Joe,

It sounds, based on your account, that you are indeed at liberty to choose a therapist other than Randy Lopp. Were you not at liberty to do so, your probation officer presumably would have said so, instead of becoming angry and changing the subject. Do you have a lawyer? If not, I think it would be wise to hire one, or at least make an appointment for a consultation and explore your options.

You are right about polygraphy not being scientifically valid. See chapter 1 of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector for more. Continue reading, and it will help you understand why your polygrapher may have thought he saw signs of deception in your polygraph charts when you answered truthfully.   I'm particularly struck by what you were told about breathing too slowly. I've heard it before. It seems that many people "fail" their polygraph "tests" because they don't breathe as rapidly as their polygraphers think truthful people should. Chapter 3 of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector explains in detail the trickery and dubious assumptions on which polygraphy depends, and Chapter 4 will teach you how to protect yourself against a false positive outcome the next time you are polygraphed, if it should come to that.

There seems to be nothing stopping you from choosing a different therapist, and you (and the others in your group) would be better off going to one who doesn't rely on the pseudoscience of polygraphy. I wish you all the best in your therapy, and in moving on in your life.

You are not the only one being screwed by Randy Lopp. Did you know in a meeting with him he bragged about discussing his patients at social gatherings. There is another treatment center in Tulsa that has better qualifications than Lopp, I believe that it is run by a Dr Inbody. Lopp still insists on admitting a habitual problem if none exists before he will commence treatment, this is no longer a requirement for treatment since an appeals court overturned that requirement but he still enforces it..My impression on Lopp is that he is kicking back money to someone in DOC to send him patients and tries to keep them in treatment to improve his cash flow without regard to whether they are getting any help with their problems. He also stated that he sees around 175 people a week, at $40 a head that is a sizable chunk of change. How exactly do you see 175 people in a 40 hour week and devote enough time to helping them solve their problems?