Two questions tend to surface after a therapist crosses a sexual boundary. The first is protective: is this person still treating others? The second is personal: what can I do about what happened to me? Illinois handles those questions through different channels. The state regulator decides whether a therapist keeps a license, while the civil courts decide whether someone owes the survivor compensation.
Either channel is open without a prior police report and without a criminal charge on record. On the civil side, the focus falls on the employer's knowledge, what it should have known and the steps it took.
A Separate Track From Physicians
Doctors and therapists are regulated through different boards. Anyone researching a counselor's history in the physician system will come up empty, so it pays to know where to look.
The Four Boards
In Illinois, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) issues therapy licenses, and four advisory boards weigh in on discipline and conduct. Licensed professional counselors and licensed clinical professional counselors fall under the Professional Counselor Licensing and Disciplinary Board. Licensed social workers and licensed clinical social workers fall under the Social Work Examining and Disciplinary Board. Clinical psychologists have their own Licensing and Disciplinary Board, as do marriage and family therapists.
Searching the Record
IDFPR's license lookup accepts a name or license number and displays a therapist's status. For past discipline, the Department's consolidated reports note each action's date along with a brief synopsis. A blank result does not necessarily close the door, since the civil statute discussed below also reaches people who practiced without a license.
Making a Complaint
Complaints go to IDFPR's Division of Professional Regulation, either through its online system or on a paper form. The possible outcome is discipline of the license holder. No money goes to the person who complained, which is why the licensing route and a lawsuit are separate decisions.
Internal Complaints
Some clients tell the practice instead of the state. That still counts for something. Employers of licensed counselors are responsible for supervising them, and a complaint to management becomes part of the organization's records, which may later show what the employer knew.
The Attorney General's Power
740 ILCS 140, the Sexual Exploitation in Psychotherapy, Professional Health Services, and Professional Mental Health Services Act, also gives the Illinois Attorney General a tool. Under Section 2, that office may petition a circuit court to halt a psychotherapist's practice when probable cause indicates sexual contact with patients and a threat to the public.
The Civil Route
The same Act lets a patient or former patient sue a psychotherapist for injury from sexual contact. Contact during therapy is covered, as is contact afterward where the former patient was emotionally dependent or the therapist claimed sex was consistent with or part of treatment.
Under the Act, sexual contact includes intercourse, kissing, intentional touching of intimate areas such as the breast, buttocks, inner thigh, groin or genitals (clothed or not) and a request for any of those. The patient's consent does not change that, and the location, whether outside a session or away from the office, is not a defense.
Claims typically name the employing practice or agency. The leading theory is negligent retention, usually alongside others. Section 3 makes an employer liable when, knowing or having reason to know of sexual contact with the plaintiff or any other patient or former patient, it fails or refuses to act reasonably. Because these employers are generally private, Illinois Tort Immunity rules for public bodies do not apply the same way, and the statutory and traditional theories can be joined.
Frequently Raised Points
Can I pursue both a board complaint and a lawsuit? Yes. One concerns the license and the other concerns compensation, and neither waits on the other.
The lookup shows no license. A civil claim may still be possible because the Act covers anyone who performs or purports to perform psychotherapy.
No one was convicted. Civil cases do not require that, and they use a lower standard of proof.
I'm worried about publicity. Identity protections in the court record can be requested, and we explain them first.
After You Call
A conversation with us is just that. You do not have to explain what happened, and nothing gets filed because you called. If you want, we will investigate at no cost who employed the therapist, what that employer knew, what documents exist and whether the claim is within the deadline. You decide what happens next. A no keeps everything confidential and ends our involvement; a yes means we manage filings, deadlines, records and insurers and can pursue protections for your identity. Deadlines depend on the facts, so sooner is better.
Contact the Firm
Reach Coplan + Crane at (708) 671-6858, where calls are answered at every hour. Partner Ervin Nevitt, admitted to the Illinois bar in 2014, works out of 60 W Randolph St, Suite 333, Chicago, IL 60601. Your conversation stays private.
Crisis support is separate and free: RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is 1-800-656-4673, available all day and night. Call 911 in an emergency. Speaking with RAINN has no bearing on your legal rights. Learn more: https://survivorsofabuseil.com/therapist-sexual-abuse-lawyer-il/
Attorney advertising. General information only, not advice on any particular matter.
