Maryland Psychology Board Puts James Roembke, Jr. on Probation for Inappropriate Behavior with Supervisees

July 22, 2025

On April 5, 2025, the Maryland Board of Examiners of Psychologists placed psychologist James E. Roembke, Jr’s license on probation for no less than one year, based on the Board’s finding that Roembke engaged in professional boundary violations with psychologist supervisees at the practice where he was employed.

According to the Board’s document, the psychology supervisee who made the complaint to the Board was in the fourth year of his psychology program when he joined the practice where Roembke was employed and was assigned to supervise him. Roembke and the supervisee were to meet once a week for an hour to discuss the supervisee's clinical caseload. The supervisee noted that, from the outset, the supervision was based as much on his personal relationship with Roembke as it was on his clinical work; Dr. Roembke said he hoped they would have a "lasting friendship." The supervisee stated he was not surprised because other staff members told him Roembke liked to have special relationships with his supervisees.

The supervisee became uncomfortable early on with the dual relationship forming between himself and Roembke, noting that Roembke was over complementary towards him, invited him (but not other of Roembke’s supervisees) to a one-on-one dinner, gave him an expensive sweater as a gift, and began hugging him when they interacted. The supervisee also felt that some language used by Roembke was overly sexualized, which made him uncomfortable. According to the supervisee, he mentioned his discomfort to Roembke on several occasions; Roembke would apologize but later return to his inappropriate ways.

The supervisee stated that he felt Roembke's "transgressions were escalating" and that he decided to make a complaint to the practice when it became apparent to him that Roembke knew he was "ambivalent" to their personal relationship but kept on pushing a friendship. According to the supervisee, the practice did not sufficiently address his complaint in a way that ensured no one would be placed in the same position as him in the future.

During the course of its investigation, the Board heard from two other former supervisees who expressed that they had overall positive experiences with Roembke but also felt uncomfortable with some personal interactions with Roembke and his issues with boundaries.

The terms of the Board’s probation order require Roembke to obtain ongoing clinical supervision from a Board-approved psychologist supervisor with a minimum of one supervisory session per month and ensure that his supervisor provides quarterly reports to the Board. Roembke must also sign up for and complete an ethics tutorial with a Board-approved psychologist ethics tutor, with a focus on boundary issues and ensure that his ethics tutor provides a report to the Board at the conclusion of the tutorial.

Source: Consent Order in the Matter James E. Roembke, Jr., Psy.D., lic. no. 3421, case no. 2021-008, Maryland Board of Examiners of Psychologists, April 5, 2025.