Has anyone ever been affected by an inappropriate but nonsexual relationship with their therapist?

Answer 1

Yes.

I have a girlfriend who had a narcissist New Age con artist for a shrink. The woman verbally abused my friend in the name of therapy. The shrink promoted the latest New Age/alternative health practices and encouraged my friend to purchase questionable remedies and see other dubious practitioners. She gave my friend some very bad workplace advise. When my friend followed her shrinks instructions, she was let go. This shrink gave my friend confidential information about several famous people the shrink was treating. Someone (not my friend) repeated what the shrink said regarding one of her famous patients to the papers, and it became a scandal. The shrink got my girlfriend involved in a rotten business venture (nasty multi-level marketing scheme). The shrink tried to get my girlfriend involved in a Ponzi scheme. Fortunately, my girlfriend stayed clear of that one. The shrink also pressured my girlfriend into referring her friends to the shrink.

My friend did consult a malpractice attorney, who thought she had a good case. Unfortunately, when an economic analysis of the shrink was done, the shrink was not worth enough to be worth the bother to sue for malpractice. (Be aware that if you are claiming malpractice due to behavior such as this, that did not involve sexual abuse, you usually need a group of former patients to band together and sue the shrink. This is not easy to do.) However, my friend did help get the shrink into *big* trouble with the law. As far as she can tell, the shrink in question is retired.

My girlfriend eventually did get help, this time from a student psychoanalyst. This man had treated people like her, who had been badly abused by their shrinks. She felt safe with him because he was supervised. She knew that if he misbehaved, it would be easy to get him into trouble. He proved to be a very ethical man, and a very good fit. He did a good job by her. She touches base with him every few months since they terminated the analysis well over six years ago, for he likes hearing that she is doing well. (He is justifiably proud of his handiwork...)