Yalom

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Recommended: Relationships between client and therapist

Yalom (2002) states that it is acceptable to touch your patients when it is needed during the therapy session. Personally, I think that touching a patient should at no time be acceptable unless a medical emergency is occurring or if it would be harmful to therapy to not touch them. Just a friendly touch could turn into something more for the patient, and those who have a mental illness could think of a variety of different meanings for that gesture. Since I have been learning about counseling, I have never seen a place where it is says that touching is encouraged. If anything I have seen more people against touching a patient than those who are for it. I would like to interview patients of therapists who believe that touching is okay and see if it’s helping or hurting. If I was able to speak with Yalom, I would ask him how successful his view is for him and for the patient. I feel it hasn’t gotten him into any trouble but is that because he is a well-known therapist or because it actually works?
Yalom (2002) also claims that talking about touching will make it easier for you to be able to console your patient in the future. For me, if I went into a therapy session and my therapist began talking about how he wanted to shake my hand or give me a hug, I would feel uncomfortable. If you’re going to touch a patient just do it, don’t talk about it and make it an awkward situation.
Furthermore, I believe that if a therapist does touch his or her patient, this opens the door for the patient to think that the therapist likes them in a sexual manner. I think that physical contact is the biggest culprit when it comes to patients falling in love with their therapist.
However, if a patient was to attempt to hug me after a session for ...

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...ients shutting down and being cold towards the therapist or even discontinuing the sessions. That’s why it is best to keep the relation strictly professional and to give each patient an equal amount of time. There should never be a relationship that goes farther than the patient-therapist contact.
Lastly by having your patient be involved in one or more aspects of your life, they could soon become your friend. In turn, if they think that you are friends, the therapist-patient relationship won’t be the same as it was when the sessions first started.
Though touching your patient and having multiple relationships with them aren’t the best way to go in my opinion, disclosing information to your patients is extremely beneficial. All therapists should learn to provide trust, comfort and an understanding to their patients, otherwise they are doing their job all wrong.

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