Programs designed to instill “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) do not promote racial harmony. The trainings, which have become commonplace in schools, workplaces and government agencies nationwide, may in fact be manipulative, unlicensed attempts at psychology.

Just ask Chad Ellis.

Ellis, a former researcher at Chevron Philips Chemical Company, holds a Ph.D. in chemistry. He was forced to undergo DEI training and “received confirmed mental health damage from coerced, mandatory workplace attendance at a psychological video series,” according to Ellis’s complaint in district court against the Oklahoma State Board of Examiners of Psychologists. The techniques used in the training mirror the psychological coercion used in military interrogations, according to expert witness testimony in the complaint.

Chevron used a DEI training series called “Here and Heard,” which attacked viewers’ loyalties and personal appearances, accusing the viewers of maintaining bias based on their skin color. The program uses images of abuse and genocide to create distress in viewers’ minds—which are psychological, not instructional, techniques.

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DEI sessions are not simply teaching tools. In fact, the DEI trainer in the Here and Heard video said that the approach was “purposefully designed to cause visceral reactions,” which sounds like emotional manipulation, not instruction.

The trainer was not a psychologist, though (she was a part-time real estate agent), which means the training program could be unlicensed practice of psychology. In an interview, Ellis said the training was “very provocative…highly graphical [with] emotional content.” He says he told his supervisors, “You don’t have my consent to do this,” but, “I didn’t get anywhere.” Ellis says he is not opposed to some DEI activities, but someone with a psychology license should be accountable for the trainings’ effects.

Ellis is not asking for sympathy for facing DEI training. Rather, he asked Oklahoma’s board of examiners to investigate the Chevron program to determine whether it constitutes the practice of psychology. The board dismissed his complaint.

In the legal battle that ensued, with Ellis contending that the state board should at least make a determination, the chemist said, “Just like if I’m exposed to a chemical spill, I deserve to know what’s in that. If I’m exposed to something like this, I deserve to know where it’s coming from and who stands behind it.”

Ellis is not the first to make claims such as this. In Pennsylvania, a former professor at Pennsylvania State Abington alleged he faced racial discrimination and experienced harm as part of a DEI program at the college. A district judge is allowing the case to proceed, despite university opposition.

Ellis said Here and Heard was “pushing the levers of guilt and shame and humiliation to coerce belief change.” This helps explain why researchers have found that DEI fails to change individual attitudes and behavior. DEI does not appeal to our better natures, but accuses anyone who does not see racism everywhere of being racist. It holds that if you do not see racism everywhere, you are trying to maintain power over others. That’s hardly a message that helps build camaraderie.

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Policymakers in six states, including Oklahoma, have either prohibited the use of taxpayer spending on DEI programs or called for an end to DEI in public spaces. Officials in nearly a dozen other states are now considering similar proposals in favor of civil rights over DEI.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, reminded residents in his executive order that the state constitution prohibits “preferential treatment” or discrimination based on race, ethnicity or sex. These are the very racist ideas DEI programs advocate for.

Chevron Phillips is a private joint venture between Chevron and Phillips 66, so the DEI prohibitions may not apply to them, but allowing the practice of unlicensed psychologists is still illegal. Ellis’s legal filings say Here and Heard is “trying to mold the minds of these employees and, again, practicing psychology without any consent and without any license.”

If DEI sessions are psychological treatments—from unlicensed psychologists—all the more reason to bolster state and federal civil rights laws, protect equality under the law, and reject DEI and its racist results.