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

[Domino34]

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?

A psychotherapist is not the same as a psychiatrist. They are not usually medical doctors although could be Dr X if has a PhD. Did he actually claim to be a medical doctor?

Psychotherapists do not have to be registered doctors or regulated. Did this person outright tell you they were a medical doctor?

I’m sorry you’ve had a tough time.

Did the person TELL you they were a qualified medical doctor? I’ve certainly never understood a psychotherapist to be a doctor.

Are you mixing up psychotherapist and psychiatrist?

How did they lie? If they said they were a doctor and not sure lie but did you just assume?

Yes it is a crime to pretend to be a Dr but nothing you have quoted actually amounts to that.
Psychotherapists are more often psychologists than psychiatrists. I would not usually expect someone describing themselves as 'a psychotherapist who works for the NHS' to be a qualified Dr. My assumption would be that they were a psychologist or even a mental health nurse.

Yes it's a crime to pretend to be a doctor. However a psychotherapist doesn't have to be a doctor. Anyone can call themselves a psychotherapist - it's not a protected title. Even qualified registered ones don't have to be doctors

As others have said, psychotherapists generally aren’t doctors (some psychiatrists - who are doctors - are also trained in psychotherapy, but this is the exception rather than the rule).

First hit on Google says it's a criminal offence to impersonate a doctor, OP?

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.

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

Can you search for them on a healthcare register?
HCPC I think?
NMC for nurses/midwifes
GMC Drs
etc?

Yep she’s probably got a PhD so entitled to use the term doctor - and may well work part NHS part private. That’s fairly common and actually a good sign

She doesn’t even have a job at all. It was all a plan to manipulate me by DH. Who swiftly left the country to his parents, when I discovered this.

How did you make contact with her?

Was it through an agency of some sort? Is she on the website of the agency?
Is she on LinkedIn?

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.

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.

She may have a PhD.

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

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.

So you think your husband got someone to control you?

And it’s all a scam?

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.

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?

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

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.

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.