"Apparently,
once Mrs. Donald left the witness stand she had an opportunity to
reflect upon her professional responsibilities and ethics insofar as
they relate to rendering diagnosis on individuals she has never met nor
interviewed".
"Later,
on cross-examination, Donald was confronted with the ethical questions
raised in some cases when a single therapist functions in both the
forensic role and later, in the therapeutic role with the same patient
or client. Donald was noticeable upset by this line of questioning and,
in fact, changed her testimony as a result".
"Donald
was retained in this action as a expert witness by Dianne, whose main
objective was securing expert, forensic testimony to establish that Mike
had sexually abused Emily, and should therefore have no rights of
visitation. After the first couple of sessions with Emily, Donald formed
the opinion that Emily had been sexually abused and was in need of
therapeutic counseling".
"Instead,
Donald conducted twenty three (23) sessions with Emily, each time
asking more and more questions about why she didn't like her father and
about all the bad things he had done to her, and going over these
matters time after time after time. As noted above, Donald's constant
and repeated questioning of Emily resulted in a tale which began with
"Daddy hurts me when sticks his finger in my tee-tee" and gradually grew
to allegations of Mike having sexually explicit magazines hidden in his
room, to allegations of him touching Emily with his penis, to
ejaculating on her, to taking nude photographs of her. Emily eventually
told Donald that she was tired of talking about "it". In the opinion of
the Court, Emily's memory of past events, became more and more corrupted
and tainted with each successive session with Donald".
"Mrs.
Donald proceeded in both the forensic and the therapeutic roles, lost
her objectivity in this matter and became an advocate for Dianne's
position in this litigation by constantly and continually questioning
Emily about her father's alleged treatment of her. In effect, Emily was
brainwashed"