My friend posed as a psychotherapist and is now forced to live the lie or freak someone out.?

Question

A couple of years ago a friend of mine,Y , was working with someone, X, who claimed he was depressed. Being nosey, Y wanted to find out what the problem was. He told X that he was a trained psychotherapist and would gladly help him out. They had a couple of sessions and Y thought that would be the end of it. Unfortunately, X began to depend on the sessions and claimed to be improving because of them. Y has had no option other than to keep up the pretense. Now Y has had enough. He's considering coming clean about his training. I'm not sure this is a good idea. It ight be a major setback for X or Y could get into serious trouble. What should he do?

Answer 1

If Y feels that coming clean could be too detrimental to X then he is better off telling X that they've gone as far as they can in their sessions and he needs to refer to another psychotherapist... or he could say that he feels X is becoming too dependant upon him and that is another reason to refer him...

obviously it was a stupid and dangerous thing to do and coming clean should have been done as early as possible, but they're past that stage now and coming clean after a couple of years may cause/strengthen any insecurities and trust issues in X..

If you want to play the psychotherapist then you have to play by their moral code... i.e. If Y feels that X is getting too dependant upon him, then a referal to a real psychotherapist is necessary, Y cannot just leave X in the lurch, coming clean after so long may be more detrimental than keeping up the pretence, however the opposite may also be the case.

the situation needs treating delicately and Y must realise that this is playing with another person's insecurities and weakness and is incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands... i.e. He should know never to impersonate a psychotherapist again.... but if he is that good at it, maybe he should study it properly and get the qualifications he needs :)

Answer 2

This sounds similar to something I read on psyclick. I think for the benefit of X (who claims to be improving), Y should just cease contact and pass X over to someone WITH appropriate training. I think to come clean to X could do more long term psychological damage than the whole lying thing. X may well have improved with Y's help as often just talking to someone can improve affect. Y should just 'retire' or change career with immediate effect.

This whole thing is not too dissimilar to drug trials where people are given placebo drugs and yet they claim to be improving. Some people do end up worse of psychologically because they feel they've been made a fool of.

Answer 3

I really do think it serves Y right for being such a nosey f**ker in the first place! What business of theirs is it to pry into someone elses depression! Though i think he deserves to get into trouble really, telling X the truth would mostly likely do more harm than good. A typical depressive mindset is "the whole world is cr*p, everyone is against me etc etc" and telling him what had gone on would only serve to compound this, and make him feel exceptionally betrayed. I think Y needs to find a REAL psychotherapist for X, or at the very least tell him that he no longer feels comfortable dealing with this anymore, and refer him to a doctor.

Good luck.

Answer 4

He is going to have to stop "treating" him. If he doesn't want to come completely clean, he can shade the truth a little (not that I recommend that) but he does have to stop treating this person.

If the person he is treating was so much in need that X fell for this story, he does need professional help. Y would be well advised to check around for a clinic or therapist that X could get into for treatment and then "refer" X there.

I am not sure, but if X knows the truth he may never trust anyone enough again to go for therapy.

X really stepped into it this time didn't he? I hope he learns something from this.

Answer 5

Your friend needs to come clean and he can also be looking at a lawsuit or even jail time. He is posing as a member of the medical team under a false identity. It also depends on how the other person reacts to the news that he has been seeing a false psychiatrist. It depends on the relationship they both have and how the outcome will turn out.

Answer 6

Your friend that posed as a psychotherapist can be in serious trouble. What if he gave him the wrong advice and the patient killed himself? Psychologists go through extensive training to be able to handle many patients' problems. It would be better to come clean. I would brace my self for consequences though.

Answer 7

Perhaps Y could tell X that he's giving up being a psychtherapist because he's finding it so stressful and so he won't be 'qualified' to help X anymore. Unfortunately, he is unable to recommend another psychotherapist (unless he does know one!) as its all a matter of professional etiquette.

Tell him - DON'T DO IT AGAIN!!!

Answer 8

I think it would very determental to X if Y came clean to him. He might think about trying to refer him to a real "different" psychotherapist, for further therapy. If Y tells X the truth Y might also be facing legal charges if X decides to prosecute. Either way, this is a very bad situation. Good Luck

Answer 9

Come clean. Yeah he might [and probably will] get mad but it's better than living a lie. He can still talk him through his problems but just not as a "trained psychotherapist."

Answer 10

If coming clean is not the answer then he must tell X that due to conflict/friendship whatever, he can no longer treat him and suggest that he goes to another therapist (a real one). Bit of a mess this, he should have stuck to answering questions on Yahoo and not interfered in someone elses private life. I hope he is thoroughly ashamed of himself and has learned a lesson from this.