The Guardian wrote yesterday about an Australian psychologist who is on trial for indecent assault. Oh, my, what has he done? Well, he was treating this girl, and -

…he had resorted to drastic treatment because gentle methods were not working.

He said he thought role-playing a dominant/submissive relationship would help build a more trusting relationship so he made her wear a dog collar and call him master, and he cracked a whip in treatment sessions.

I understand, there’s some disagreement on the facts, such as, whether the whip was cracking at her bottom, or just randomly flying around the room.

Just a few days ago Natty told someone in the Punishment Book comments that spanking isn’t therapy, and if they needed counselling, a professional would be better suited to do that – but if this is the sort of thing you can expect to experience in the shrink’s office… I dunno. Maybe heading down to the nearest BDSM gathering would be as much help. At least, there you don’t have to pay by the hour.
The best part of the article: the guy is pleading not guilty.

He said such treatment was allowed by the country’s largest professional association for psychologists, the Australian Psychological Society. “It is right within the ethical guidelines.”

That may well be. But if there’s a chance a girl will run from the shrink’s couch straight to the police station, maybe she’s not a suitable candidate for this sort of treatment.

I can’t imagine he wrestled her into the collar, so the must have been some form of consent, but shouldn’t a psychologist be able to tell the difference between the “I’m doing this because I think it’s a good idea” consent, and “I’ll go along with it until I can get away from here, OMG, help!” consent.

They have interesting guidelines for shrinks in Oz, don’t they?