Greg Cynaumon is forced to admit that he is not a psychologist or marriage and family therapist by the California Boards of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences.

The "Winner"...

Thomas Nelson Publishers
The publisher of God Still Speaks through Dreams

Thomas Nelson Publishing is a Christian book publisher with well-known authors such as Billy Graham, Charles Swindoll, John MacArthur, and Charles Colson,

When I contacted Thomas Nelson Publishing during the first week of March, 2004, my contact was Carol Martin, the editorial assistant. In her March 5th email, she wrote “Your message has been forwarded to our vice president and associate publisher. He has read the information you sent us and will give it due consideration.”

A few months later, I attempted to contact them again asking why they continued to sell this book when they knew that Mr. Cynaumon’s book was fraud. Carol Martin did not respond to my email and his book is still available as of September 29, 2004.

Recently, Mr. Cynaumon was required by the California Boards of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences to inform his publishers that he is not a psychologist or marriage and family therapist. However, as of August 22, 2004, they are still selling his book almost six months after they learned that Mr. Cynaumon is a fraud.

I contacted Carol Martin on August 22, 2004 and asked why they were still selling Cynaumon's book. She forwarded me to the legal department. The person who answered the phone said that the company's lawyer would get back to me. He never called back.

The following is Thomas Nelson’s Ongoing Mission statement (http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/dept.asp?dept_id=1118918&TopLevel_id=100000):

When Thomas Nelson began to fulfill his calling as a publisher over 200 years ago, his world was in turmoil. Religious and philosophical divisions were deep. Technology and industrialism were radically changing people's lives. But despite living in a time of great upheaval, Nelson kept his focus on the God of all power and truth.

In many ways, the post-modern society we now live in faces struggles similar to the ones Thomas Nelson endured centuries ago, yet God's truth is still making an incredible impact on the lives of people around the world.

By the grace of God, we have been honored to play a part in that impact, pursuing the call to spread God's Word around the globe.

We are a diverse team of editors, marketers, sales associates, accountants, designers, and countless other employees, working together to improve the lives of customers. We're developing new media and methods to serve the Christian community in all its diversity. Fulfilling with passion a mission "to honor God and serve people."

After more than two centuries of service, we remain faithfully and fearlessly dedicated to following in the footsteps of the godly young bookseller and publisher whose name we proudly bear.

We are Thomas Nelson.

Clearly, the continued sales of Cynaumon's book is against Thomas Nelson's mission statement.

For this reason, Thomas Nelson Publishers earns a place in the Hall of Shame.

If this study actually happened, Mr. Cynaumon and the publisher should be able to answer these questions:

1. What was the name of the radio show that Cynaumon said he had, how long did it last, where are the audio tapes for examination?
2. Who are some of the Cynaumon's private practice clients and will they be interviewed to describe their experiences? By the way, if he had a private practice, he would be practicing without a license.
3. Can Mr. Cynaumon provide audio tapes of his client interactions?
4. Can Mr. Cynaumon present with clients for interviewing?

What can you do?

1. If you purchased a copy of God Still Speaks through Dreams, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau www.bbb.com.
2. If you purchased a copy of God Still Speaks through Dreams, call Thomas Nelson Publishers (615-889-9000) and demand a refund.
3. Email Carol Martin at cmartin@thomasnelson.com and ask him why he continues to sell God Still Speaks through Dreams.
4. Call Carol Martin of Integrity Publishers (615-889-9000) and ask her why she continues to sell God Still Speaks through Dreams.
5. Email Greg Cynaumon (doctorgreg@earthlink.net) and ask him to provide answers to the questions listed above.
6. Write a letter of protest to Thomas Nelson Publisher. Their mailing address is
   Thomas Nelson, Inc.
   PO Box 141000
   Nashville, TN 37214

For those who have not read the complete Greg Cynaumon report, the following is an excerpt from the God Still Works through Dreams section of that report which provides further evidence of Cynaumon’s fabrication of the described study.

In 2002, Cynaumon's book God Still Speaks through Dreams published by Thomas Nelson. His author description in the book is interesting. It says that he has his own company Family Games. However, a search of California businesses shows that there was a company by that name started in 1982, but the corporation license had been suspended. Also, Mr. Cynaumon claims to be the co-creator of The Phonics Game, which is interesting because he told me that Myrna Culbreath created The Phonics Game. Mr. Cynaumon mentions that he was on the Montel Williams Show; he didn’t mention that he illegally impersonating a school psychologist.

According to page xxi, two main sources of the stories in this book were (1) his private practice and (2) his radio show. This means that there are two problems with his stories. First, he has no private practice unless he was practicing as a psychologist without a license. Second, he has no radio show. The receptionist for KBRT-AM, who has been there for several years, said that she has never heard of Greg Cynaumon. An Internet search shows Mr. Cynaumon involved in many activities, but being a talk show host is not one of them.

After reading the 21 stories in his book, many questions are raised beyond the sources of his information. For example, both Cynaumon and most of his “clients” sound the same. Each “client” comes across as flippant and, like his other books, calling him names such as “Dr. Head Shrinker,” “Dr. Greg,” or “Shrink.” In over 25 years of having a doctorate, no one has called me “Dr. Gary,” but it appears that people calling him “Dr. Greg” happens all of the time. Another issue is almost obvious. Each of the 21 stories involves high rates of back-and-forth interaction, which were supposed to be from private practice sessions or his radio shows. The question is “Where did the conversations with almost perfect grammar from all 21 ‘clients’ come from”? No audio taping was mentioned and if there was audio taping there would be gaps in the transcripts because of sound problems. Also, all 21 people have very good grammar. It is written grammar; people don’t talk in almost perfect grammar. I am sure that a writing analysis of this book would show that the clients’ dialogues come from the same writing style. Not only do they have “written grammar,” but most clients give similar puns as those given by Mr. Cynaumon.

There are other clues to questionable authenticity of the “clients.” For example, in the story of Wes (beginning on page 29), it mentions that he is the president of “US Shopper Dot Com” (p. 34). The problem is that a search of California businesses shows that there is no such California company. In the story of Ron, he tells about a mathematician friend who calculated that the possibility of the occurrence of a certain dream happening as equal to a person winning the “state’s lottery thirty-six days in a row” (p. 41). No statistician really made that statement for many reasons (only one of which would be not knowing the amount of the lottery prize for thirty-six days in a row). Another interesting story was about Randi, a 23-year-old store clerk, who had been married 8 years (p. 159). Think about that statement; it would mean that she got married at age 14 or 15. From my reading of California law, that would not be possible. Because Mr. Cynaumon had neither a talk show nor private practice, the information in this book misleads the consumer.


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