This is the story of years of abuse by trolls!
Let this be a warning to all web users and businesses. These people have made my family ill, threatened their lives and massively reduced their enjoyment of life for nearly 20 years. My wife, who now runs the business has been pushed past the point of wellness so many times and has received emergency treatment because of their threats and the years of abuse from these men. They should be ashamed of themselves but they're not. They're selfish, vicious and deranged.
You don't have to like me or my team; we are not here to make friends, we are here to change lives. I am no psychologist, thank god, because if I were I would be restrained by an outdated, unpleasant and unproductive business structure that, on balance, only works for the practitioner... I'm just little old me doing my thing for the average human, just like me. If you have a complaint about me or my team, please direct it to Worcestershire Trading Standards because they are the people who work with us to ensure that what we do is correct and legal... if you prefer to rant or defame on social media... do so at your peril. Charles Linden - Director. Linden Tree Education
1. The ASA - Advertising Standards Authority
We are NOT now and never have been 'under investigation' by Trading Standards
or 'blacklisted' by the ASA
We fell victim to a trap through naivety and lack of guidance.
1. In 20 years, we received ONE complaint to the ASA - The complaint was made by a 'competitor', a doctor of psychology, which, according to ASA policy, should have been referred to us directly. In cases where a competitor makes a complaint, it is ASA policy to refer that person to us, but this did not happen. They informed us that it was a competitor, then later stated it was a member of the public... subsequently we were told repeatedly that it was a competitor... one that drives people crazy with their relentless quest to bring us down. When their name is mentioned, they all roll their eyes. Their ex work colleagues say openly that they are horrendous to work with.
This competitor is a psychologist working in practice who has subjected us to over a decade of 'obsessive level' hounding and time consuming nonsense.
To put our ONE complaint into context, look at how many complaints have been upheld against just a few of thousands of non-compliant organisations... what is most shocking are the amount of Universities that have had multiple upheld complaints.
Look at the upheld complaints against Virgin: CLICK HERE
Look at the upheld complaints against Boots: CLICK HERE
Look at the upheld complaints against Moneysupermarket.com: CLICK HERE
And look at the complaints upheld about the NHS and other private and public health bodies CLICK HERE
Look at all the upheld complaints about Superdrug, Time Warner and dozens more CLICK HERE
Look at all the upheld judgments against Universities CLICK HERE
Again.... we had ONE complaint... by a competitor... in 20 years helping over 200,000 people.
2. There were 10 phrases on one website complained of. Whilst some were ambiguous, they were not inaccurate. We changed them immediately for clarity's sake. The complaints that required us to provide 'evidence' were also addressed.
3. The ASA ignored our solicitors communications with regard to the changes. Despite continued attempts to contact the ASA, they ruled that we were non-compliant and then told us that we had no right to reply or appeal as the time had lapsed.
4. As a 'non-compliant advertiser', we were referred to Trading Standards - Which was perfect! The senior Trading Standards officer Karen went through every line of our website and we made a few more changes.
5. We asked Karen how we could work with Trading Standards in future in order to show credibility, transparency and professionalism and she suggested we apply for Primary Authority Partnership with Trading Standards.
6. After months of meetings and applications... we voluntarily and very proudly became Trading Standards Primary authority Partners. See the screen-grab below from the Primary Authority Register.
Primary authority is described by Trading Standards as follows:
"Primary Authority is a statutory partnership where a business that has branches in a number of local authority areas can adopt any local authority as their Primary Authority. The businesses can set up a formal relationship for tailored advice, guidance and assistance; there will be a cost agreed between the parties based upon the time and assistance required. Other local authorities must consult that Primary Authority if any problems arise."
We were not forced to join this programme... we felt that it would demonstrate how honest and open we are about every aspect of what we do.
2. Our VOLUNTARY Primary Authority Partnership
The complainant uses the adjudication as evidence of deceit and states that our Primary Authority Partnership is some form of punishment - Ludicrous and defamatory!
The competitor who complained uses this as evidence of deceit. They bandy it about as if it's proof of a deep dark secret.
It's no secret.
Understand this...
The trolls that spend a large proportion of their time attacking us have been warned by the Police for harassment and are party to a legal case and criminal legal action by the police and private prosecution for harassment, cyber-stalking, bullying and defamation (Over 110 counts).
They have posted over 1000 harassing and defamatory posts and messages. They direct message clients with messages. They harass mercilessly with cruel language, foul language and threats.
These people are obsessed with us and what we do; they are trouble makers, defamers, bullies and cyber-stalkers.
They follow our activities, send unwanted, harassing messages to our friends and colleagues and generally do all they can to intimidate and undermine us.
We remove anxiety disorders... they do not. We threaten their professional integrity and their abilities - and they don't like it.
They make silly complaints so that they can then tell everyone that we are 'being investigated'. They contact our friends, acquaintances and business colleagues to report those 'investigations' to them.
They spend their lives trying to discredit us and what we do.
We have had threats against our staff and even Charles and Beth's children. They have even tried to follow the children on social media. They will stop at nothing it seems... they behave as if they are outside of the law.
Justice will be served. The truth will 'out'. These trolls will not win.
Whilst they troll... we will continue to help and cure people.
These same people are responsible for contacting our clients, friends, partner organisations, universities, standards agencies and other resources, taking thousands of hours in an attempt to undermine us, embarrass us, cause us problems and damage... they stop at nothing and the organisations concerned tell us how disturbing their behaviours are. But trolls don't care. They have their own agenda unconnected to decency.
3. Other legal and policy issues addressed
This is just ONE of the laws covering online harassment. It's called the Malicious Communications act.
1 Offence of sending letters etc. with intent to cause distress or anxiety.
(1) Any person who sends to another person —
(a) a [F1letter, electronic communication or article of any description] which conveys—
(i) a message which is indecent or grossly offensive;
(ii) a threat; or
(iii) information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender;
or (b)
any [F2article or electronic communication] which is, in whole or part, of an indecent or grossly offensive nature, is guilty of an offence if his purpose, or one of his purposes, in sending it is that it should, so far as falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above, cause distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom he intends that it or its contents or nature should be communicated.
(2) A person is not guilty of an offence by virtue of subsection (1)(a)(ii) above if he shows—
(a) that the threat was used to reinforce a demand [F3made by him on reasonable grounds]; and
(b) that he believed [F4, and had reasonable grounds for believing,] that the use of the threat was a proper means of reinforcing the demand.
[F5(2A) In this section “ electronic communication ” includes—
F6( a ) any oral or other communication by means of [F6an electronic communications network ] (c. 12)); and
(b) any communication (however sent) that is in electronic form.]
(3) In this section references to sending include references to delivering [F7or transmitting] and to causing to be sent [F8, delivered or transmitted] and “sender” shall be construed accordingly.
[F9(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine (or both);
(b) on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine (or both).
(5) In relation to an offence committed before section 154 (1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 comes into force, the reference in subsection (4)(b) to 12 months is to be read as a reference to six months.
(6) In relation to an offence committed before section 85 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 comes into force, the reference in subsection (4)(b) to a fine is to be read as a reference to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.]
We operate a very simple policy: Those who publicly post or state anything which is deemed outside of decency, aggressive, unfair and therefore outside of the law:
1. May be asked to remove their comments
2. May be blocked in social media
3. May be sent a cease and desist waring if they do not comply
4. May be reported to legal authorities if no willingness to assist is forthcoming
5. May become the subject of a law suit for their actions
6. May be fined or sentenced for their actions.
All of the above will be done through legal guidance. The above actions are NOT bullying, they are legal and appropriate steps to prevent trolls and bitter people from damaging us and others with their selfish, inaccurate nonsense.
SO - Here's some advice
Don't post anything you are uncertain about.
Don't copy or repost/retweet anything you see online because that makes YOU guilty.
Don't think that 'jus' sayin' or 'it's opinion' protects you from legal consequences... they don't.
Don't link to anything that is dubious or inappropriate.
NEVER do or say anything that you wouldn't want nice kids to see!
Let us make this very clear:
IF someone decides to say or write something illegal, they take the risk of high level consequences. The potential action taken as outlined above, is not bullying, harassment or anything else... it is legal and sensible action against perpetrators of illegal activity.
If the perpetrator feels 'bullied' by the above actions, it would have been pertinent to consider the potential consequences of their actions prior to perpetrating them rather than to carry them out and then complain that action has been taken.
The emotional or physical consequences of the above action on a perpetrator are not our responsibility and we would hope that any guilty party would sensibly address their actions, remove the content and apologise before points 4-6 above become necessary.
If what we say in support of your own or anyone else's recovery doesn't suit you, you have choice:
1. Find an alternative organisation that can help you
2. Clearly and calmly state your issues directly to us and await an answer
3. Contact Worcestershire Trading Standards with whom we partner
If you don't like any of us, what we say or what we do; leave.
We are very real people. Plain speaking, supportive, caring and productive in what we do. BUT, if you don't want truth, honesty or real guidance... don't come to us. If you want 'tea and sympathy' or therapies that demonstrate little to no positive efficacy, go to them. If you want recovery and support... stick with us.
You should never:
1. Lose your temper at our team
2. Post anything that implicates us in illegal activities
3. Is not fully based on fact
4. Misleads or hurts other people
5. Causes distrust in us or anyone else
6. Could cause offence
7. Is not suitable for a child's eyes
Let us clarify:
1. We have never failed to respond appropriately to any issues, questions, queries or complaints that have arisen.
2. We always refer people to alternative organisations if we feel it is necessary
3 We always take every case on a case-by-case basis and do whatever we can to assist (often beyond our duty of care)
Testimonials
Contrary to what trolls state, we DO NOT threaten people for writing negative reviews or testimonials... however we do:
1. Remove posts using profanity or degrading language
2. Remove posts and comments which do not accurately represent the truth
3. Remove content that attacks, intimidates or lies, defames or harasses
4. Remove content making claims about our programmes by a non-client
5. Remove posts made by trolls, competitors or marketeers
We do NOT:
1. Remove legitimate negative reviews
2. Modify reviews
3. Fail to make refunds when they are requested (see Trading Standards policies)
If what we say in support of your own or anyone else's recovery doesn't suit you, you have choice:
1. Find an alternative organisation that can help you
2. Clearly and calmly state your issues directly to us and await an answer
3. May be sent a cease and desist waring if they do not comply
4. May be reported to legal authorities if no willingness to assist is forthcoming
5. May become the subject of a law suit for their actions
6. May be fined or sentenced for their actions.
All of the above will be done through legal guidance.
Let us make this very clear:
IF someone decides to say or write something illegal, they take the risk of high level consequences. The potential action taken as outlined above, is not bullying, harassment or anything else... it is legal and sensible action against perpetrators of illegal activity.
If the perpetrator feels 'bullied' by the above actions, it would have been pertinent to consider the potential consequences of their actions prior to perpetrating them rather than to carry them out and then complain that action has been taken. The emotional or physical consequences of the above action on a perpetrator are not our responsibility and we would hope that any guilty party would sensibly address their actions, remove the content and apologise before points 4-6 above become necessary.
Despite what trolls state... all of our support staff are Members British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and British Psychological Society psychologists and psychotherapists. Linden Tree Education is on the UK Register of Learning providers as an NCFE accredited provider of accredited programmes. Our team works under supervision by a qualified BACP supervisor and we adhere strictly to the work and privacy policies laid down by those official bodies.
4. Trolls, bullies, harassers, stalkers and defamers and other bad people
The use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, a group, or an organization.
[1] Cyberstalking is a form of cyberbullying, and the terms are often used interchangeably in the media. Both may include false accusations, defamation, slander and libel. Cyberstalking may also include monitoring, identity theft, threats, vandalism, solicitation for sex, or gathering information that may be used to threaten or harass. Cyberstalking is often accompanied by real-time or offline stalking.
[2] Both are criminal offenses.
[3]Stalking is a continuous process, consisting of a series of actions, each of which may be entirely legal in itself. Technology ethics professor Lambèr Royakkers defines cyberstalking as perpetrated by someone without a current relationship with the victim. About the abusive effects of cyberstalking, he writes that: [Stalking] is a form of mental assault, in which the perpetrator repeatedly, unwantedly, and disruptively breaks into the life-world of the victim, with whom he has no relationship (or no longer has), with motives that are directly or indirectly traceable to the affective sphere. Moreover, the separated acts that make up the intrusion cannot by themselves cause the mental abuse, but do taken together (cumulative effect).[5]
Harassment - Definition
Harassment can include repeated attempts to impose unwanted communications and contact upon a victim in a manner that could be expected to cause distress or fear in any reasonable person.
A prosecution under section 2 or 4 requires proof of harassment. In addition, there must be evidence to prove the conduct was targeted at an individual, was calculated to alarm or cause him/her distress, and was oppressive and unreasonable. Closely connected groups may also be subjected to 'collective' harassment. The primary intention of this type of harassment is not generally directed at an individual but rather at members of a group. This could include: members of the same family; residents of a particular neighbourhood; groups of a specific identity including ethnicity or sexuality, for example, the racial harassment of the users of a specific ethnic community centre; harassment of a group of disabled people; harassment of gay clubs; or of those engaged in a specific trade or profession.Harassment of an individual can also occur when a person is harassing others connected with the individual, knowing that this behaviour will affect their victim as well as the other people that the person appears to be targeting their actions towards. This is known as 'stalking by proxy'. Family members, friends and employees of the victim may be subjected to this.
Malicious and Offensive Communications - The law
Every day millions of communications are sent via the internet and online platforms such as social media and photo sharing sites.
Some individuals use these online forums to send abusive, threatening, indecent, offensive and false messages that could be capable of committing a criminal offence.Communications sent via social mediaWhen considering whether an offence might be committed by a communication via social media, prosecutors should make an initial assessment of the content of the communications and the conduct in question to distinguish between those which:
are a credible threat (violence to the person or damage to property);
specifically target an individual or individuals and which may constitute harassment or stalking, controlling or coercive behaviour, disclosing private sexual images without consent, an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, blackmail or another offence
This will give you an idea of the kind of people we have to tolerate
One man admits that he has been harassing us for years and will 'destroy us'. His motive? Revenge. He says we threatened someone with legal action years ago after they posted damaging, defamatory content about us on a forum.
He states that he is the self-appointed 'policing' of our activities. He states that he 'protects the vulnerable' from us. He states that he is 'good' and we are 'evil'.
He then goes on to quote from the ASA report and other pathetic attempts to undermine us... most of it is fabricated nonsense.
Not only has this man made Beth Linden and her children unwell through his constant harassment and personal 'digs', but we have received hundreds of complaints from extremely upset 'vulnerable people' that HE has contacted and hounded with unsolicited, uninvited communications and misinformation. He believes that by stopping us from helping people through our legitimate mental health professionals and accredited, Trading Standards partnering services, he is protecting the vulnerable and yet he is upsetting dozens, if not hundreds of 'vulnerable people'... but at least he's happy.
HE is the problem, not us. His behaviours are obsessive, narcissistic, selfish, aggressive, his language is vile and his threats are illegal.
BUT, more than all that, he wants to prevent people from recovering.
He wants the thousands of kids and adults whose lives have been changed by what we do to have never benefitted. He wants to stop people from benefiting. He wants to stop freedom of choice. Why? Jealousy? Selfishness? Vendetta? I think you'll agree, we wouldn't want to be associated with a man like that; imagine how it is to be his child or wife!
He tells people he knows that he has 'done nothing wrong' making himself out to be the victim and many believe him so we have collected over 260 screen-grabs of his vileness from Facebook and Twitter, forums and posts. An example is below.
He is breaking the law. The collection of all his vile material is gathered and has been supplied to the police and civil investigators and Barristers. From a legal perspective, he is being dealt with but the questions is... what's wrong with him? The vile language, the threats... it is harassment, cyber-stalking, defamation and malicious communication.
He says WE are the problem... we help people to recover or we refund them. Unless they are abusive, we treat them with dignity and respect. He doesn't 'help' anyone... he frightens children and people of all ages including old women of 86 with his unwanted communications and yet, in his mind, he is right! Is he ill or just a liar? Who knows?
The message below is just one example from hundreds, Charles Linden's birth name was Lyndon Griffiths. This is no secret. He has sent similar messages to Beth Linden directly with 'sleep well sweetheart' and wink and kisses icons. As you can see, this is, far from, 'normal' behaviour. He believes that having a police harassment warning for behaviour like this below is us 'bullying' him. We have blurred out his name for legal reasons as he is the subject of a long-term criminal and civil investigation.
he has received police harassment visits and a cease a desist letter from our Barrister... he ignored it all.
We have a website ready to go containing EVERY blog post, comment, picture, Tweet and Facebook post this man has created over the last decade. The website is not live, but it can be put live as a permanent monument to his behaviour. Please excuse the language he uses.
The world is full of very bad people who feel compelled to apply their own version of the law and justice to the wider public.
In schools, these people are called bullies. They are small minded, damaged people with psychological issues around power, narcissism and aggression, they often have issues around the way they look or their self-worth.
They often perpetrate very worrying, damaging activities like:
1. Attacking, bullying, stalking, harassing
2. Campaigns of harassment on social media
3. Group forming to support their behaviours
4. Creation of social media accounts in order to harass or attack
5. Creation of falsehoods in order to legitimise their fake claims
6. Creation of blogs or posts intended to mislead or undermine
7. Contacting friends, partners or organisations to make complaints
8. Hacking and Trojan Horse building
The Psychology
These people are happy with their actions which further supports the features of the character type involved.
What is most concerning is that these folks are unaware that they are, in fact, mentally ill and don't understand that despite their personal hatred against someone, their actions damage wider society, what is right and just, morally and socially acceptable... in essence, 'normal' behaviour!
https://darkpsychology.co/troll/ states that: The motivations for an Internet Troll’s provocative, and often times, bizarre behaviors are numerous.
Despite the variations in modus operandi, the vast majority of Trolls are seeking attention, recognition, stimulation pseudo-notoriety and retribution for some unknown perceived injustice. It is commonly believed that the “Veil of Anonymity” afforded to every online user inspires some to engage in egregious behaviors.
Internet troll profile
- Most often gender male.
- Spends long periods of time online and likely internet addicted or at risk for becoming internet dependent.
- Meets all three criteria for being categorized as an iPredator.
- A self-awareness of causing harm to others, directly or indirectly, using ICT.
- The usage of ICT to obtain, tamper with, exchange and deliver harmful information.
- A general understanding of Cyberstealth used to engage in criminal or deviant activities or to profile, identify, locate, stalk and engage a target.
- Tends to have few offline friends and online friends often engage in the same type of online harassment.
- Highly susceptible to the states of de-individuation and the disinhibition effect experienced, to some degree, by all online users.
For Internet Trolls, these states are highly influential in their online lives.They are psychopathological in experiencing power and control online fuelled by their offline reality of being insignificant, angry and alone.
The severity and magnitude of psychological abuse they inflict upon their online targets is directly correlated to their probability of suffering from an Axis I, Axis II or Dual Diagnose mental illness.When online, exhibit a lack of empathy, have minimal capacity to experience shame or guilt and behaves with callousness and a grandiose sense of self.
From a psychodynamic standpoint, Internet Trolls create and sustain an intra-psychic myth of power, greatness and domination. Although all humanity is guided through life by internal myths and archetypes, the Internet Troll’s myths and archetypes are highly distorted.
They are developmentally immature, tend to be chronically isolated and have had minimal to no intimate relationships.
I'm no psychologist, therapist or counsellor... I am an average human who suffered from anxiety disorders for 25 plus years. Following my own recovery I decided to create a self-help methodology that eventually became a Peer Supported Psycho-educational recovery programme, teaching every anxiety disorder sufferer what I had done to remove the predisposition to suffering and erase my disorders.
All I want to do is stop people from suffering. I am plain speaking, honest and respectful but I also know how myself and every recovered anxiety disorder sufferer did it... my job is to tell you. No psychology or mumbo jumbo, just simple guidance.
'Management' and 'coping' were two words I certainly never wanted to hear again and wasn't prepared to let young people like myself hear when recovery is possible, fast and simple. LAR is the world's first and only accredited anxiety disorder recovery, peer supported, programme of recovery and of that we are all, at LTE, very proud.
Charles Linden - Director Linden Tree Education
"As a psychologist that has been treating anxiety and depression for over 25 years, I can espouse the effectiveness of the Linden Method. Those suffering from either anxiety or depression know that medication only numbs one’s experience of the real world and that “talk therapy” cannot provide the tranquility that you desperately need. The Linden Method gives you all the tools you need. Unlike other programs, the Linden Method also provides one year of ongoing support from a professional, like me. I have been trained by the very best in the field psychology and psychiatry and I endorse the Linden Method with highest regards. Haven’t you suffered enough? The cure is at your disposal. Why wait?"
Dr Romulo Valdez Phd
Doctor of Psychology. Harvard University
