Award-winning 'Rising Star' psychologist seduced vulnerable patients at his parents' clinic, betrayed their darkest secrets - and told another how to cut herself and hide the scars

Read the original at Daily Mail ↗
Daily Mail · collected 2026-09-19 · by Karleigh Smith
Content note This article describes suicide or self-harm and sexual violence.

Quick Summary

Mohammad Yousuf, an award-winning psychologist in Victoria, Australia, has been banned from practicing psychology for six years after he had sexual relations with two clients and advised another on how to hide self-harm scars. The incidents occurred between March 2021 and January 2022 at his parents' medical practice in Gippsland while Yousuf was married. He also shared confidential information about other patients and encouraged a client to take a job at the clinic where she received treatment, leading to her employment there despite ethical concerns.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

An award-winning Victorian psychologist named Mohammad Yousuf was banned for six years after he engaged in sexual activities with two vulnerable patients while working at his parents' medical practice in Gippsland between March 2021 and January 2022. Yousuf also disclosed confidential patient information and encouraged another client, identified as YFX, to hide self-harm scars by applying for a peer support job at the clinic where she was receiving treatment; she was subsequently hired there. These unethical actions led to the suspension of his registration, which he eventually surrendered. The Psychology Board of Australia took the case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Although Yousuf had won a Rising Star Award in 2021 from the Gippsland Public Health Network, the article about it was removed after these incidents came to light. Currently, Yousuf works in human resources for a government department in Canberra.

Written for “Psychologist Abuses Vulnerable Patients” on 2026-10-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
28%
7 of 25 hedged
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Correction & hedging signals
64.9
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
1
Health
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-09-19 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Psychologist Abuses Vulnerable Patients
Health · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.

Publisher

Daily Mail · 3648 article(s) · 12 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 12 correction(s)
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Clarifications and corrections

Who wrote this

Karleigh Smith
13 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 'I thought, 'Well, I'm about to retire, that might be something interesting for me to do.
🔮 'I acknowledge that this news may land differently for you depending on your personal circumstances and tenure at the College.
🔮 He declined to give further details, saying it 'would all come out in the proceedings'.
🔮 'There's a little bit inside me that would rather walk away when the team's on top... a dream way to finish.
🔮 In February, police said they believed someone known to Gus may have killed him, deliberately or accidentally, before he was reported missing.
🔮 In February, police said they believed someone known to Gus may have killed him, deliberately or accidentally, before he was reported missing.
🔮 Killeen told the Daily Mail that the organisers had earlier agreed to the competitors live-streaming, 'but then on the day, there was a contract in place saying that we couldn't livestream'.
🔮 - See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source An award-winning Victorian psychologist has been banned for six years after he had sex with two vulnerable clients he had been treating, and told a third where to self-harm so the scars wouldn't show.
🔮 I had to go up to one of the parking guys to borrow his phone to call my wife, so she could sort me an Uber,' Mr Norton said.
Also by Karleigh Smith
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 13 articles by Karleigh Smith →

Topics

Daily Mail Gippsland Gippsland Public Health Network's Victorian the Psychology Board of Australia

Subjects

Yousuf PERSON · 5× Mohammad Yousuf PERSON · 3× YFX PERSON · 3× Victorian NORP · 2× Canberra GPE · 1× Daily Mail ORG · 1× Gippsland GPE · 1× Gippsland Public Health Network's ORG · 1× the Psychology Board of Australia ORG · 1× the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ORG · 1×

Narrative

Award-winning Victorian psychologist Mohammad Yousuf has been banned for six years after he had sex with two vulnerable clients he had been treating He encouraged YFX to wear a bikini and told her to apply for a peer support worker job at the clinic where she was receiving care, and she was hired, the tribunal heard.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-19
🔮 - See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source An award-winning Victorian psychologist has been banned for six years after he had sex with two vulnerable clients he had been treating, and told a third where to self-harm so the scars wouldn't show.

Claims (25 extracted, 7 hedged)

- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source An award-winning Victorian psychologist has been banned for six years after he had sex with two vulnerable clients he had been treating, and told a third where to self-harm so the scars wouldn't show. asserted
scars → see → third
Mohammad Yousuf also admitted revealing confidential information about other patients and 'grooming' a client into a job at the clinic where she was being treated. asserted
she → admit → clinic
The incidents happened while Yousuf - who was married – was working at his parents' medical practice in Gippsland between March 2021 and January 2022. asserted
who → happen → March
He won a Rising Star Award at the 2021 Victorian Rural Health Awards, but the article about it has since been removed from Gippsland Public Health Network's website. asserted
article → win → website
His registration was suspended after the incidents came to light and was eventually surrendered, before the Psychology Board of Australia took the case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. asserted
Board → suspend → Tribunal
Yousuf now works in human resources for a government department in Canberra, according to his LinkedIn profile. uncertain
Yousuf → work → profile
During sessions with one client, identified as YFX, Yousuf suggested she consider an open relationship and directed her to sexually 'kinky' websites, the tribunal was told. uncertain
tribunal → identify → websites
He also speculated about how his wife would react if she caught him on such a site. asserted
she → speculate → site
Award-winning Victorian psychologist Mohammad Yousuf has been banned for six years after he had sex with two vulnerable clients he had been treating He encouraged YFX to wear a bikini and told her to apply for a peer support worker job at the clinic where she was receiving care, and she was hired, the tribunal heard. asserted
tribunal → win → care
After the treatment ended, he engaged in sexual activity with her on three occasions between September and November 2021, at her home, in her car and at his home. asserted
he → end → home
On August 30 2021, he messaged YFX about his sexual fantasies involving his sister-in-law. asserted
he → message → law
The next day he asked her to delete the messages because he might 'get in trouble with the Board'. uncertain
he → ask → Board
Three days later he told her his wife had left him, he was suicidal and 'had nothing good in his life' and that for ethical reasons they could not be friends for two years. uncertain
they → tell → years
He said they should meet in secret, gave her his home address and said they could not use the messaging app because people 'may see the messages', the tirbunal was told. uncertain
tirbunal → say → messages
A second client, identified as NUJ, who sought treatment between August 2021 and January 2022, was given his personal email address and Snapchat username during sessions. asserted
who → identify → sessions
She said he told her he had wed his wife in an arranged marriage because he wanted to have sex and that as a Muslim he could not have sex unless he was married. He also told her he 'liked to please women' and had sex with her on five occasions after treatment ended, the tribunal heard. uncertain
tribunal → say → occasions
Mohammad Yousuf told a third where to self-harm so the scars wouldn't show and has been banned from practising psychology for six years A third client, IDV, was told by Yousuf to start using marijuana again, despite her refusal, while being treated for depression between June and November 2021. asserted
client → tell → June
When she mentioned self-harming, he showed her where on her body to do it 'so people won't be able to see the scars', the tribunal was told. asserted
tribunal → mention → scars
The tribunal also found he disclosed confidential information about other patients without permission, including that one had an eating disorder and an Asperger's diagnosis, and that he had arranged a job for another client. asserted
he → find → client
Yousuf did not attend the hearing and did not contest the allegations, instead submitting an agreed statement admitting all 12 counts of professional misconduct. asserted
Yousuf → attend → misconduct
He was reprimanded, disqualified from applying for registration until August 2031 and prohibited from providing any mental health, psychological or counselling services in any capacity, as an employee, contractor, manager or volunteer, until he is re-registered. asserted
he → reprimand → employee
The misconduct came to light after notifications to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency in April and May 2022. uncertain
misconduct → come → April
Yousuf surrendered his registration in November 2023 rather than face discipline. asserted
Yousuf → surrender → discipline
Yousuf declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Mail but said: 'That's fine' when told a story would be appearing about the tribunal's findings. asserted
story → decline → findings
His parents, who still practise as widely respected rural doctors and are not accused of any wrongdoing, did not respond to requests for comment. asserted
who → practise → comment
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