What happens when a patient falls for her therapist - or a therapist is powerfully drawn to a client? Is it always a matter of abuse? In this provocative and timely study of intimacy in psychotherapy, both sides speak out for the first time, revealing the surprising spectrum of experience and feeling encountered when love slips into the therapy hour. Drawing on hundreds of instances of mutual attraction, Susan Baur shows that the stories to be told are rarely simple ones. They range instead from clear-cut cases of victimization to the grayer areas where those involved can be either lovestruck or truly in love. Firsthand accounts confirm that sexual attraction is common despite regulations to suppress it, and that fear of scandal has left those seeking help - counselors and clients alike - with nowhere to turn for advice. Together with stories of the famous liaisons of Carl Jung, Anton Mesmer, Otto Rank, and others, these accounts offer irrefutable evidence that attraction in therapy ta
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Being prone to understatement, we will call this book controversial. The author, a clinical psychologist, asserts that the primary obligation of a therapist to a patient is to cure him or her; if this means initiating a love/sex liaison, so be it. Dr. Baur contends that an "ethical liaison" in the form of love between doctor and patient is the key to a positive therapeutic outcome.
From Publishers Weekly
Finding that the central role of intimacy between client and psychotherapist has been drastically diminished by narrow, legalistic regulations of the field, clinical psychologist Baur (The Dinosaur Man; Confiding) convincingly argues that more attention, rather than less, must be paid to the place of love in therapy. While unequivocally opposed to the sexual exploitation that so readily occurs in relationships marked by distinct differences in levels of authority (cleric/layperson and teacher/student relationships are also examined), Baur observes that the limitations imposed on practitioners today, while effectively limiting occasions of abuse, at the same time rigidly codify a process that is by nature fluid and individual. Furthermore, by casting clients as potential victims, these same formulations deny clients the principal role in their healing. Baur begins with a look at the history of sexual encounters in psychotherapy; she then examines the development of therapy and its regulation in the U.S. In the final section, "Why Can't We Talk About Love?" she looks at therapy's future, noting that the growing preponderance of women practitioners will reduce the amount of exploitation, which most commonly occurs between a male therapist and female client. Baur makes an eloquent plea for bringing the issues of love and sexual attraction squarely into the education of therapists, so that the central position of love?with its frequent companion, desire?is not slighted, but can be better understood and prepared for. Includes notes and an extensive bibliography.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where People Who Pretend to be Angels Fear to Tread,
By DrTBob@aol.com (NYC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Intimate Hour: Love and Sex in Psychotherapy (Hardcover)
Any therapist who has suffered through the often-energetic efforts at seduction some patients carry out (often for months), and through (as well) his (or her) own desires for those he (or she) would find appealing if met outside therapy, knows that the politically-correct story of sex in psychotherapy cannot be the whole story. People meet wherever they meet, and people fall in love or just have sex for all sorts of good and bad reasons, and both therapist and patient are people. While insisting on the incompatibility of sex and therapy, Dr. Baur explores this difficult area honestly, fully, and with a wise, open eye to the full human dimensions of the problem. Not the least appalling dimension of the problem is the profession's unwillingness to treat the subject honestly and help its members, its customers, and the public deal intelligently with the realities of the sexuality of both patient and therapist. Dr. Baur's book is the first great step toward telling the truth and remedying that problem. Eas
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-read for anyone involved in psychotherapy,
By alexisfoxx@compuserve.com (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Intimate Hour: Love and Sex in Psychotherapy (Hardcover)
In this brilliant, exhaustive, scholarly work, Dr. Susan Baur thoroughly examines the roles that love and sex have played in the psychotherapeutic relationship. While making it clear that sex has no place in psychotherapy, she takes us on a fascinating journey through history up to the present, so-called feminization of psychotherapy. She shows us, compassionately and sensitively, that this delicate topic is not as clear-cut as most people like to believe. Dr. Baur poses the question of what direction we, as a society, will steer the process of psychotherapy, considering the issues of managed care and the trend toward shorter-term therapy.Impressed by Dr. Baur's indefatigable research, this insightful and compelling book has broadened my perspective regarding psychotherapy and how the ingredients of love, intimacy, and human nature all shape the process. A courageous undertaking of a most controversial topic.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unique Point of View,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Intimate Hour: Love and Sex in Psychotherapy (Hardcover)
This is more of a comment than a review. As a lay person rather than a professional, the book presented a thoughtful point of reference, about phenomenon of "transference". It did not conclude by saying that "sex" is okay inside the therapeutic process at all, which is what the layperson might think it's about, but rather it outlines the reality of the emotional issues and conflicts that arise when two people are in a prolonged intimate situation, irregardless of the roles that they must play. It has a broad perspective rather than a narrow one-- and is not based what the "law" says. Subsequently we get a more open view of the practice of psychotherapy than the prevailing trends of thought.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
