Sexual misconduct between Mental Health providers and their clients is often overlooked or not reported. Mental Health providers should be aware of the boundaries outlined in their contracts, which clearly states that no sexual relationship or contact with their clients is appropriate. Sexual misconduct can range anywhere from confiding too much information in a patient to physically touching a patient (Parsons 13). This problem seems to happen all to frequently. Many case are often over looked and are never actually brought into court. There is a big difference in the number of alleged offenses that are known about and the number that actually reach a formal hearing. Some women and men that have tried to report cases of sexual misconduct against their Mental Health provider have been denied due to the fact that the officials that they report this too
             appear to be protecting the doctor that this is being filed against. (Melbourne 1) There was a case were a lady went to therapy after a huge divorce with her husband. She soon became sexually involved with her therapist. She eventually went to file a complaint to the officials, but at first they would not allow her to make a formal complaint and they would not investigate. It was until three other women came forward and filed a complaint against the same therapist that they took this seriously. The contract that many of these mental care providers sign say that once they have a person as a patient this person is always going to be considered a patient even if this person no longer go to this doctor for help any more (Wendling 6). Once a mental health provider violates this they are to be punished by law, but more often than not this doctor only receives a slap on the wrist and is told never to do it again. In one case of sexual misconduct that was actually brought to court, the psychologist was charge with having sexual relations with one of his patients. He was convicted of this in t...