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Harmful psychotherapy experience.

American Journal of Psychotherapy

|April 1, 1986

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Mental health professionals reported harm from psychotherapy, citing distant, cold, or overly intense emotional/sexual involvement. These experiences highlight risks in therapeutic relationships and the need for quality patient care.

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Psychotherapy Research
Mental Health

Background:

Psychotherapy and psychoanalysis are common mental health treatments.
Patient experiences of harm are underreported.
Understanding adverse effects is crucial for improving therapeutic practices.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the experiences of mental health professionals who perceived harm from psychotherapy or psychoanalysis.
To identify characteristics of therapies perceived as harmful by clinicians.

Main Methods:

Qualitative interview study.
In-depth interviews with 47 mental health professionals.
Thematic analysis of reported harmful therapy experiences.

Main Results:

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Harmful therapies were described as "distant, cold, unengaged, and lacking in human quality."
Alternatively, harmful therapies involved "intense emotional and/or sexual involvement."
Participants were all mental health professionals with personal therapy experiences.

Conclusions:

Therapeutic relationships characterized by emotional distance or excessive intensity can be perceived as harmful.
The "human quality" of the therapeutic alliance is a critical factor.
Further research is needed to understand and prevent adverse therapeutic outcomes.