Medical professionals know there are lines they shouldn’t cross with their patients, and sending weird messages to them on a dating app is one of them. Yet here we are.
An anonymous woman in Byron Bay, Australia accused her therapist of being “grossly inappropriate” after he messaged her on the dating app Hinge. He reportedly liked a message of her wearing swimwear and wrote, “Hey, I feel like we’ve matched before.” He also sent a heart eyes emoji.
At first the woman wasn’t sure who was messaging her, but when she swiped right on his profile, she found out it was her therapist.
“Aren’t you my psych?” she responded,
“Oh, that’s why you look familiar- sorry- I deal with lots of clients and it’s hard to keep up. How have you been?”
The woman did not respond, but felt very uncomfortable about the communication as the doctor knew “deeply personal things” about her past and had access to her personal information.
She posted in a private Facebook group asking for advice on the steps she should take while sharing shots of the message thread. Apparently, someone leaked to the doctor that she was discussing her experience on social media.
As a result, he threatened to sue her. He sent her a message warning her that she would be “hearing from a lawyer” in regard to “defamation”.
She shot back accusing him of “violating ethical codes” and “being grossly inappropriate.”
The doctor stuck to his original story saying, “I genuinely did not know that you were a client before you told me. I’m sure you can appreciate that I see a lot of clients and it’s been months since you had a session.”
Hmmmm… seems fishy to me. What do you think?
