title: Assault on the therapist.
abstract: The authors conducted a questionnaire survey among psychotherapists in psychiatry, psychology and social work to determine how many patients posed a threat to others or to the therapist and how many actually assaulted the therapist. They found that 9.2% of all patients seen by 101 therapists in one year presented a threat to others, 1.9% posed a physical threat to the therapist, and .63% actually assaulted the therapist. The authors conclude that attacks on a therapist are infrequent but almost inevitable and suggest the development of techniques for coping with assaultive patients that therapists can use in crisis situations.
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D000378:Agonistic Behavior; D006801:Humans; D011570:Psychiatry; D011584:Psychology; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012949:Social Work, Psychiatric; D014754:Violence