Plaintiff, a woman in her early twenties, sought treatment with a psychotherapist for an eating disorder. Instead of helping her with her eating disorder, the psychotherapist became attracted to his patient and violated the “therapeutic container” by expressing his interest and love for her in frequent, long e-mails and phone calls. Once the plaintiff retained Winer, McKenna, & Burritt they collected the relevant evidence, retained a psychiatric expert witness who found that the standard of care was violated and the plaintiff was seriously injured by the therapist breach, even though there was no sexual contact.

The defense claimed that the defendants conduct was justified because there were no overt sexual contact or overtures. Further, the defense claimed the plaintiff was actually helped rather than harmed by any potential breach of the standard of care. Because of Winer, McKenna, & Burritt’s substantial experience handling psychotherapist abuse cases, the case settled and plaintiff was able to achieve a significant settlement without litigation.

RESULT: Settlement on behalf of plaintiff $500,000.