Posted by caraher on February 2, 2007, at 14:13:57
In reply to Re: Love with therapist, posted by widget on February 2, 2007, at 11:41:04
> To Caraher, thanks for the comment but can you explain why you say this would turn out badly? Isn't love just love?
It's possible for it to turn out OK. But it's less likely to truly work out when you have two people entering a relationship from such different perspectives. I teach college students, and ethically (even were I not married) it's not a good idea to date a student because I'm in a position of authority. Maybe after a class is over... but definitely not during!
It's even more serious in therapy, because the way many therapies work, as therapy, the patient develops strong feelings for the therapist. If a therapist has multiple clients... well, I hope you can see the conflicts that can arise! Therapy is supposed to be a professional relationship despite its personal dimensions.
If a therapist really wants to have an intimate, non-professional relationship with you, the therapist needs, at a minimum, to stop providing your therapy.
Love is love. But mere attachment can feel like love. And worse, exploitation can also feel like love. Professional boundaries exist to prevent a mistaken feeling from harming a patient.
poster:caraher
thread:1466
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070119/msgs/729090.html