Abstract
Former patients' (n = 24) accounts of their experience during a sexual liaison with their psychotherapist (Therapist-Client Sex, TCS) could be classified as either romantic (TCS-Romance) or as an abusive encounter (TCS-Abuse). During TCS, individuals in the TCS-Romance group reported having experienced overall better emotional states and more favorable perceptions of both the perpetrating therapists and the treatments they provided. Pre-TCS assessments showed that initially TCS-Romance subjects may have had a relatively higher regard for their perpetrators and the quality of their treatments than TCS-Abuse subjects, but these between-group differences disappeared when the same variables were assessed for two post-TCS periods. These periods were marked in both groups by deteriorated indices of psychological well-being. These findings suggest that a romantic narrative of TCS could have a shielding, albeit temporary, impact on the subjective experience of what is otherwise considered an abusive relationship.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 47-62 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Sexual Abuse |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2005 |
Keywords
- Sexual exploitation
- Therapist abuse
- Therapist-patient relationship
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Psychology
