The celebrity sex therapist praised by one of the world’s leading feminists who had sex with dozens of clients Amidst Kim Kardashian- and is now accused of abusing one with his ‘laser beam penis that burns up trauma’

A therapist who has appeared as a guest on This Morning has been accused of raping and sexually assaulting a client after telling her he could use sexual penetration as a ‘therapeutic technique’.

Michael Lousada is being sued by Ella Janneh, who visited him after suffering panic attacks during consensual sex due to being abused as a child.

Ms Janneh, 37, who has waived her right to anonymity, claims that during a session on August 18 2016, she was raped and sexually assaulted by Mr Lousada in his clinic in Belsize Park, London.

The High Court has heard Lousada allegedly described his penis as being ‘like a laser beam’ which could ‘burn up trauma’ while using penetration as a ‘therapeutic technique’ before he went on to attack her.

Ms Janneh is bringing a civil claim against Mr Lousada after the Crown Prosecution Service said it would not pursue criminal charges in 2018.

Mr Lousada denies the allegations, claiming the sexual activity was consensual and part of ‘legitimate’ therapeutic activity – but lawyers acting for the childhood sex abuse survivor say he abused the ‘power dynamic’ between therapist and client.

In court documents, Ms Janneh claimed that Mr Lousada told her during the 2016 session ‘his penis was, ‘like a laser beam’ and that it could ‘burn up trauma’, and that he should use his penis to absorb the trauma’.

The incident caused her to suffer a panic attack, the documents said, leaving her unable to communicate and ‘incapable of providing valid and informed consent’.

Ms Janneh, who now lives in Melbourne, Australia, reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police a day later. No charges were brought and the case was dropped in May 2018.

At the start of a six-day trial in London on Friday, Nina Ross, representing Ms Janneh, said that Mr Lousada assaulted his client during a ‘body work’ session after claiming to use penetration ‘as a therapeutic technique’.

Ms Ross told the court: ‘The claimant’s case is that she did not consent to the sexual acts.

‘She did not have the mental capacity to consent… nor did she have the freedom to consent due to the power dynamic inherent in a therapeutic relationship, nor did she have all the information she needed to consent because he gave her no warning.

‘Nothing about her behaviour at the time or since has suggested she consented. She has thought of the incident as a rape from the day it happened.’

Ms Ross continued: ‘There is no evidence before the court of why the defendant decided to take that risk, or what possible benefits there were for a trauma victim like the claimant, or indeed anyone.’

The court was told that Ms Janneh first visited Mr Lousada in 2011 and again in 2012 after suffering panic symptoms during consensual sex, which she believed stemmed from abuse as a child. No sexual activity took place at that time.

She returned in 2016 for the ‘body work’ session which she believed was similar to a physiotherapy session, coupled with talking therapy, Ms Ross said – but it was during this session that Lousada allegedly attacked her.

Giving her evidence in court, Ms Janneh said she had a phone call with Mr Lousada where she explained the nature of her panic attacks and that she wanted to understand how to overcome the problem.

She said: ‘I absolutely did not ask him to work on penetration. I never, ever, ever would have asked him to penetrate me.