A THERAPIST who had sex with a patient in his car after he cured her driving phobia has won a legal battle to clear his name.
Neale Haddon got into an intense six-month fling with his client after she suggested they meet for a drink just ten days after her final session.
Deputy Judge Rory Dunlop accepted Haddon had not given enough time after the last session before entering the relationship with his former patient[/caption]
The psychotherapist, who has more than 20 years experience in the field, had previously been asked by the woman if he “found her attractive” during one of their meetings.
Haddon was found guilty of “serious misconduct” over the affair with his ex-client by a disciplinary panel.
His name was deleted from the register of therapists by the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
The counsellor challenged the panel’s decision in the High Court.
He also claimed the professional watchdog acted unfairly by imposing a sanction that he deemed to be too harsh.
Haddon told the panel his client had proposed the pair go for coffee in her final counselling session, but he initially declined.
He informed her they would have to wait due to rules surrounding patient-counsellor relationships.
Haddon later judged that she had made a “significant recovery” from her travel and driving phobia.
This included being able to “drive on busy motorways and urban roads with only residual or no anxiety.”
Ten days after her treatment had concluded, she once again invited him for a drink, on this occasion via text.
Haddon accepted and, not long after, the pair entered into a relationship in December 2019.
The couple met on several occasions, romping in his former client’s flat and once in his car, and sent each other explicit messages.
The UKCP’s disciplinary panel ruled Mr Haddon had broken the trust placed in him and had “breached fundamental values of the profession”.
Mr Haddon’s barrister, Simon Butler, argued the decision was “disproportionate”.
Deputy Judge Rory Dunlop accepted Haddon had not given enough time after the last session before entering the relationship with his former patient.
He said: “A sexual relationship commenced on or about 30 or 31 December 2019, and continued until June 2020.
“During which time the parties exchanged explicit communications and images.
“The sexual relationship between the claimant and his former client lasted approximately six months.
“They met several times, normally at her flat and once in his car. On each occasion they engaged in intimate relations
“Any psychotherapist who begins a sexual relationship with his patient only 10 days after their therapy has concluded should realise that their conduct might lead to termination.
“In this case, not enough time had passed. Ten days was plainly not enough to ensure ‘proper closure’.”
But the judge ultimately ruled against the UKCP, finding that the panel had ‘taken against’ Mr Haddon.
He added: “My overall assessment is that the adjudication panel took against the claimant after hearing his oral evidence and failed to balance their adverse impression of him against the available evidence.
“The decision on sanction will be for that new adjudication panel, not me.”
His case will be heard again by a new panel.
Mr Haddon’s name was deleted from the register of therapists by the UK Council for Psychotherapy[/caption]
