William D. Brown, Ph.D. -- How He Got on My S--- List

During the period late May 1991 to early October 1991 I consulted a psychologist in Washington, D.C. named William D. Brown, Ph.D.  I worked as a paralegal at the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld at the time. While I was in therapy with Dr. Brown I had the suspicion that Dr. Brown was having surreptitious communications with my employer about the content of my therapy sessions and my progress.  On one occasion I confronted Dr. Brown with the accusation that he was talking to my employer without my consent.  He vehemently denied the accusation.  Curiously, he took his glasses off during his lengthy denial -- he literally could not "look me in the eye" to tell me he was not talking to Akin Gump managers. 

I was fired by Akin Gump on Tuesday October 29, 1991.  A few days later a curious thing happened.  I received in the mail a letter from Dr. Brown's office.  The business envelope contained a xerox copy of a one-page promotional "brochure" for one of Dr. Brown's self-published books: a book published by what is known in the trade as a vanity publisher.  In all fairness to Dr. Brown, the letter could have been sent by Dr. Brown's wife who worked as Dr. Brown's receptionist.  But then, it could have been sent by Dr. Brown himself.  I attached a negative meaning to the incident.  I don't want to be mean-spirited, but at the time I thought of a characterization of the incident, a one-word encapsulation, a word that rhymes with "ditch."

Moral of the story: Never consult a professional who who can't even get a commercial publisher to publish his self-help books.