A Walk on the Dark Side of Counseling

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As I was close to graduating college, I sought out a therapist to help with my anxiety and panic attacks. I had only a few weeks of student teaching left and was looking at starting my 'adult' life - which is anxiety provoking in itself. I'd also recently ended my first serious relationship, and was dealing with ongoing harassment from my ex. This was triggering all of my PTSD issues from childhood abuse as well. I chose a therapist who had her office near my college campus and was close to my age - I though that would make it easy for us to relate to each other. Her website also indicated she was experienced in dealing with trauma. I never dreamed the nightmare that I was about to experience over the next few months. At first things went well, except for her lack of understanding on filing insurance paperwork. Each time I would have a session, she'd make me fill out and sign another insurance form to submit, then complain how the previous forms had been sent back to her - rejected because something was marked incorrect. Finally, she figured out how to complete the forms and it became less of an issue. The actual therapy was fine when I was discussing very straightforward things - school, my recent breakup, etc. Once I disclosed to her that I had been a victim of child abuse, things changed. She started cancelling appointments at the last minute, or making me wait an hour past my scheduled appointment time. Even though I wasn't willing to be on medication at that point in time - she began to spend most of each session heavily pressuring me to take something. Not long after that, she told me that I couldn't say anything about the abuse I experienced anymore and by having told her - I was abusive to her! The last time we met, it involved her screaming at me the entire time, mostly about how she never wanted to see or hear from me again, until I ran from the room. I spent the next weeks having panic attacks and feeling extreme guilt, thinking that I was so awful and messed up that not even a therapist could deal with me. Eventually though - I pulled myself together and moved on. Unfortunately, this woman would continue to pop up in my life. The first incident was simply an indication of how unethical she had been. A few weeks after that last horrific session, I was contacted by my insurance company. They were wanting to let me know that the two hour sessions I'd had with her the last 4 times I saw her would not be covered - since no prior approval had been obtained. I told them, quite shocked, that there had been no two hour sessions. The norm was for me to be booted out the door before even 45 minutes had passed. It was then that I learned she had double billed each session, in an attempt I'm sure to get paid twice. When my insurance contacted her - she claimed it was all a mistake and said she'd gotten confused about the paperwork. A few months later, a letter for me arrived in the mail. The return address was hers - clearly marked with her name and business name, which disclosed that she was a therapist. So much for confidentiality! The letter went on about how she'd made the decision to close her practice, how hard it was for her to do, yadda yadda. Please contact her at such and such a phone number if you needed to 'process' this information. I tossed it in the trash, annoyed at the fact that anyone who'd seen the outside of the letter now knew I'd seen a therapist. I thought it was over and done with though. Apparently she never closed her practice however; because about a year and a half later she once again intruded upon my life. It was actually the day I returned home from the hospital after emergency surgery to remove a pesky gallbladder that decided it didn't like the accommodations in my stomach anymore. I decided to check my email before popping some Vicodin and enjoying a pain medicine induced nap - when her name popped up on my email account! It was a message stating how she was changing her email and webhosting service so her email would be unreachable for about 12 hours. I was just about to hit the delete button when I noticed something...and it was a BIG something! In the To: section of the email were the NAMES and EMAIL ADDRESSES of every single person she'd sent the email to! Family, friends, and clients. My name - which is very unique - was clearly visible right along with my email address. All confidentiality was officially tossed out the window now! I waited a week until I'd recovered a bit and sent back a very sternly worded email. She was to delete my email address from her computer immediately! I also noted how two years ago she had told me she never wanted contact with me again, yet this was the second time she had contacted me. I explained I was now considering this harassment and to never, under any circumstances, contact me again. I ended up filing a complaint with the state over my confidentiality being breached. As I'd expected, she lied through her teeth to get out of all but the mildest of punishments. It finally got her out of my life though! Its now been 5 years and I've not heard from her again. Thank God!!!