Articles and Publications
Publications
Professional Therapy Never Includes Sex – California Department of Consumer Affairs (pdf)
You can also find this document on the Forms and Publications page of the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
For Your Peace of Mind – A Consumer Guide to Psychological Services – California Board of Psychology (pdf)
You can also find this document on the Forms and Publications page of the California Board of Psychology.
SNAP National Conference 2009 Program
This document is available on the SNAP home page.
Articles on Therapist Abuse
These first three articles are from the TELL website. There are many excellent articles on TELL, and I highly recommend checking out the site.
Sex Between Therapists and Clients – Kenneth S. Pope
PDF 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I really could use some resources for my husband to understand what happened to me. I “fell in love” with my therapist and then “she fell in love with me” – it led to rapid termination of therapy and an outside sexual relationship. She recently lost her license as someone else turned her in. I now am coming to grips with how much I was victimized, but also needing to deal with my husband who still feels like I had a classic affair. He “gets it” but isn’t sure he “buys it” that I was anything less than completely responsible for my behavior. I “must have known what was going on” – I am a physician.
I am feeling both victimized and incredibly guilty for what I did to my husband and marriage.
thanks
That’s such a difficult situation! But it’s true that a lot of people don’t understand how the therapist-patient dynamic makes true “consent” impossible. I have some books on my Books & Media page that might be helpful for both of you. I also highly recommend the articles on TELL (http://www.therapyabuse.org) and AdvocateWeb.org. I think there might even be one written by the husband of an abuse victim. One book that talks a lot about consent is Marie Fortune’s Sexual Violence – The Sin Revisited. It’s primarily about clergy abuse, but if you are okay with the religious content you may find a lot of value in it.
With time and understanding, you’ll feel less guilty about what happened. Remember that it is ALWAYS the therapist’s responsibility to uphold ALL BOUNDARIES. You were not responsible for the therapist’s actions and choices. It can take a while to really get that and understand that you were not to blame for what happened, so just be patient with yourself. You’d probably be surprised how many victims of therapist abuse are, themselves, therapists. Your being a physician is irrelevant—you were just as vulnerable as anyone else. I think you’d really like the articles on the TELL site, because many were written by therapists who are also survivors.
All the best!