This site exists because serious professional misconduct in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis does occur – and when it does, it can cause profound harm.
These are not abstract risks. Many of us can attest to the bad actors in this profession
They arise in settings that are:
- private
- unobserved
- built on trust
- defined by a clear power imbalance (which is usually warped by the perpetretator for their gain)
Where boundaries fail, the consequences can be psychological, lasting, and difficult to challenge.
What this site does
This site publishes regulatory determinations- formal findings made after investigation and disciplinary process.
These are neither allegations, nor speculation or gratuitous. They are established findings of misconduct and we wish the harm to be reduced.
Why it matters
In this profession:
- misconduct is often hidden by confidentiality
- harm can be minimised or reframed (as ‘consensual’ or such like)
- and records can become difficult to locate over time (as the industry tries to remove its public problems)
That creates a risk not only to past patients and students,
but to future ones, not only the leader-in-this-abuse The Society of Analytical Psychology and other organisations.
The public protection issue
Regulators can remove practitioners from their registers.
But:
removal from a register does not erase risk, prevent future practice, or ensure wider safeguarding action has been taken.
Transparency is therefore not optional, but a core part of public protection. Why have we, the BPC, removed information about Perryn’s case? How is that serving and protecting the public? I raise in trustee’s meeting.
The point
This site exists to ensure that:
- serious findings remain visible
- patterns can be recognised
and the public has access to information that affects their safety