A framed certificate on the wall is not proof of a state license. Some people who sit across from clients and offer therapy have never been licensed. Others kept practicing after losing a license. If one of them used that role to sexually exploit someone, the missing credential can lead survivors to think the law's protections do not reach them. Illinois drafted its statute to close that gap.
Whether a police report exists, or whether anyone was prosecuted, does not control a civil claim. The inquiry centers on the employing practice or agency and what it knew, should have known and did.
The Statute and Its Definitions
The Sexual Exploitation in Psychotherapy, Professional Health Services, and Professional Mental Health Services Act, 740 ILCS 140, gives patients and former patients a right to sue a psychotherapist for injury caused by sexual contact. Who qualifies as a psychotherapist is answered in Section 1.
A Wide Net
Section 1 lists physicians, psychologists, nurses, chemical dependency counselors and social workers, then adds any other person who performs or purports to perform psychotherapy. It states that this holds whether or not the person is licensed by the State. Psychotherapy itself is defined as the professional treatment, assessment or counseling of a mental or emotional illness, symptom or condition.
The practical effect is significant. Someone who held themselves out as a therapist without a license, or who kept going after a revocation, can still fall within the Act. The statute also names unlicensed mental health professionals separately.
What Falls Outside
There are boundaries. Spiritual or religious counseling is not psychotherapy under the Act, and neither is casual advice from a friend or relative. Situations like those may involve other law, but not this statute.
Survivors sometimes discover the licensing problem only after the fact, when a search turns up nothing or shows a revocation date that predates their sessions. That discovery can feel like a second betrayal. It also raises pointed questions about who allowed the person to keep seeing clients, which is where the employer provisions discussed below come in.
When Coverage Applies
Sexual contact during psychotherapy is covered. After therapy ends, coverage continues where the former patient was emotionally dependent on the therapist or where the therapist used therapeutic deception, telling the patient that sex was consistent with or part of treatment.
The definition of sexual contact sweeps in intercourse, kissing and intentional touching of the genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttocks or breast, clothed or not, plus any request for that contact. It applies whether or not the person consented, and contact outside a session or away from the usual office remains within reach.
Verifying Credentials
IDFPR, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, licenses therapists. Four boards advise it:
- Professional Counselor Licensing and Disciplinary Board (LPC, LCPC)
- Social Work Examining and Disciplinary Board (licensed social workers, LCSW)
- Clinical Psychologists Licensing and Disciplinary Board
- Marriage and Family Therapy Licensing and Disciplinary Board (LMFT)
A search on IDFPR's license lookup, by name or number, will show whether the person was licensed. Disciplinary actions appear in consolidated reports with dates and summaries.
The Organization That Hired Them
When an unlicensed or revoked practitioner worked for a practice or agency, that organization's decisions come under scrutiny. Negligent retention is the most common theory against employers, typically combined with others as the facts warrant. Section 3 of the Act makes an employer liable when it fails or refuses to respond reasonably after knowing, or having reason to know, that its therapist had sexual contact with the plaintiff or another patient or former patient.
Private organizations do not receive the Tort Immunity protections Illinois gives public bodies in the same way, and the Act's claims can run together with ordinary institutional liability.
Questions Survivors Bring Us
The person who treated me had no license. Is there still a case? Possibly. The Act covers anyone who performs or claims to perform psychotherapy, licensed or not, and expressly mentions unlicensed mental health professionals.
Must there be a criminal conviction? No. Civil claims carry a lower burden and usually name the organization.
I'm reaching out for a friend. That is common, and it places no obligation on your friend.
Will the lawsuit reveal my name? We explain the available identity protections before anything is filed.
Our Process
You will reach a real person, and you are not required to describe what happened. Our team then examines, free of charge, which organization had responsibility, what it knew, which records exist and whether the claim is timely. We give a frank assessment, and the choice is yours. Stopping ends everything confidentially. Going forward means we handle the court work, deadlines, records and insurers, and we can seek protections for your identity. Timing rules depend on the facts, so do not wait long to ask.
Speak With Us
For a free, confidential review, call (708) 671-6858; the line is answered 24/7. Ervin Nevitt, a partner at Coplan + Crane admitted to practice in Illinois in 2014, works from 60 W Randolph St, Suite 333, Chicago, IL 60601.
If what you need right now is someone to listen, RAINN's hotline at 1-800-656-4673 is free, private and always open. If you are unsafe, call 911. Reaching out to RAINN does not affect your legal options.
Attorney advertising. This post offers general information rather than legal advice.
