THREAD: A few of us have been raising questions about some of the writings of Tim Clinton. Most notably, @wthrockmorton has several blog posts you can find here: https://www.wthrockmorton.com/tag/tim-clinton/. I’m still surprised more people aren’t asking more questions.

And I’m disappointed Dr. Clinton hasn’t given a more satisfactory response.

Here’s why this is a significant issue for me. Dr. Clinton has considerable influence. He is the President of the American Association of Christian Counselors. It is the largest organization of its kind.

It’s place in the Christian Counseling world shouldn’t be underestimated. A list of authors and speakers at AACC conferences and in AACC publications would read like a “who’s who” of our field.

And as President of the AACC, it appears he may have been regularly violating his own code of ethics. This is no small matter. Here are 2 sections that speak directly to the questions at hand. One prohibits plagiarism and the other prohibits ghost-writers.

It is his presidency of the AACC that concerns me most. But it is worth noting that Dr. Clinton also serves as the Executive Director of the James Dobson Family Institute and is a member of the Faith Advisory Board for President Trump.

So, Dr. Clinton’s leadership matters. His influence is significant. His credibility is important. To the extent he is seen as a prominent figure in the Christian Counseling world, his actions and reputation affects other Christian Counselors everywhere.

And yet it seems there may be some serious questions about some of his writings. As a supplement to Dr. Throckmorton’s posts, I thought would share a handful of examples here for the sake of having a few visuals all in one place.

I’m not out to get Dr. Clinton. Should he offer an explanation, an apology, a plan to correct the problems, and a promise to do better in the future, I would gladly accept them. There is a place for the AACC and I would like to endorse it if/when it’s appropriate.

(To be fair, a spokesperson for Dr. Clinton *did* make statements to The Christian Post https://www.christianpost.com/news/new-plagiarism-allegation-prominent-christian-counselor-trump-adviser-tim-clinton-226830/ and Inside Higher Ed https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2018/08/14/former-liberty-u-professor-denies-plagiarism-allegations. I just found those statements to be insufficient.)

Finally, this is certainly not a comprehensive list of potential infractions. These are just some of the more egregious examples of passages I've seen that are attributed to him but on closer look appear to belong to someone else.

Pic1 = Excerpt from “Press On” (elsewhere, “Strive to Excel”) by Tim Clinton, published online in several places and is also an entry in “Ignite,” a book he co-authored with Max Davis.

Pic2 = Excerpt from Bruce Lowitt in the St. Petersburg Times, 1999.

Pic1 = Excerpt from “Do” by Tim Clinton, published online in several places.

Pic2 = Excerpt from “Men of Massachusetts,” by August Bolino, 2012.

It might be worth nothing here that Dr. Clinton often has material, especially his devotional-type, published several times across several different platforms ( http://timclinton.com , http://aacc.net , http://medium.com , http://drjamesdobson.org ).

This makes keeping track of them all quite difficult.

In addition, Dr. Clinton (or someone working on his behalf) has been busy of late trying to quietly scrub the internet of problematic posts and articles. Some can still be found in internet archives, but I’m afraid I’m not an expert in finding them.

Pic1 = Excerpt from “How About Some Respect” by Tim Clinton, published online in several places.

Pic2 = Excerpt from a Wikipedia entry for the song by Aretha Franklin.

Pic1 = Excerpt from “Bounce Back” by Tim Clinton, published online in several places.

Pic2 = Excerpt from the Team Hoyt webpage http://www.teamhoyt.com/About-Team-Hoyt.html

Pic1 = Excerpt from “Christian Counseling Today” (vol.12, no.4) by Tim Clinton.

Pic2 = Excerpt from “A Constitutional Travesty” on http://breakpoint.org  by Chuck Colson.

Pic3 = Excerpt from “Sen. Strangelove” in WSJ by Pete Du Pont.

Pic1 = Excerpt from “Christian Counseling Today” (vol.18, no.2) by Tim Clinton.

Pic2 = Excerpt from “The Popular Encyclopedia of Christian Counseling” (entry on “Social Justice” by Joshua Straub), 2011.

Until very recently there were approximately 28 articles on his website that were unattibuted to the original authors. TWENTY-EIGHT. Here they are:

He has fixed it now. Here are two screenshots (one before, one after) just to give you one example. These 28 articles have been up for some time with no credit to the original authors.

Pic1 = A tweet from Family Talk (of which Clinton is affiliated) and retweeted by Dr. Clinton.

Pic2 = Words written by Ev Worthington in 2005.

Pic1 = A tweet from the AACC.

Pic2 = Words written by Ev Worthington in 2005.

Pic1 = A tweet from the AACC.

Pic2 = Words written by Ed Stetzer in 2017.

Pic1 = Excerpt from "Competent Christian Counseling" (chapter 7 - "Psychosocial Roots:...") by Tim Clinton and George Ohlschlager, 2002.

Pic2 = Excerpt from "Christ-Centered Therapy" by Neil Anderson, Terry Zuehlke, and Julie Zuehlke, 2000.

Guys. The standard used here is not too high of a standard.

I started looking because I was curious.
I kept looking because I was suspicious.
I continue looking because I am incredulous.

To be continued....

Update: Tim has offered another statement (of sorts). It is through a spokesperson (again). https://www.christianpost.com/news/american-association-christian-counselors-tightens-controls-software-plagiarism-allegations-tim-clinton-227271/

I am still very unsatisfied. In fact, I’m growing angry now. Read the statement for yourself. See if it resonates with you and what you see in Warren’s posts and in my tweets.

But several things particularly grievous to me. (1) I have yet to see an apology. Using someone else’s work is theft. The people who authored the original content deserve an apology. And Dr. Clinton’s audience deserves an apology for being misled.

(1b) It may be impossible to attach a dollar amount to all of the “borrowed” material. But Dr. Clinton has certainly gained some level of influence, attention, and prestige from it all. Likewise, his income from AACC memberships & events has benefited. This seems significant.

(2) I have yet to sense any personal ownership of all this. He continues to blame interns and employees. Blaming them is an incomplete explanation at best, and a dishonest one at worst. It seems that some of these problems MUST be due to either plagiarism and/or ghost-writing.

(2b) And I wonder how those interns and employees feel right now – being thrown under the bus for Dr. Clinton’s apparent misconduct. He is damaging their reputations by making them bear the entire burden of these questions.

(3) Parts of this read to me like, “You don’t understand. We publish SO MUCH material - mountains of it - that it is sometimes unavoidable we periodically plagiarize.” That’s not how writing is supposed to work, is it??

I'm clearly frustrated by all of this. More to come.

Pic1 = A tweet from James Dobson Family Talk (and RT from AACC)

Pic2 = Word from Grace Ketterman in the Soul Care Bible, 2001.

Pic1 = A tweet from James Dobson Family Talk

Pic2 = Words from Grace Ketterman in the Soul Care Bible, 2001.

Pic1 = A tweet from the AACC.

Pic2 = Words from Gary, Greg, Michael Smalley, and Robert Paul in "The DNA of Relationships," 2013.

Pic1 = A facebook post from the AACC.

Pic 2 = Words from Brian Zahnd in "Radical Forgiveness: God's Call to Unconditional Love," 2013.

Pic1 = A facebook post from the AACC.

Pic2 = Words from Henry and Richard Blackaby in "Experiencing God," 2008.

Pic1 = A facebook post from the AACC.

Pic2 = Words from Ed Stetzer in Chapter 1 (“How to Assess the Mental and Relational Needs in Your Church,”) of "The Struggle is Real," 2017.

Pic1 = A facebook post from the AACC.

Pic2 = Words from Ed Stetzer in Chapter 1 (“How to Assess the Mental and Relational Needs in Your Church,”) of "The Struggle is Real," 2017.

Pic1 = A facebook post from the AACC.

Pic2 = Words from Ed Stetzer in Chapter 1 (“How to Assess the Mental and Relational Needs in Your Church,”) of "The Struggle is Real," 2017.

Pic1 = A facebook post from the AACC.

Pic2 = Words from Ed Stetzer in Chapter 1 (“How to Assess the Mental and Relational Needs in Your Church”) of "The Struggle is Real," 2017.

Pic1 = Excerpt from "Tick Tock" by Tim Clinton, published online in several places.

Pic2 = Excerpt from “Living on the Ragged Edge,” by Chuck Swindoll, 1985.

Pic1 = Excerpt from "The Deep Oil of Forgiveness" by Tim Clinton, published online in several places.

Pic2 = Excerpt from "Radical Forgiveness: God's Call to Unconditional Love,"by Brian Zahnd, 2013.

Guys, there's more. And I haven't even *started* talking about material where Dr. Clinton is a co-author on an original piece but later takes credit by himself (or with a different co-author) without giving credit to the first co-author. There are a slew of those examples.

How much of this is enough?
To be continued.....

In 2011, Christian Counseling Today published "Connecting With our Kids" with Tim Clinton as the sole author.

The majority the article is actually a cut/paste job from chapter 11 of "Why You Do the Things You Do" by both Tim Clinton and Gary Sibcy, 2006. https://books.google.com/books?id=H9j1hHkcIbsC

Pic1 = Excerpt from chapter 1 of "Caring for People God's Way" by Clinton and Ohlschlager. 2005.

Pic2 = Excerpt from chapter 4 of "Competent Christian Counseling" by Hawkins, Hindson, and Clinton. 2002.

Pic1 = "The Blessing" by John Trent.
Pic 2 = "Mastering Your Money" by Ron Blue.
Pic 3 = "Stress Managment" by Leslie Vernick.
Pic 4 = "Cultivating Healthy Anger" by Gary Oliver.

Read along to these videos: https://www.dailymotion.com/timclintonblog/videos
See descriptions: "Written by: Dr. Tim Clinton"

Pic1 = Exerpt from "The New Christian Counselor" by Ron Hawkins and Tim Clinton, 2015.

Pic2 = Excerpt from "God Attachment" by Tim Clinton *and Joshua Straub,* 2010.

Pic1 = Excerpt from “Christian Counseling Today” (vol.17, no.2) by Tim Clinton. 2010.

Pic2 = Excerpt from "10 Things You Aren't Telling Him" by Julie Clinton, 2009.

Pic1 = Excerpt from "Christian Counseling Today" (vol.14, no.2) by Tim Clinton.

Pic2 = Excerpt from Ronald Dworkin's website: https://ronaldwdworkin.com/artificial-happiness-the-dark-side-of-the-new-happy-class/

Pic = Excerpt from "Ignite" (Day 25) by Tim Clinton and Max Davis. (Elsewhere online is "Put Off Further Procrastination" with Clinton as sole author.)

This quote has been attributed to Christopher Parker numerous places online. Here's just one of them: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/467442-procrastination-is-like-a-credit-card-it-s-a-lot-of

Pic1 = Excerpt from "Why You Love, Feel, and Act the Way You Do" published online in several places by Tim Clinton, 2015. (Not the book with this for a sub-title, co-authored by Gary Sibcy.)

Pic2 = Excerpt from "10 Things You Aren't Telling Him" by Julie Clinton, 2009.

This is getting wearisome. I have more. And I'm sure I'll find more. Maybe I'll keep sharing some here and there. But I've got to quit soon if few others care. This feels too much like shouting in the wind.

Pic1 = Excerpt from “Christian Counseling Today” (vol.16, no.1) by Tim Clinton.
Pic 2 = Excerpt from http://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cyconline-nov2010-brendtro.html

(See latest post from @wthrockmorton on the prevalence and significance of Dr. Clinton “borrowing” this quotation: https://www.wthrockmorton.com/2018/09/14/tim-clinton-channels-urie-bronfenbrenner/)

Pic = Exerpt from "The New Christian Counselor" by Ron Hawkins and Tim Clinton, 2015.

But this idea/phrase - trauma as mission field - belongs to @DianeLangberg. I've got the receipts on it. But just trust me, it does. And Dr. Clinton knows it.

I’ve got to wrap up this thread. It’s taken enough of my time and energy. But more than that, it feels too much like an act of futility. The story has gained very little attention or traction outside the readers of Warren’s blog and a few of my Twitter followers.

This makes me sad for at least two reasons. (1) Perhaps this is evidence of just how strong Tim’s influence is. I wonder if there are people who would *like* to speak up, but fear the repercussions.

I suspect that anyone who gets on Tim’s bad side quickly finds opportunities to publish in AACC books, magazines, and newsletters disappear. Any chances to speak or market or advertise at AACC-affiliated events probably dry up.

And it wouldn’t surprise me that some in the higher education world be afraid of speaking up, too. The AACC tentacles reach far and wide.

(2) Perhaps this is evidence that plagiarism doesn’t really matter after all. This bothers me a great deal because I’ve spent my academic career telling my students otherwise. I’ve failed students, not just on assignments but for entire courses, for blatant & repeated plagiarism.

The collective shoulder shrug of the Christian Counseling community towards plagiarism makes *me* feel like the fraud here. Do I need to change my policies on plagiarism? Do I need to apologize to students who I have failed?

I’ve always been gracious toward small mistakes. But I’ve told my students that blatant plagiarism is unacceptable and will be met with harsh consequences, not just in my classroom, but out in the real world, too.

Maybe the real world doesn’t care after all. Maybe I declare it unacceptable because I *want* it to be unacceptable, not because it actually is. Maybe I need a reality check. Maybe I am old and out of touch. Maybe I’m just a mean person. These thoughts disturb me.

(I will grant that perhaps this story hasn’t gained enough traction or garnered enough attention because I have too small an audience. That’s fair. But even among those who follow me, there’s been a disappointing silence.)

There are more problems with Dr. Clinton's writings I could share. I’m sure there are even more to be discovered. I don’t know if I’ll share them later or not. If what Warren and I have shared isn’t enough to matter, I’m not sure what else will be.

For now, I’m still convinced that this is important. And I'm still going to expect better from my undergrads. It's a shame it has to be this way. [fin]

Postscript A.
Pic1 = Excerpt from "Turn Your Life Around" by Tim Clinton, 2006.
Pic2 = Excerpt from Michael Lyles in the "Soul Care Bible," 2001.

Postscript B.
Pic1 = Excerpt from "Turn Your Life Around" by Tim Clinton, 2006.
Pic2 = Excerpt from Gary Stewart in the "Soul Care Bible," 2001.

Postscript C.
Pic1 = Excerpt from "Caring for People God's Way," chapter 1 by Tim Clinton and George Ohlschlager, 2005.
Pic2 = Excerpt from a press release in ScienceDaily, 2003. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030507080958.htm

Postscript D.
Pic = An article from “Christian Counseling Today” by Tim Clinton and Eric Scalise, 2009.

The words in yellow show up in an article by Scalise here: https://goo.gl/CA64gL . And the words in orange show up in an article by Scalise here: https://goo.gl/mwzi4R .

It seems to me the most likely possibilities are, 1) Scalise uses large sections of the original article without giving credit to Clinton. 2) The words always belonged to Scalise, but Clinton’s name was added to the first article anyway.

Either way, there seems to be a problem.

Postscript E
Pic1 = Exceprt from "Christian Counseling Today" (vol.22, no.2) by Eric Scalise
Pic2 = Exceprt from "Christian Counseling Today" (vol.22, no.4) by Eric Scalise
The problem is that these words seem to belong to Jay Neugeboren. See Pic3 and:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/682837-a-wife-who-loses-a-husband-is-called-a-widow

This is the second time I've tweeted about Scalise lately (in addition to what is documented by @wthrockmorton here: https://www.wthrockmorton.com/2018/10/03/dear-aacc-maybe-someone-should-look-at-all-your-content/) Perhaps I should explain why. Scalise was the VP alongside Clinton at the AACC for many years.

As of at least volume 22, Scalise was the Senior Editor of "Christian Counseling Today," a publication of the AACC.

And so now I'm beginning to wonder if these problems are not unique to Tim Clinton but are indicative of a culture at the AACC that cares little about plagiarism.

The is worth repeating: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1038574734697476097.html

Earlier in this thread I attempted to explain why this is such an important issue for me. I have finally found the words for yet another reason. I’m surprised it took me this long to be able to articulate it.

As counselors, our work depends on a relationship of trust. It is critical that we demonstrate ourselves to be genuine, authentic, and trustworthy. This cannot be overstated. Our entire profession depends on it.

And when prominent leaders in our field appear less than genuine, less than trustworthy, it hurts all of us. And more importantly, it hurts the people who need us. They won’t be as likely to ask for our help if they are suspicious of us.

Plagiarizing while simultaneously declaring a “zero tolerance policy” on plagiarism is hypocritical. Blaming others is disingenuous. Refusing to acknowledge poor choices and misconduct is inauthentic.

Clients cannot trust us if they suspect us of being hypocritical, disingenuous, and inauthentic.

Christian counselors deserve better leadership.

Plagiarism hurts our entire profession. And it hurts the people we are called to help.

Postscript F: My guest post for @wthrockmorton has an Eric Scalise update: https://www.wthrockmorton.com/2018/10/24/guest-post-by-aaron-new-more-citation-problems-at-the-american-association-of-christian-counselors/ And there is more to come on yet another author. This is so discouraging.

Postscript G1: @DrTimClinton used the #ownyourinfluence hashtag over on facebook yesterday. (He's used it often on Twitter, too.) It's good advice. For *all* of us.

I still think it would be helpful for Clinton to publicly acknowledge, apologize, and made amends for this mess.

Postscript G2: Despite how seriously Dr. Clinton's spokesperson would have us believe they're taking the issues of plagiarism and/or ghost-writing, it should be stunning that they continue to leave up apparent examples of such. Because *these aren't hard to find.*

Postscript G3: Here's one example (see pic) and here's a link to an article by @wthrockmorton on why it is so problematic. https://www.wthrockmorton.com/2018/09/14/tim-clinton-channels-urie-bronfenbrenner/

Postscript G4: Here's one more example. But notice they are both tagged #ownyourinfluence. "Ironic" is perhaps the nicest word I have for that.
Pic 1 = Tim Clinton on facebook, 2018.
Pic 2 = Grace Ketterman in the Soul Care Bible, 2001.

Postscript H: Update. Publisher refuses to comment on plagiarism. Both @destinyimage and @theaacc continue to sell the book without correction, explanation, or apology. https://www.wthrockmorton.com/2019/01/10/update-on-possible-plagiarism-in-tim-clintons-ignite-your-faith-by-aaron-new/

Postscript I1.
Pic1 = Script from a video produced by LDS Church in 2014. https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-05-01-to-every-mother?lang=eng&_r=1
Pic2 = Excerpts from an article by Tim Clinton and Max Davis, 2017. https://www.drjamesdobson.org/blogs/dr-tim-clinton/dr.-tim-clinton/2017/05/03/mother

Postscript I2.

(The article indicates it is a devotional from "Ignite Your Faith." But I don't see it in the copy I have.) https://www.amazon.com/Ignite-Your-Faith-Back-Fight/dp/0768404932

Postscript J - "Integrity on the inside."

Pic1 = Tweet from Tim Clinton 2013.
Pic2 = Quote from Brian Tracy, 1998

Postscript K

Pic1 = Facbook post from Light University in 2017.
Pic2 = CCT Intervew of Jim Daly in 2014.

Postscript L - The voice of truth

Pic1 = Tweet from Tim Clinton in 2010.
Pic2 = Excerpt from Jentezen Franklin in 2004.
https://books.google.com/books?id=BrQv0AjxEvsC

Postscript M - Courage to overcome

Pic1 = Tweet from Tim Clinton in 2013
Pic2 = Excerpt from Jentezen Franklin in 2012.
https://www.jentezenfranklin.org/daily-devotions/weathering-the-financial-shakeup-2

Postscript N

Well, @DrJamesDobsonFT has blocked me. So they probably won't see this message. But somebody might want to give them a heads up that @megmeekermd likely deserves credit here. Looks to be from page 29 of her book "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters" (2006). #TweetWell

Postscript O

Looks like @Drjoenowinski deserves the credit here ("The Identity Trap," 2007), not @drtimclinton.

Postscript P

I was done with this a long time ago. But I came across something today, so I'm sharing it just because.

Pic 1 is from Tim Clinton in 2016 https://www.drjamesdobson.org/blogs/dr-tim-clinton/dr.-tim-clinton/2016/10/13/how's-it-going-with-your-kids

Pic 2 is from Zig Ziglar in 1985 https://www.google.com/books/edition/Raising_Positive_Kids_in_a_Negative_Worl/-R4EPMcKFz4C?hl=en&gbpv=0

Postscript P2

I forgot that Clinton also wrote this in 2011.

Postscript Q

Pic 1 from the book "10 Things You Aren't Telling Him" by Julie Clinton released August 2009. https://books.google.com/books?id=1u-1haP5-MgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Pic 2 from an article published by Tim Clinton and Joshua Straub in December 2009. Here: https://www.beliefnet.com/love-family/relationships/galleries/relationships-why-you-love-feel-and-act-the-way-you-do.aspx and here: https://www.joshuastraub.com/2009/12/21/relationships-why-you-love-feel-and-act-the-way-you-do/

Postscript R1

This isn’t a particularly good time for these tweets. I don’t really want to distract from other, more important matters. But for the sake of posterity, I have more to document in this thread.

Postscript R2

Recently while looking for information on perfectionism in The Quick-Reference Guide to Biblical Counseling (2009) by Tim Clinton & Ron Hawkins, something felt familiar. So I looked and found it in an article written by Chris Thurman in the Soul Care Bible (2001).