A counsellor has been found to have breached the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights for poor professional conduct during relationship counselling sessions with a married couple and the wife's female partner.
The woman told the Health and Disability Commissioner she was in a relationship with two partners, her husband and another woman, and in May 2020 they began attending counselling sessions with the counsellor.
She said the counsellor told them a relative of his "was in a throuple and he was totally accepting", and began seeing each of them for separate solo counselling sessions.
The woman said that in the individual sessions with her husband and partner, the counsellor disclosed what had happened in the woman's private sessions with him, and accused her of being manipulative and controlling. The counsellor also wished to organise a group session to confront her.
In a visit in September 2020, the woman said the counsellor began questioning her about a "non-consensual sexual event" she had experienced six years earlier, and the line of questioning went "beyond interrogation, victim blaming and victim shaming".
"He asked lots of personal questions over and above what a police officer would ask in a similar situation," the woman was quoted in the HDC report.
"I didn't and don't understand his need to know."
The woman said the counsellor told her that her story "didn't add up" and accused her of cheating on her husband.
The counsellor told HDC the woman's sexual assault "claim of rape is baseless, and nothing more than an attempt to disguise the guilt she has for being a willing participant in her own infidelity".
The woman said the session left her very distressed and traumatised and she was visibly upset, shaking and crying when she left the clinic. Following this session, she decided to stop attending sessions with the counsellor and made a complaint to the HDC.
In her decision, Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Dr Vanessa Caldwell found the counsellor failed to act in accordance with relevant ethical standards.
"I consider the counsellor failed to act with care and respect during his session with the woman, and in a manner that minimised harm to her.
"He did not use appropriate or respectful language in his communication with or about the woman and he did not adhere to clear professional boundaries, highlighted by statements/information he shared about the woman with her partners," Caldwell said.
Caldwell recommended the counsellor provide a written apology to the woman, and attend training on ethics, professional boundaries, therapeutic communication, establishing rapport and trust with patients, and counselling for patients who have experienced sexual assault.
Caldwell also recommended the counsellor review and reflect on his obligations as a healthcare provider under the Code and develop a robust complaints management process that aligns with his obligations under the Code, for use in his practice.
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