Psychotherapy with Children of Psychotherapists

An occurrence transpiring almost daily in the offices of family agencies, mental hygiene clinics, child guidance centers, and private practitioners is the phenomenon of psychotherapists who enact the roles of patients and clients. Despite the fact that, since the inception of the practice of psychotherapy, the notion that “therapists are people, too” has been held to be virtually axiomatic, there is a paucity of published data on what occurs when the psychotherapist and/or members of his family are recipients of professional therapeutic services. The issue of “confidentiality” may certainly be a factor in our lack of literature on the subject; however, we have been trained to edit documents so that the patient's privacy can be insured. The lack of explication and dearth of literature on the participation of professionals in treatment exists within several disciplines, such as in psychoanalysis, psychology, and psychiatry, and even the “didactic” or “training analysis” has received little written systematic exploration despite its ubiquity in psychoanalytic training institutes.1

It is reasonable to infer that when cases reported on specified groups, our diagnostic acumen can often be enhanced and our therapeutic armamentarium enriched. With the recent buttressing of our professional knowledge by the social and behavioral sciences, we have become more sensitive to the dominant values of certain subcultures and ethnic groups. Consequently, when therapeutic intervention occurs, the folkways and mores which affect such areas as child rearing and marital relationships have become part of the treatment plan.3, 5 Perhaps certain aspects of the “therapeutic subculture”