Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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"His hands were rough. But his voice? His voice was smooth as it rang in my ear with the words: "You're getting sleepy. You're getting excited." And, finally, "You're going to forget what I do to you next."

I never believed in hypnosis. People losing control of their bodies; losing their memories with the snap of the finger? Didn’t seem plausible. That was… until my mother passed. Suddenly. When it wasn't pounding or spinning, my head would tell me I needed to eat, needed to sleep, needed to get up and move on. Or at least try. But my body wouldn’t budge. It was like a trance. I was stuck...at the fourth stage of grief. All I wanted...was to forget.

Then one day, my friend Katie recommended I see a therapist.

Dr. Bateman.

I was nervous going in. So nervous in fact, I remember blurting out, “It’s my first time,” before quickly adding, “Oh, in therapy, of course”. He let out a laugh and assured me this first session would be a breeze. We’d just get to know each, talk a little about why I’d made a booking, and figure out how we – or really how I - could move forward. And for the first time - in a long time - I didn't feel as lost. I don’t remember too much about what we talked about, but by the time I left his office, I had already booked my next appointment.

But it was after my second visit to Dr. Bateman that I noticed something was off. Inside my car, just outside his office, I noticed that my shirt buttons were done wrong, and everything was wonky.

I call Katie, almost immediately, to tell her about it, how I don't remember what had happened during this second session. But to my horror, she replied, "second session? You've been seeing Bateman weekly, for two months now."

(Pause) "What?"

I couldn't remember anything. I couldn't even remember what his office looked like despite the fact that I had apparently spent hours in there. There was a short pause before Katie finally told me to meet her at the police station.

There, I told the officers that there was no medication, no drinking, no history of mental illness. Katie confirmed all this, and as we looked through my schedule, we not only found that I had visited him 9 times, but there was another appointment: next week.

The officers agreed to look into it. But they needed my help. My word - the word of a mourning daughter with memory loss - just wasn't enough for them to barge into the doctor's life and take him in for questioning. So we devised a plan - a plan where I would be the bait.

And so, the following week, when my appointment with Dr. Bateman finally came around, I remember walking into his building with a hidden microphone under my shirt, and a hidden camera inside my purse. Both were being monitored by the officers who wanted as much as I did to know what really went on inside his office.

I was nervous. Conflicted. But then, he said: "I'm going to make you feel good and make sure you forget"

By then, I was caught in a trance. He kept talking. I could feel his voice; I could feel his touch; I could feel everything but I was paralyzed. All I could was listen to him say: "I'm the only one who can do this to you. Do you understand? You need me to feel good. That's all you need to remember. Everything else, you can forget. You will-" And then before he could finish, I heard the door slam open and the six words that would bring me out of it: "Dr. Bateman, you are under arrest."

He'd been recording the sessions with his patients. All his patients. The officers found more than half a dozen cameras in the room, with recordings uploaded on his computer. It was all the evidence they needed to lock him up for a long time. I don't know if his punishment will ever be enough for all the hurt he's caused, but at least it's a start.

As for me: what exactly he did to me? That's not important. What's important is what I learned when I finally found the right therapist. It took a while to happen; took me a while to trust, but when I did she taught me I don't need to forget because if there's one lesson I could learn is that there's nothing more precious than memories...even if they hurt you."

We chose this story because we want to encourage people to speak up if something similar has happened to them and to seek help if they're still in such a situation. We hope this video will encourage people to feel empathy and compassion for those who have gone through such experiences. And we hope that it will encourage us all to do what we can to prevent these things from happening. Even if it does happen we want to encourage people to speak up for their own safety

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