Survivors of Unethical Therapy

You are not alone... 🐻

Isn't this what TELL is about?
TELL: Therapy Exploitation Link Line

Long term effects are understandable. I was put on a number of psych meds in my late teens by a shrink who had no business doing it. Referral from a psychologist that saw depression, then on half hour of agitation (I accidently grazed another car in the parking lot and wanted to get the H. out of there. On that, diagnosed as bipolar and referred).

As a result, I do not trust any therapists, psychologists of psychiatrists. I'm sure there are good ones, and I know my opinion is simply reactive, but it doesn't change things. That was thirty years ago. I did get some justice though. The shrink was arrested and had his license pulled a few years later for doing the same thing to someone else. Gotta love karma!

Thank you for this.

Anyone else feel like theirs wasn't "bad enough"?
It was unethical therapy, but I wouldn't say that I was exploited.
It wasn't intentionally abusive, but there were definite ethical violations and 10 years later it still affects me.

Yes, I feel the same way. I wasn't exploited sexually. I might have been bullied and manipulated by others, but from a therapist it has real impact. I lost my grievance. Apparently therapists believe telling a client "something about you makes me want to kick you" is within the realm of ethical practice.

Ouch. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that... she sounds awful.
Mine never said anything that horrible, but she did tell me that she didn't think any other therapist would put up with me, which is a pretty terrible thing to say to a 14 year old. I wasn't even a particularly difficult client at that age.

LR, I was a mousy, deferential 30-something, and the psychologist of the two-person team called me a difficult case. All I wanted to do was leave which is hardly difficult. I suspect we might have threatened their vanity, so they lashed out. They’re supposed to stop themselves when a client upsets them. I agree; you report an unconscionable thing for a therapist to day to anyone, much less a 14-year-old.

Thank you, HD for bringing up this thread, really do appreciate it. I am just curious to know how long it took for their therapist to start acting...well, different. I'm just trying to figure things out.

Hi ShouldHaveWalked,

Welcome to Psych Central.

Do you mean to ask, how long did it take for the therapists to start acting unethically?

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

Yeah. I'm sorry, I hope that's not a stupid question. I just keep questioning myself.

This was addressed to HD but I will answer, too:

I had been in treatment with the abusing PDoc for some time, maybe over a year, before sessions definitely turned into something else.

Now, looking back, I can see there was a grooming process where he gained my trust, raised my self-esteem and gradually sexualized therapy.

He had to do this gradually; If he had initially suggested we engage in sexual intimacies as part of therapy at our first appointment as my psychiatrist, I like to believe I would have dashed out and never returned.

But I thought he cared about me, I thought he wanted to help me, he made me believe I was intelligent, reasonable and special.

I was very wrong. He used our sessions to learn I was gullible and unworldly.
Quite frankly, looking back, I think he viewed me as a ‘mark.’ And I was.

At the time, I didn’t know intimacies with a psychiatrist was a felony in our state. I didn’t know it was viewed as unethical. He did tell me our relationship could be ‘frowned upon’ and to keep it to myself. I didn’t know how our relationship could hurt me. Also, I thought he was honestly wanting to help me with a financial situation but I couldn’t have been more wrong!

Now, looking back, I realize I was emotionally, sexually, financially and psychologically exploited by this man. But by the time I started having questions about his conduct, I wanted to believe- perhaps he was a good man who made a bad mistake with me.

He had even treated me horribly in the end when I started to ask too many questions. He wanted to end the physical relationship (I guess) and at the end he told me he had really been intimate with me because he felt sorry for me...like he felt sorry for ‘street people.’ He tried to make it all my fault by saying, ‘You promised you could handle this...Why cant you handle this!’ He lied and told police and lawyers that I was a ‘known prostitute.’ This was the man, the psychiatrist, that I cared about and believed he cared about me.

He had raised my trust and self-esteem and trampled all over it...an ultimate betrayal. He was my doctor! But I wasn’t quite convinced, not yet. I was so foolish!

Then, one year after our intimacies ended (but he was still my psychiatrist !) an article appeared in our local newspaper that he had been arrested for keeping a female patient in his motel room against her will, administering drugs to her and being intimate with her.

That’s when I realized what had happened between us was not a mistake, that I had been a victim, and that there was at least one other victim.

ShouldHaveWalked, this occurred years ago and I’m still trying to figure things out, too.

You are not alone.

The forum seems like it has reconfigured on my phone - I’m not sure what I am replying to! I saw my ex therapist for 3 years before she terminated therapy because she wanted to “ explore a romantic relationship.” Unfortunately, during that time she learned so much that she later used to hurt me.

Oh my goodness. I thought I was the only person in the world. I have ptsd from it.

My heart goes out to you TrainGirl,

If you want, feel free to private message me for support. I am so sorry you have been through this! You didn't deserve it and you are not alone.

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

Hi everyone,

Someone passed this information off to me.

In Canada, medical professionals fall under licensing boards which are meant to hold them accountable to their professional and ethical standards. These are called Colleges.

In particular, the Alberta College of Psychologists is one of these licensing bodies. When a psychologist is guilty of abusing a client, there is a way to file complaints through the college. Their job is to investigate any claims made against professionals and investigate accordingly.

Recently a former President of the Alberta College of Psychologists posted a review on google reviews about the multifaceted failures within the Colleges.

Here is what he said.

"As a past president of the College of Alberta Psychologists, I believe that I am in a fairly good position to evaluate its effectiveness -- in addition, I am commenting from the vantage point of an academic and professional health care provider for over 40 years without ever having received a professional complaint regarding my own performance.

CAP is, undoubtedly, the most ineffective and problematic professional organization that I have ever encountered. They have a well developed bureaucracy, but have done little to advance the profession of psychology and even less to protect the public from those psychologists who are either incompetent or malfarious.

It saddens me to have to make this assessment public, but I have done so with the hope that CAP can rectify its obvious pattern of malfeasance, and start doing what it is intended to do (i.e., guide the professional practise of psychology in an effort to improve patient care)."

Here is a link: (look under the reviews tab and might need to view on a mobile device)

College Of Alberta Psychologists - Google Search

Thanks,
HD7970ghz

I think in some ways these subtle cases can be the worst. Everyone loudly condemns the really nasty abuses, but in my experience the subtle train wrecks bring out the craziest gaslighting and can actually be used against the client. Whatver the case, failed therapy seemingly almost always leads to more therapy, with each new therapist harvesting the client's growing list of problems.

Someone who answered one of my posts helpfully, described her experience as plain old therapy abuse. I'm really not sure that we can compare the damage. Sex was only a small part of what happened with me. It took a long time to sort the everyday things and their place in how I was feeling. Why did I have reactions to the memory of being given a bracelet that matched hers for my birthday?

Once with a subsequent therapist, I was again exploring my feelings of guilt about being part of "starting a relationship", the new therapist said,"Wait, you are not the one who took the oath to do no harm! You're not the one who sat through yearly ethics classes and then choose to take actions which your profession forbids ". Her words really put the ethics violations in perspective for me.

Im sorry for people who feel this way. I totally get it and its a really crappy way to feel.
I had a physical relationships with one of my high school teachers and as scared & embarrassed as i was when i started talking about it I was actually met with a lot of compassion. When it came to my therapist though, who only said inappropriate things but never touched me, people were like...'And?...So what? Get over it.' It actually made me laugh when i thought about the difference in reactions the first time.
WOW. Holy crap did those people not understand how painful that therapists behavior was for me.
It makes me feel really bad for people who get hurt but arent hurt 'that bad'
In someways i think its a much harder place to be. At least when it comes to trying to get support b/c the sympathy isnt there and people just want you to 'get over it' ASAP.

Omg, it's only been 3 yrs.. so I got 7 to go? Aaargghhhh.. ha

I feel exactly like that and am like 'was it just me'?

I feel the hardest cases arent always just blatant sexual cases.... But therapists who want to be good but haven't gotten over their own issues and make poor choices

I'm sorry you all went through this.