Couple therapists’ experience of attraction to their clients
Vol.10,No.3(2016)
The study deals with therapists’ experience of being attracted to one of the clients during a couple therapy. The aim of the study was to explore therapists’ experience of and coping with this kind of situation, as well as their understanding of the phenomenon and a perceived impact on the therapeutic process. Semi-structured interviews with five couple therapists were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Seven themes were identified during the analysis. Some differences between male and female participants also emerged from the analysis: women experienced more anxiety stemming from the attraction and were also more likely to share their feelings than men. The results are discussed in the context of existing empirical literature.
Denisa Smetanová, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republice-mail: smetanova.denisa@gmail.com
Tomáš Řiháček, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republice-mail: tomas.rihacek@gmail.com
Attraction; couple therapy; phenomenological analysis; sexual attraction
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