When shrinks abuse their patients: "With him, I accepted everything"

As if to give herself strength, Laure (she wished to remain anonymous, like all the people cited by their first name) came to our meeting one winter evening with a myriad of administrative documents, the logbook of a woman whose life was disrupted in early childhood. On top of the pile, a complaint: the one she filed in March 2023 against her psychiatrist for "rape of an adult" .

Her "follow-up" began in 2015. Advised by her general practitioner, the mother consulted this practitioner in Asnières-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine) to break free from a toxic and destructive relationship. According to her account, she would endure another one for six years. The story begins with discussions on the concept of transference—which the doctor defines as the emotional, even romantic, attachment of a patient to their therapist. Then it drifts, with cuddles in the caregiver's office, to end with a tube of Vaseline in the waiting room as Laure prepares to be sodomized.

Le Monde has identified, with the help of of lawyers, practitioners and collectives against sexist and sexual violence, dozens of cases of women victims of mental health professionals in abuses of power spread over several years, while they were in a situation of great vulnerability.

You have 93.26% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.