Australian woman raises alarm bells after her psychologist matches with her on Hinge

Young Aussie woman raises alarm bells after her psychologist matches with her on a DATING app – and he knows ‘deeply personal things’

• An Australian woman has called out her psychologist’s behaviour online
• She claims he purposely matched with her on Hinge and sent her messages
• The woman from northern NSW wants to raise the alarm with other patients
• ‘I’m a bit scared and violated because he knows some personal things,’ she said 

By Matilda Rudd For Daily Mail Australia

A young Australian woman has cast doubt over the professional nature of her psychologist after she claims he purposefully matched with her on Hinge.

The dating app user reached out to a group on Facebook to decipher whether the behaviour she was seeing exhibited by her confidant was worth warning others about or not.

‘I need a bit of help and don’t know what to do. My psychologist, who I haven’t seen in a few months but have been in contact with, messaged me on Hinge,’ she wrote.

‘He literally messaged me on February 2 trying to organise another session and on February 15 he liked me on Hinge and has messaged me. 

The dating app user reached out to a group on Facebook to decipher whether the behaviour she was seeing exhibited by her psychologist was worth warning others about or not

She admitted to feeling ‘scared and violated’ by the match because he knows some ‘deeply personal things’ after her as well as where she lives and her phone number

‘I matched with him unintentionally and didn’t realise it was him until he messaged me. Surely this goes against some ethical code.’

She admitted to feeling ‘scared and violated’ by the match because he knows some ‘deeply personal things’ after her as well as where she lives and her phone number. 

‘A part of me wants to do something about it because I worry about other patients of his who he might do this to. Any help and advice on whether I should do something or not would be appreciated,’ she said.

The northern NSW local, who has a unique name not easily forgotten, said his connecting with her on the dating app couldn’t have been a mistake because it’s a small town and he knows what her face looks like.  

‘I found him through a local Facebook community group asking for a psychologist and he messaged me on Facebook to organise appointments through his clinic,’ she said.

When she asked him on Hinge whether he was her psychologist he apologised, said ‘that’s why you look familiar’ and proceeded to ask her how she was going

She claimed the psychologist went by a different name during their sessions than he did online, which is why she initially matched with him. 

When she asked him on Hinge whether he was her psychologist he apologised, said ‘that’s why you look familiar’ and proceeded to ask her how she was going. 

‘I’m in my fourth year of psychology and this is a major breach of ethical conduct and should most definitely be reported,’ one woman replied to the thread.

‘They make it very clear to us early on in teaching that these things are quite serious and wrong. Also messaging you through Facebook to organise appointments is inappropriate, it should have been done through the clinic and in a much more professional manner.’

‘As a psych it’s all kinds of wrong, he wouldn’t have hundreds of clients especially not in a small town. A typical case load would be less than 50. If he’s seen her for more than a few sessions he’d 100 per cent have recognised her and even if he wasn’t sure it’s his responsibility to be cautious,’ said another.

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