Ethics & Sexual Boundaries in Psychotherapy Workshop

Data derived from a national pool of mental health professionals indicate that the incidence of erotic contact between patients and practitioners in the United States ranges from 7–12% with women representing more than 80% of victims of sexual boundary violations in treatment. In the spirit of promoting more open, honest, and meaningful exploration of this taboo topic, this ethics workshop focuses on sexual boundary violations. As therapists we are ALL potentially vulnerable to boundary transgressions, including sexual ones, making such study and discussion essential.

Learning Objectives:

- Summarize the risk factors associated with sexual boundary violations and identify ways to protect clients from harm

- Define and discuss the mechanisms that underlie transference and countertransference, particularly erotic transference-countertransference.

- Utilize a variety of dream tending and expressive arts techniques to examine implicit assumptions about sexuality, boundaries, eroticism, libido, and the client-therapist relationship

- Practice applying relational psychoanalytic principles to deepen and enrich case conceptualization skills

- Explore and examine different clinical strategies for making therapeutic use of the therapist’s or the client’s erotic countertransference