Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it’s a crime to pretend to be a registered doctor?

140 replies

Domino34 · 21/05/2024 22:53

Keep this short and sweet, please help me out!
I discovered that the ‘psychotherapist’ that ‘works for the nhs’ I’ve been having therapy sessions on the phone with, was actually not a doctor at all. Payed for by DH. I think I’ve been a victim of coercive control. Yet another tactic to manipulate me and be in a position of power. It sounds crazy, I know! My question is, is it a crime in the same way where if somebody pretended to be a police officer? I feel like my mind has been violated. I haven’t done anything about this. . . What can I do?

OP posts:
Original poster
Domino34 · 21/05/2024 23:17

Well enough for her to pretend to be a professional therapist for him, she was so convincing too :( offering to supervise him with my baby if I wasn’t comfortable with him taking her. Which I was not!

OP posts:
StormingNorman · 21/05/2024 23:17

You think your DH found someone to pretend to be a therapist, so he could control you?

I am so sorry if this is the case. You should report him to the police and see whether there is anything they can do.

What he’s done is disgusting but I don’t know enough about coercive control to say if this meets the criteria. I would bloody hope so!

Original poster
Domino34 · 21/05/2024 23:16

I apologise for the confusion, I’m still fairly confused myself. I want to call the police, I guess I’m just scared too? I think I’ve been a victim of coercive control I’ve been very isolated and manipulated for a long time. This is just crazy. . .

OP posts:
TwattyMcFuckFace · 21/05/2024 23:15

How well does the person who sent you the video know her?

Allofaflutter · 21/05/2024 23:14

Also call women’s aid. I’m so sorry for you.

Allofaflutter · 21/05/2024 23:13

Call the police and report it.

FreshStar · 21/05/2024 23:13

Have you considered speaking to the police?

Original poster
Domino34 · 21/05/2024 23:12

Not necessarily having an affair, but the woman is known to him yes, and I was speaking to her for a while and I thought she was a therapist/doctor paid for by him, he arranged the whole thing. She pretended to be a therapist, starting off the conversation with ‘hi it’s doctor such and such’ to extract confidential information from me to pass on to him. And yes he left when I discovered this.

OP posts:
CountingCrones · 21/05/2024 23:12

This is all very soap opera, OP.

FreshStar · 21/05/2024 23:11

You’ve described this in a confusing way. Is this something your husband set up and duped you? Your OP reads as if you got scammed, but not that your husband set the scam up

TwattyMcFuckFace · 21/05/2024 23:10

Domino34 · 21/05/2024 23:05

I found a picture on his phone of a woman, I sent it around to find out who she was, someone sent me a video and the same woman had the same voice that I had been speaking to on the phone as a doctor. She is certainly no doctor. How could I fall for this?

What?

You think the woman in the video is the 'doctor' on the phone because they sound the same?

jazzybelle · 21/05/2024 23:10

TheChosenTwo · 21/05/2024 23:09

Wait, just reading down this thread, am i right in thinking you suspect your dh of having an affair and him arranging you some therapy with the woman whose photo you saw on his phone and then he buggered off?

Sounds like it and it also sounds like a load of rubbish.

longdistanceclaraclara · 21/05/2024 23:09

Too much to unlock here. Did your dh make you see this person? They could well have a phd. What else is going on to make you think coercive control? I am not in any way doubting you just trying to figure out how best to advise.

TheChosenTwo · 21/05/2024 23:09

Wait, just reading down this thread, am i right in thinking you suspect your dh of having an affair and him arranging you some therapy with the woman whose photo you saw on his phone and then he buggered off?

DistinguishedSocialCommentator · 21/05/2024 23:08

Ciderlout · 21/05/2024 23:01

They probably have a PHD so can use the title Dr but they aren’t medically qualified.

Exatcly that

We used a surgeon to trim our tress and bushes, He claimed to be a "Tree Surgeon" but his work did not match his title

Butchyrestingface · 21/05/2024 23:07

Domino34 · 21/05/2024 23:05

I found a picture on his phone of a woman, I sent it around to find out who she was, someone sent me a video and the same woman had the same voice that I had been speaking to on the phone as a doctor. She is certainly no doctor. How could I fall for this?

You’re not making a lot of sense.

Did you think she was a psychotherapist?

OR did you think she was a doctor?

In either case, it sounds like the problem is really in your marriage and not with with this woman, whoever she is.

ThinWomansBrain · 21/05/2024 23:07

PhD in media studies & volunteers in the café at the local hospital.
But as others have said, she hasn't claimed to be a medical doctor.

Bridgertonned · 21/05/2024 23:06

Just to say apologies, cross posted with your last reply and realised that I've missed the point, in respect of your 'D'H

Original poster
Domino34 · 21/05/2024 23:05

I found a picture on his phone of a woman, I sent it around to find out who she was, someone sent me a video and the same woman had the same voice that I had been speaking to on the phone as a doctor. She is certainly no doctor. How could I fall for this?

OP posts:
WeeGreenJumper · 21/05/2024 23:05

Also if she has been misrepresenting herself you can raise a complaint if she has misused a protected title without the appropriate qualifications. Trickier if she is not using a protected title but you think she has acted unethically.

Pinkypinkyplonk · 21/05/2024 23:05

So you think your husband got someone to control you?

And it’s all a scam?

Bridgertonned · 21/05/2024 23:04

Someone might work for the NHS, that doesn't mean they're a medical doctor, or impersonating a doctor. The NHS employs a lot of people with varying levels of qualification. It's not unusual for people with qualifications to work in some type of talking therapy (eg counseling, CBT, psychotherapy) on a private basis in the NHS.

Butchyrestingface · 21/05/2024 23:04

Domino34 · 21/05/2024 23:01

Yes, I have a voicemail on my phone where she says she has been busy today, working at a locus elsewhere, saying it’s doctor *. I have evidence in the form of a text also. I might be mixing the two up. I thought I was speaking to a therapist registered with the NHS.

She may have a PhD.

What makes you think she’s not registered with nhs?

ThePure · 21/05/2024 23:03

A lot of clinical psychologists have PhDs and are entitled to call themselves Dr.

For therapy as opposed to medication a psychologist is what you want. It doesn't sound as though they have done anything wrong really.

WeeGreenJumper · 21/05/2024 23:03

Psychotherapist and psychiatrist are very different things, and psychologist something else again. Neither Psychotherapist nor psychologist are protected titles. Regardless they may well work for the NHS. If a responsible professional I'd expect they were registered with another professional body, but Psychotherapy is pretty diverse - could be BACP or BABCP, or potentially others, qualified practitioner psychologists of any discipline should be HCPC registered. You can check online by looking up your therapist's name. If they are claiming to be a psychiatrist they should be registered with the GMC and again you can search the register.