natasha was here with us today she would also .
This woman is a nutcase and deserved to have her license permanently revoked. She gives mental health professionals a bad name. Thankfully there are amazing trauma therapists out there who actually know how to help heal those of us with major trauma. Debra Miller was not one of them.
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Kali is an amazing therapist- she helped our family through some very difficult times as our daughter healed from her trauma. Even though it's been two years since they last saw her, they still talk about her and miss her. What was done to her was a travesty. The world needs more people like Dr Kali, not less.