The Intimate Hour: Love and Sex in PsychotherapyDrawing on hundreds of instances of mutual attraction, from historical annals to interviews with therapists, patients, and clergy, Baur show that the stories to be told are rarely simple ones. Certainly there are clear-cut cases of abuse - and Baur is unequivocal in stating that sex has absolutely no place in therapy. But abusive relationships in fact make up only a small fraction of cases. Much more often, people find themselves occupying a gray area of emotion. There are those who are lovestruck, enamored of the attention they find for the first time. There are those who feel an overwhelming sympathy that they believe is reciprocal. And sometimes there are those who are really, truly in love. But whatever their feelings are labeled, these people are left with nowhere to turn for advice or help, fearing scandal or professional censure. Baur brings uncommon empathy to their dilemma, whether they are male or female, patient or therapist. In fact, as she shows, feelings of love and attraction do not disappear simply because they are forbidden. Describing the famous and infamous liaisons of such figures as Carl Jung, Anton Mesmer, Otto Rank, and others, Baur offers irrefutable evidence that intimacy has played a part in therapy since the beginning and continues to barge in despite regulations to suppress it. With a plea for common sense and open-minded discussion, she makes a powerful argument for confronting this issue in all its complexity, so that everyone who enters therapy - or is already in it - will be prepared to manage the risks of the intimate hour. |
Contents
Introduction I | 1 |
A HISTORY OF SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS | 12 |
Early Romantic Explosions | 25 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
affair Allendy American Anaïs Nin analyst asked Barbara became become began behavior believe Betz called Carl Jung clergy clini Clinical clinicians counselors countertransference courtly love dangerous diary doctor and patient doctor-patient relationship doctor-patient sex Douglas emotional entanglements erotic ethics example experience fall in love Father Walsh feelings felt female Ferenczi former client former patient Freud friends Fritz Perls Fromm Glen Gabbard happened Heyward Hillesum hospital hurt Ibid intimacy James Hillman Jeannette Jung Jung's Katherine kind kiss Layla lives lover lovestruck Majnun male married Mesmer Otto Rank passion percent Perls person practitioners priests problem professional psychiatrist psychoanalysis psychologist psychotherapy Rank regulations romantic romantic love Sabina Spielrein Sandor Ferenczi seductive seemed sexual abuse sexual attraction Sexual Exploitation social Spier story talk tell therapeutic therapist therapy things thought tion told transference treatment wanted William Schutz woman women wrote York