Update: I have heard from two women who have reported similar abuse. One of them has known him for many years and says this is a repeated behavior that he has played out with many women. This is why I did this so that he can be held accountable and women might no longer be harmed by him. Both of these reports happened within 24 hours. I will not post any further updates.
I was contracted as a consultant for the The Center of Spiritual Emergence in Asheville, NC some years ago now.
I have been holding inside me what happened while I worked for Brack Jefferys now for several years. I finally, three years after no longer being involved with them, called him and left a detailed voice mail. For that time it was enough. I was traumatized and sexually harrassed by Brack and given I was still healing from pharmaceutical brain injury and repeated iatrogenic traumas at the hands of psychiatry I simply did not have the stomach to face the situation more than that at that time.
Now, I have left Asheville and am starting a new life with my partner and today I realized I need to close this chapter with The Center of Spiritual Emergence more officially.
Brack has never apologized nor has he let me know he’s doing anything to remedy the nightmarish situation he created. I have no other recourse since I see no possible benefit in subjecting myself to his personal presence when he’s expressed no form of apology or willingness to work on his behavior. I will not be further traumatized by this man.
I’m sorry I’ve not protected the innocent, vulnerable people who get care at the clinic sooner. I’ve simply not been able as I too have remained physically challenged and vulnerable. I’m finally feeling strong enough now.
Brack Jefferys created a hostile environment for me. I was hired to consult specifically in advocacy for those who might take advantages of the services there who had been harmed by psychiatry. The irony is that he repeated and created similar harmful and hostile circumstances.
Three circumstances stand out:
Staff meetings were very difficult from the beginning. I had hoped they would be different from when I used to work for other agencies but they were not. I went as far to speak to Brack about it after an entire hour was spent bashing a difficult client who the staff felt comfortable maligning by referring to her as borderline and thus impossible to work with. She was expelled from the program and demonized. I understand that people are sometimes too wounded to fit into programs and the fact that the folks at this center didn’t speak to her woundedness with compassion and kicked her out without carefully addressing her pain was more than I could stay silent about. I brought my concern to Brack who acknowledged that I was right and that he couldn’t do much about the level of discourse among his staff. That he would work on it.
So I already didn’t much like attending staff meetings from the get go and that’s an example of why.
Then another incident happened. We were gathered for a staff meeting and Brack and another staff member and I were all talking about how awful pharmaceuticals can often be. Take note that all three of us were speaking about this together. Another staff member who was listening was triggered by the conversation and chose to verbally assault me specifically.
I was the only member of the group who was rendered disabled by said pharmaceuticals. It was horrific. The man should have been fired. What happened instead was that was the beginning of my being systematically shut out. Not only was he not fired he was allowed to continue without reprimand while I no longer felt comfortable or safe in meetings.
I continued to associate myself hoping that I might have some impact. Brack and I at the beginning had an easy rapport and I liked him. I was very hopeful that I might be able to help him improve the program at the beginning and that was starting to erode in some big ways. I stuck around longer because I really hoped to see change. One day Brack called me and asked me if I wanted to come see one of the residences. I was pleased since I hadn’t seen any of the homes and so I said, “Yes. I’d love to meet the residents as well.” I had only worked directly with two clients and hadn’t met most of them. I was curious to meet more of the people utilizing services.
When I got to the home Brack answered the door…I looked past him hoping to see the people living there and something didn’t feel right. I said, “where are the residents?” He responded with, “there isn’t anyone here. I’m living here alone right now.”
He had gotten me to come to his home under false pretenses! Brack is not a residential counselor. I have a history of abuse at the hands of men and so I didn’t do anything immediately. I suppose I moved into FEAR/FREEZE mode, PTSD. I walked in and he started acting like a host. Did I want something to drink? etc. I sat on the edge of the couch and did not get comfortable. I was polite for a few minutes and then made an excuse and left. I was devastated. That was the end of my involvement with the Center for Spritual Emergence in Asheville. I never heard from Brack again.
Shortly after that I was hospitalized in the ICU for complications secondary to the pharmaceutical brain injury I had been in recovery for. When I got out of the hospital my memory of the prior three years was gone. Slowly over the course of a year my memories started coming back. My partner told me what happened with Brack and once the full memory came back it took me two years to approach him with the phone call I mentioned above. I had wondered why no one from the Center ever contacted me when I got out of the hospital. It was very convenient timing for him. He never had to deal with me and the fallout of his atrocious behavior. Now he does.
Lastly, I never received compensation which is one more strike against him.
I’m not going to say more. What happened is out there now. I just needed to say it so that he can be made accountable and so that I can close this chapter and no longer be harboring information that might help people make better decisions about their care.
I’m done. Thank you.
Everything matters 