Counselling and intimate relationships with clients
Simply put, sexual/romantic relationships between clients and counsellors/therapists across the spectrum of psychological helpers is seen as universally unacceptable. Despite this fact, according to recent research (Vessentini et al, 2022) over 70% of mental health professionals report emotional feelings and sexual attraction to their clients and 27% fantasized about having sexual contact with their clients, although only 3% acted on such impulses. So, in reality very few therapists had sexual relationships with clients (around 1 in 30) and when relationships did occur it would typically be with only one client. In Vessentini and colleagues work, it appears forming a friendship with a client, and especially amongst older therapists, was more common and this occurred mostly after therapy ha... »
