I had a horrible and very unprofessional experience with Daryl Pittman. I was initially very excited when I read the positive reviews about him, and I even had a friend recommend that I see him as well.
At the beginning of the massage, Daryl asked if he could pray over me so that God could be present during our session. As a Christian, I was thrilled to see that he wanted to include God in the healing process. This led me to put my guard down more than I should have and believe that Daryl was a devout Christian.
Throughout the massage, there were times Daryl made me feel uncomfortable with how close he came to touching me in inappropriately, but I thought I was simply overthinking things since he made himself to be a man of God. During the massage he would say things like "Jesus just tells me where to put my hands, Jesus is the healer in this massage. My hands just go where God tells me to put them."
He would also say "God answered your prayers about healing your back and he brought you to me. The more you trust me, the more I can heal your back."
I felt like I should trust Daryl and that I was overthinking things if I felt uncomfortable with his hand placement. Then he said "You will always have a friend in me, you can trust me. I love you, I will help you. You just need to trust me. One day when you really trust me, you and I can share our energy together and become one. When we become one, we will feel each other's heart beat, and a great deal of healing will occur."
Before the massage started, Daryl mentioned he was from South America. I was unsure if it was just part of his culture to be more open with people when he met them for the first time, so I didn't want to discriminate against him by making negative assumptions about him as a person. Several of my closest friends are also from South America, and they have always told me that the culture is just different there and people are more affectionate when meeting others for the first time. I did not want to make negative assumptions about him if he was truly just being nice and it was part of his culture to interact with patients this way.
After the massage was over, I went to the lobby to pay for the session. Daryl sent in his next patient to the massage room so he and I were alone in the lobby. Before paying, he asked if he could give me a hug before leaving. I said yes, but when he hugged me he held me so tight I could not move. He made it appear that the hug was part of the experience because he said we needed to take a deep breath together. He also tried cracking my back while hugging me this way. I was very confused about what was happening, but I thought it was just his way of parting with a new patient.
After he pulled away from the hug, he leaned in and kissed me on the lips. I was in complete shock. I wondered if it was part of his South American culture since my friends from South America also kiss each other before they part ways. I was hesitant to confront him because I did not want it to come across as discrimination in any way if it was just his cultural upbringing. He then pulled me in for a long hug and held me so tight I almost lost my breath. He pulled back and went to kiss me on the lips again. This time I tried turning my head so my cheek would be facing him, but he still kissed me on the lips.
I was in shock, but I left the lobby and started driving home. I was uncomfortable with what happened, but I convinced myself I was overthinking. He continuously talked about God, so why would a man of God purposely do anything morally wrong?
To be sure that what happened was normal, I called the number on his business card that put me in contact with the lady who does his scheduling. I told her what happened during the massage and in the lobby. I asked if that was how he normally dealt with patients. The lady on the phone was mortified, and she made it very clear that it was not normal and should not have happened. She said "I understand if you want to press charges, I just pray that you don't."
20 minutes later, I received a call from Daryl. When I answered the phone, Daryl said "Hey, about what happened earlier, I don't know what was going through my head. It all happened so fast." I told Daryl that what happened was very inappropriate. Daryl said "This hasn't happened before, but you were the one that leaned in." I was very upset by what he said because he tried twisting what happened and tried making it my fault.
I want to share my experience because I would hate to have more young girls like myself manipulated or used by Daryl in the future. I am disgusted that he uses Christianity as a way to manipulate his patients so they let their guard down. read more
