Do Shrinks Fake It?

Dear Dr. Darcy:

Do therapists ever become attached to a client?

ANSWER

I should hope so! I can’t fathom working with a client who I wasn’t authentically attached to.   I can only speak from personal experience – but I can tell you with 100% certainty that I can’t fake my feelings, and if I didn’t truly have an emotional bond with my client, I don’t believe my therapy would work.

I think the exchange of money can call into question the sincerity of the therapist’s feelings.  If you, the client, are paying for my time, how can you be sure I truly care? After all, you’re paying me to care, right? Wrong. I have no obligation to care. I am not an emotional prostitute.  And I don’t fake my feelings.

Listen, I dog people in my profession a lot, but at the end of the day, most of us become therapists because we authentically care about people. Now that’s not to say that what most of us do is effective – that’s a whole other blog – but the impetus, the draw to come into the field is rooted in good stuff. I think you can trust that. I certainly want to.

Writer’s Stats: Male, Straight.