Do therapists become attracted to their clients?
Do therapists become attracted to their clients?
Of the 585 psychologists who responded, 87\% (95\% of the men and 76\% of the women) reported having been sexually attracted to their clients, at least on occasion. More men than women gave “physical attractiveness” as the reason for the attraction, while more women therapists felt attracted to “successful” clients.
Can a therapist developing feelings for client?
It’s not uncommon for therapists to have feelings for clients, and vice versa—call it transference, countertransference, or something else. But we have to remember that it’s the therapist’s job to meet the client’s therapeutic needs and goals, not the therapist’s own personal or professional wants and needs.
Do therapists flirt with clients?
“It is never okay for a therapist to flirt or make a move on a client due to the nature of the relationship,” she adds. “As a client you put your trust and vulnerability into a professional, and them acting on that would be violating you and their ethics.”
How do therapists deal with attraction?
What To Do If You’re Attracted To Your Therapist
- Know that your feelings are normal.
- Know that these feelings can actually contribute to your healing process.
- Know that it’s just a feeling.
- Recognize that these feelings will not move toward any kind of romantic relationship.
Do therapists get angry with clients?
Nearly every clinician has experienced an intense emotion during a client session. Perhaps it was grief as a client described the death of her 5-year-old son. Maybe it was anger triggered by the client who consistently shows up late.
How common is it for a therapist to be attracted to clients?
The stats say that it’s fairly common in that over 80\% of therapists say that they’ve experienced attraction towards their clients on at least one occasion. However, whether they act on it is another matter. Most wont act on it fortunately.
Should therapists be able to feel sexual attraction?
And perhaps most important, Pope and his co-researchers Keith-Spiegel and Tabachnick assert in their study that “therapists and therapists in training must be acknowledged as fully human, as capable of feeling sexual attraction to those to whom they provide professional services. The taboo (on feeling attracted) must be lifted.”
Are therapists intimate with their clients?
Of the remaining 6.5\% who had been intimate with their clients, male therapists outnumbered females four to one.
Can therapists learn to recognize attraction in patients?
Therapists must acknowledge a patient’s attraction and learn from it, says Susie Orbach, an author, psychoanalyst and visiting professor at the London School of Economics. “It’s very hard when someone tells you they’ve bought your books and are masturbating over your picture,” she says.