9/11 Widow Sues Counselor Over `Bizarre’ Therapy

A New Jersey woman who lost her husband in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attacks says her former grief counselor used bizarre methods and threatened her into staying in therapy for years.

Laura Weinberg's lawsuit claims Deborah Mandell made her recite a prayer every few minutes to exorcise demons and used a self-described shaman to perform ritualistic house clearings.

The Record reports Weinberg also alleges Mandell sprinkled salt on Weinberg's son's head as part of the therapy.

The lawsuit claims Weinberg, of Bergen County, paid for the treatments from 2004 to 2010 because Mandel threatened to report her to state child welfare officials.

An office number listed for Mandell is disconnected. A state spokesman tells the newspaper Mandell has no disciplinary record with state regulators.

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