Have you ever wondered if you can date your therapist? Well, according to the American Psychological Association, psychologists are not allowed to be involved romantically with a patient. And the American Psychiatric Association says that having a relationship with a patient is unethical.
So it’s a big no-no to fall in love with a patient and keep on providing them with services, but this 33-year-old man’s 31-year-old wife somehow missed that memo.
They have been married for 8 years and together for 18. They have a 2-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son. His wife’s dream since before he was even in her life was to be a therapist.
“She got a client (52m, born with cerebral palsy, brain damage from some accident years ago) about a year ago, and she was instantly fascinated by him on a seemingly professional sense,” he explained.
“And then things got weird. He quickly was able to convince her to redecorate the whole office. He then convinced her to get a fish tank for the office, which we agreed to spend $200, but he convinced her to spend $2,000 on it.”
“A couple [of] months after getting this client, she said she still loved me but wanted a divorce. For the first 2 months after she said she wanted a divorce (and a month or 2 prior), she lied about going to work and working late and asked me to watch the kids while she secretly hung out with her client.”
Three months after his wife requested a divorce, her client persuaded her to get a life insurance policy and a will, while naming him the primary beneficiary on both of them.
Seven months following his wife’s request for a divorce, her dad passed away, and his wife’s client attempted to ban him from being in the room when his wife told their son about the death in their family. He didn’t let that happen, by the way.
His wife officially filed for divorce eight months after she brought up ending their marriage. The very next day, she purchased a house for her client to the tune of $515,000, which required a $100,000 down payment.
His wife put the house in her name and is allowing her patient to live there without paying rent. He has caught his wife manipulating and lying to him constantly.
She lied to him about wanting to pay off the mortgage on their house, but used him to get information so she could take out a second mortgage to buy that home for her client.
She said sorry before insisting she would do it all over again because it turned out to be a great idea.
“The ‘love’ seems to be in one direction, and he (the client) wants nothing to do with dating her. I’m now in a position of not knowing what to do,” he continued.
“It would be simple if I could be apathetic towards her and just cut her out of my life and possibly even report her to the therapy licensing board, but that’s just not who I am (not off the table though).”
“If she loses her license and therefore her income, then the kids lose financial stability. If she keeps her license and continues to do all of this reckless spending, then the kids lose financial stability.”
He’s also concerned that his wife’s client is taking advantage of her money. He can see his wife desperately needs help, and he doesn’t think it would be acceptable for him to walk away without trying to get her some assistance.
But no matter what he does, he can see there is no winning here.
Boy, is he in a pickle, and he really needs to get a lawyer to help him deal with such an enormous mess. He’s a good man for still having sympathy for his wife after everything she did to him.
His wife is making poor and scary decisions, and at a minimum, he does need to alert the licensing board to her antics. I’m sorry to say it, but his wife needs to lose her license for crossing professional lines that are in place for a reason.
Not to mention, his wife could be doing things that he’s not even aware of that could put their kids or him in jeopardy.
What advice do you have for him?
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By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
