Tears in therapy: A pilot study about experiences and perceptions of therapist and client crying

Abstract

ObjectiveIn this pilot study, we aimed to obtain a better insight into therapists’ experiences with and attitudes toward their own tears and those of their clients.MethodBased on the crying literature and our clinical experiences of crying in therapy, we developed specific questions about therapist’ experiences with crying and two tailor-made measures to evaluate attitudes towards crying in therapy. We collected data from 819 Dutch mental health professionals (204 men and 615 women; age range 23–74 years).ResultsTherapist crying is not a rare occurrence in the therapeutic setting. We found that there was significant heterogeneity in attitudes on therapist crying, and factors such as gender, work experience, age, theoretical background, and discipline of the therapists had meaningful associations with these attitudes (p < .01). There was more agreement about client crying.ConclusionsNot only client crying, but also therapist crying is common. Overall, therapists felt that their tears should always be shed in a professionally responsible manner and in support of the therapeutic process. Our results also revealed a strong need for more attention to this topic during education and training.