Constructions of therapist-client sex: a comparative analysis of retrospective victim reports.
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.
Somer
Eli
E
School of Social Work, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel. somer@research.haifa.ac.il
Nachmanil
Irit
I
D000328:Adult; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D004995:Ethics, Professional; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008318:Malpractice; D008875:Middle Aged; D028743:Professional Misconduct / Q000523:psychology; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors