Self-help Articles

by Richard B. Patterson, Ph.D.

Ethical issues are encountered in counseling. One of them is physical contact. Touch can indeed be healing, a reality receiving increasing attention within mainline medical circles.

As such, touching for purposes of comfort can be a powerful aspect of the healing context of counseling. Psychotherapy is also a very intimate type of relationship which also involves nurturance and vulnerability, elements which in other relationships can foster meaningful sexual communication.

As such, therapists need to be very honest with themselves, asking themselves questions such as "Am I wanting to hug this client because he/she genuinely needs comfort or because I find him/her attractive?"

Sexual energy within the context of counseling is quite normal and healthy. Acting on that energy is problematic.

So counselors need not judge themselves negatively because they find a given client sexually attractive. Counselors just need to stay clear on their ethical boundaries.

Given that clarity, touching clients for purposes of comfort or simply as a nonsexual gesture of caring ought not to be a problem. This, and other ethical issues, do need to be considered carefully.

About the Author:

Richard B. Patterson, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in El Paso, TX. He is the author of three books on psychology and spirituality.