Assessing Marriage and Family Therapy Graduate Students’ Responses to Sexual Attraction in Therapy

Abstract

Fifty-six full-time graduate Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) counseling students responded to case scenarios involving a client’s expression of feelings of love and sexual attraction toward the therapist. The scenarios differed by diagnosis of the client (adjustment disorder versus histrionic personality disorder) and students were asked about their comfort level in discussing how to manage this situation with either their supervisor, personal therapist or trusted colleague when the feelings of sexual attraction in therapy were mutual versus non-mutual. They also indicated their comfort level in discussing their client’s feelings in the treatment, and continuing to treat the client versus referring the client out under these varying conditions. Overall students felt comfortable discussing a case with their supervisor, however students’ comfort level was significantly higher when feelings of attraction were non-mutual. Students felt most comfortable talking with their own therapist relative to either their supervisor or a colleague about these cases. When feelings of sexual attraction were mutual, students were much less comfortable referring out the client diagnosed with a histrionic personality disorder compared to the client diagnosed with an adjustment disorder. Students reported feeling comfortable discussing a client’s feelings of sexual attraction with the client regardless of type of diagnosis and whether those feelings were mutual or non-mutual. Students were more comfortable continuing therapy when feelings of sexual attraction were non-mutual than mutual. Implications for training regarding management of these issues are discussed.