When the People Who Should Support Us Cause Harm: Professional Betrayal in Mental Health

More Than Workplace Conflict

Disagreements happen in every workplace: Colleagues have different clinical opinions, supervisors provide difficult feedback, and organizations make decisions that employees may not like. These experiences are not automatically or necessarily professional betrayals.

Professional betrayal involves a significant violation of trust, particularly when someone exploits a professional relationship, acts deceptively, retaliates, or engages in behavior that undermines another person's safety, integrity, or professional standing. Examples may include a colleague intentionally sabotaging career opportunities, a supervisor retaliating against someone who raises concerns, a breach of confidentiality, or a trusted professional engaging in serious ethical misconduct. The impact can be especially significant when the person responsible holds organizational power.

Trust Becomes the Injury

Professional betrayal tends to affect way more than job satisfaction. Therapists may begin questioning their judgment, withdrawing from colleagues, or avoiding consultation. They may become hyperindependent, believing that relying on others creates too much risk. Others may experience anxiety, anger, shame, rumination, or a profound loss of professional confidence. Perhaps most concerning, betrayal can change how therapists understand the profession itself. If the people responsible for promoting ethical care and psychological safety behave in ways that undermine those values, therapists may begin questioning whether they belong in the field.

Leadership Trauma

Khara Croswaite Brindle coined the term leadership trauma to describe experiences in which individuals feel burned, betrayed, abused, or made to question their worth by someone in a position of authority. This concept is closely related to professional betrayal and may overlap with experiences of moral injury. Consider a clinician who discovers that a colleague has engaged in serious misconduct involving a client. The clinician may experience shock, anger, grief, and confusion. They may question how the behavior went unnoticed or why organizational systems failed to protect the client. Now, imagine that leadership responds by treating other staff members as though they are responsible for the misconduct, without transparency or fairness. The original event is distressing. The organizational response may create another layer of harm.

Leaders need to examine how power operates within their organizations. Do employees feel safe disagreeing with you? Can supervisees acknowledge mistakes without fearing humiliation? Are concerns investigated fairly? Is retaliation addressed? Leadership requires more than offering encouragement when things are going well. It requires accountability when relationships rupture, transparency when difficult decisions are made, and a willingness to recognize when organizational practices cause harm. Leaders can begin by reviewing reporting procedures, examining organizational values, inviting feedback, and creating opportunities for repair when appropriate. The call to action: The same trauma-informed principles we teach therapists should guide how we lead them.

This article is part of our seven-part series exploring Adverse Psychological Events from The Resilient Therapist by Khara Croswaite Brindle and Ashley Charbonneau.