NSW tribunal extends psychologist’s suspension over former patient relationship
A NSW tribunal has extended the suspension of children’s psychologist Benjamin French for six months, finding his conduct with a former patient was unsatisfactory. Their relationship became intimate within months of treatment ending, raising concerns about professional boundaries and the power imbalance between a clinician and patient.
French treated the woman, then 24, in 52 sessions from 2017 to 2020, including discussions about her mental health and bipolar diagnosis. After adding her on Facebook three months after treatment ended, they exchanged about 9,000 messages over just more than two years and met socially; he told her he had wanted to take her upstairs. The tribunal also heard that he later offered ADHD coaching and prepared a report backdated to the period when she was his patient.
- NSW tribunal extended psychologist Benjamin French’s suspension by six months.
- He and a former patient exchanged about 9,000 messages.
- Tribunal heard he prepared a backdated ADHD report for her.
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Benjamin French is a children's psychologist in New South Wales. He treated a woman for mental health concerns, including bipolar disorder, in regular sessions over several years from 2017 to 2020.
Shortly after their professional relationship ended, French initiated contact with the woman on social media and they began a romantic relationship. This transition happened within months of treatment ending and involved extensive ongoing communication.
The case raises important questions about professional boundaries in healthcare and psychology. Therapists hold considerable influence over their patients during treatment, and ethical standards restrict personal relationships that develop soon after treatment ends, recognising the ongoing power imbalance this creates.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Read the creepy messages children’s psychologist sent his patient in a tsunami of 9,000 text messages – as tribunal suspends him: ‘Want to take you upstairs’”.