Queensland psychologist banned over explicit exchanges with vulnerable patient

A Queensland psychologist has been banned for six months after he urged a vulnerable female client to masturbate, watch porn and connect with a dominatrix.

A Queensland psychologist has been banned for six months.

A Queensland psychologist has been slapped with a six month ban from the profession over a series of sexually explicit conversations with a vulnerable female client who had sought his help after a relationship breakdown.

Trevor Peter Hatten contacted the woman several times in January 2021, urging her to masturbate, suggesting a lubricant, asking how she liked to be pleasured, offering to connect her with a dominatrix, and encouraging her to watch pornography.

The woman initially believed Hatten’s messages and calls were part of her therapy but became uncomfortable as the exchanges became increasingly explicit.

The Health Ombudsman took action against Hatten after receiving a complaint about his conduct.

In a decision handed down in April but not published until this week, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Hatten’s behaviour amounted to professional misconduct, formally reprimanded him and ordered he be disqualified from applying for registration as a health practitioner for six months.

The tribunal said Hatten, a married man who had been a member of the profession for more than 40 years and operated from a practice south of Brisbane, had indicated he had no intention to work in the field again.

According to the judgment, Hatten contacted the woman by phone on January 27, 2021, and during the lengthy conversation, he suggested she “needed to discover who she was and what she was like sexually”.

“He recommended self-love and self-pleasure and suggested she should start watching pornography,” the tribunal said.

“(The woman) says that Mr Hatten offered to put her in touch with a client who was into bondage and was a dominatrix.”

After the conversation, he sent her a text message which read: “For self-pleasuring purposes grape seed oil has the right Ph (sic) value which ensures a nice slide”.

The following day, he sent further messages and called to extol the virtues of grape seed oil, including telling her that it could also be used for cooking and shaving

In another call the same day, they discussed the client’s “fears and anxieties”.

“(The woman) deposes that Mr Hatten also, “provided advice about relationships and how to engage with people sexually”, saying there was nothing wrong with “having a couple of partners for sexual purposes only, since the patient was not ready for a relationship, and so long as everybody was consenting”,” the tribunal wrote.

In a third call that day, Hatten asked the patient whether she was “a clitoris type of lady or penetration” when pleasuring herself and asked if she had yet viewed pornographic websites.

On January 30, Hatten called again and during the lengthy conversation, asked the client whether she had viewed pornography yet.

“(The woman) gave reasons for not having done so, including that she had an old laptop,” the tribunal said.

“Mr Hatten offered to give Ms James an old laptop which she could use instead of the mobile phone.”

Later that day, there was a text exchange between the pair about their sexual experiences.

“They included Mr Hatten sharing that his first experience of sexual intercourse was when he was 13, and the details of it,” the tribunal wrote.

“He also said, “I am happy that you are not into older males as I am off the hook [emoji]”.

“He later said, “[i]f you want to play text then I will wait until M goes to sleep and I have a plan to get the computer to you tomorrow. I promise to text you shortly and maybe you can get yourself in the mood.”

The tribunal heard the client believed the text messages were part of her therapy but as they became increasingly explicit, they made her feel uncomfortable and she went to bed feeling “extremely uneasy and anxious”.

On January 31, despite sending a message to avoid Hatten coming to her house, he visited and gave her an old computer to use to view pornography.

“She says that she did not feel comfortable with the text, the computer or being asked to view pornography, but did not know if she was being a prude, as she had not had sexual trauma counselling before,” the tribunal said.

Hatten’s disqualification runs for six months from April 20.