Psychiatrist/psychologist question regarding escorts

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The thread title sounds a little strange, I'll admit that. But it's about something I need help with. Lately, I've been having minor episodes of depression, possibly due to some unresolved issues I have with my family and/or not being able to find a loving, long-term relationship. So I'm considering seeing a professional, to help me get a better perspective my life, or at least get a chance to vent a little. (WP is nice, but I feel it'll be more effective if I vent to a medical professional.) During the past two years, I've been seeing escorts about once every few months. It made a profound impact on my life, and I feel a lot more confident now than I did two years ago.

Anyway, my questions is this: is it safe to tell the person that I've been seeing escorts? I'm sure it'll make a difference in how he might plan to help me, but there's an ugly side to this. If I decide to tell him, is he going to pick up the phone and report me to the police the second I walk out of his office? After all, some people consider escorts to be the same as prostitutes. So if you have an answer or even an opinion, please post it here.

Last edited by Aspie1 on 09 Sep 2007, 12:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

In most (all?) states, there is a pretty solid patient-psychologist confidentiality law. Meaning, save for certain things, the psychologist can not tell the police about anything you two discuss. Even if they did, any lawyer could get that testimony thrown out in court.

The psychologist will tell you what he/she must notify the police about if you ask him/her, and in my state, they're mandated to tell you up front. In my state, it's child & elder abuse, or imminent danger to self or others (I'm going to hurt myself / someone else).

I made a seperate post for this, and I'm interested to hear about the escorts deal. Do you usually just go out platonically, or does it get physical? How much does it end up moneywise?

It sounds like you're in a very similar situation to me with the whole depression and (lack of) relationship thing.

someone watches law&order

Yeah, but I took a few undergrad law classes as well. It's along the same lines of confession to a priest... poisonous fruits and so forth (if a source of evidence is thrown out, all evidence from investigation relying on that evidence is likewise inadmissable).

But again, there are certain situations where the psychologist must tell the police, but those situations are extremely limited.

It's a lot like priests. They can't ring the police about someone who's just confessed to murdering ppl, but they can try to persuade that person to turn themselves in.

And psychiatrists aren't dumb for the most part. They know the difference between an escort and a prostitute.

Aspie1,

Everyone is right! I don't recall if there is a federal law, but doctors ****DO**** give one a "reasonable expectation of privacy due to the concept of doctor/patient confidentiality". That means that, if you said you saw a prostitute, and you committed some crime and they found out about it because the doctor said you saw her, that could be thrown out because of the "fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine"!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_of_t ... onous_tree

There are SOME exceptions, like doctors HAVE to report if they think a child has been abused, etc... but they usually keep those down.

BTW A church clergy member has the SAME requirement, and could be released if s/he breaks the trust. A lawyer is held to that same requirement, and can be DISBARRED!(For those that don't know, the judiciary basically has a union that you must belong to to advocate(lawyers), or facilitate(Like judges), for a fee in a court of law. It amounts to a license to practice law. Disbarment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disbarment means you can't practice anymore. )

you are mad paranoid...

A lot of escorts apparently ARE prostitutes in the US.

"is it safe to tell the psychiatrist that I've been seeing escorts?"

Yeah, it's safe. There's no way a psychiatrist would (or could) report you for anything that minor.

2ukenkerl is right. In the States, escorts sell companionship, not sex, but when you pay for companionship, sex is virtually guaranteed. So even though they advertise as escorts, it's pretty clear who I've been seeing. And I'm very worried that Dr. [insert Jewish-sounding last name] will report me to the cops when I admit that to him. It definitely makes seeing a psychiatrist seem like a bad idea.

This is from a web page on confidentiality: "There are rare exceptions to confidentiality. For example, if a client should express or report a specific and serious intent to inflict harm to him/herself or to someone else, your Psychiatrist may break confidentiality, but only to the extent necessary to ensure your safety and/or the safety of others. We also have a duty to report cases of abuse where a minor, an elderly person, or a disabled individual is the victim of the abuse."

In other words, they would never be allowed to report anyone for seeing escorts or prostitutes.

Just to be clear Psychiatrist are not therapist they are physicians that prescribe drugs. They are bound by the Hippocratic oath. They are only supposed to tell if you intend harm yourself or others. If anything it can be too restrictive and slow having to explain thing over and over.

Psychologist other usually give you the confidentiality guidelines for you to sign before hand as a legal document (ask for it). However they are not bound by a single oath it depends on the therapist. Having said that they are probability on the whole more reliable than doctors, tend to give you the benefit of the doubt.

You have to be caught soliciting sex, otherwise the police are not going to arrest you for admitting to going to an escort.

Try calling the police and tell them that so and so sees escorts every now and then. They'll just laugh. They won't even bother the escort agencies unless they have underage girls. You definitely have nothing to worry about.

Furthermore, you could also sue the psychologist in question for breach of confidentiality.--This would open the psychologist up to the revocation of their professional licence.

However, I don;t think that you would have to go through this, as psychologists tend to be fairly accepting in matters like that.

There's no difference between an escort and a prostitute. Escort services are just a way to advertise in the phone book yet run a prostitution service at the same time. Ever so often where I used to live the police would investigate the escort services and put them in jail. That means the police would go undercover, then have sex with them and afterwards arrest them.

The psych won't/can't turn you in to the cops for seeing an escort. For one thing she would have to prove that you really did go to one and she can't do that just because you said you did. Wouldn't hold up in court. Plus its illegal for her to divulge info about you thanks to the HIPPA regulations. The psych will however probably ask you if you used protection from STDs and try to convince you its not a good idea to see one.

You should be more worried about being caught with an escort if the police are doing an undercover sting. Now that will land you in jail.