A former client of Jodi Hildebrandt says his family and life were 'destroyed' after she spilled details of his sessions to the Mormon Church
"My family got destroyed," Adam Paul Steed told NBC News of Jodi Hildebrandt. "My life got destroyed."
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- A former client of Jodi Hildebrandt accused the then-therapist of destroying his life, NBC News reported.
- Adam Paul Steed alleged Hildebrandt shared details of their sessions with the Mormon Church.
- He accused her of trying to force him into counseling for porn and sex addictions, and he refused.
Jodi Hildebrandt — the former business partner of family YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke — once spilled details about one of her clients to the Mormon Church, according to state documents.
Now, the man says it "destroyed" his life, NBC News reports.
An attorney for Hildebrandt did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
As Insider previously reported, Hildebrandt "discussed sensitive private information" about a couple who were her clients with Mormon Church leaders and Brigham Young University between April 2008 and March 2010, according to Utah Department of Commerce's Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing documents.
The documents said the conversations happened "on multiple occasions" and that Hildebrandt "disclosed sensitive confidential information" about a male client, "including a medical diagnosis," with the Honor Code Office at BYU, "without having received signed authorizations or any other type of permission."
Her therapy license was put on probation in 2012 for 18 months as a disciplinary action.
In August, Hildebrandt, alongside Franke, was arrested and charged with child abuse. In a probable cause affidavit obtained by Insider, authorities said Franke's kids were discovered injured and malnourished at Hildebrandt's home.
The man, whose identity was previously anonymous, spoke to NBC News about how this affected his life.
Adam Paul Steed, now 40, told NBC News that he saw Hildebrandt in 2008 for nine months with his then-wife for marriage counseling. He told NBC News that Hildebrandt had tried to treat him for sex and porn addictions, but he refused the treatment.
Steed alleged in his interview with NBC News that Hildebrandt shared false information about him with the Mormon Church, BYU, and his ex-wife. He said he then lost his church privileges, was suspended from BYU, and got a divorce from his wife.
"My family got destroyed," he told NBC News. "My life got destroyed."
He said that his marriage began to fall apart after nine months of couples counseling with Hildebrandt. He told NBC News that Hildebrandt said the couple needed to "triple down" on the number of therapy sessions they were having.
Steed alleged that Hildebrandt "was blaming everything on me being a sexual addict at that point." Steed had experienced childhood sexual abuse as a teen, and he told NBC that Hildebrandt used his prior experience against him in counseling.
"She was saying that that every time I said I was a victim of sexual abuse, that that was my addiction speaking. So if I had PTSD and trauma, and I mentioned it, they would confront me that that was my addiction of sexual abuse," Steed told NBC News.
Steed told NBC News that throughout counseling with Hildebrandt, he believed his ex-wife felt like she had to "protect" herself and their kids from him.