Customer Reviews

The Intimate Hour: Love and Sex in Psychotherapy

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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

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.

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.