Overview: the sex of the therapist

Research studies about the relevance of therapist gender to assessment, duration of treatment, and satisfaction with treatment or its outcome provide no clear, replicable results salient to decision making. Psychoanalytic and other clinical writings deal with the impact of clinician gender on the course or outcome of psychotherapy. Effects appear to depend on many factors, including the type and goal of psychotherapy, the patient's developmental level, the early relationship with parents, and the nature of object relationships and specific conflictual areas, as well as the therapist' sensitivity and value system regarding gender issues. No specific conclusions as to optimal patient-therapist matches on the basis of therapist sex appear warranted.