Social and therapeutic challenges facing polyamorous clients

ABSTRACT

This article explores the social and therapeutic challenges faced by polyamorous clients. It begins by reviewing literature related to polyamory and therapy, includes a description of the authors’ polyamorous family and therapeutic practice serving polyamorous clients and then, explains the autophenomenological research methods Henrich used to conduct the interview study as well as the participants, data analysis methods, and researcher bias. Next, this article details findings from the study, focusing on social obstacles like internalized and institutionalized marginalization, disclosure, and personal identity, as well as therapeutic challenges such as marginalization in treatment and lack of therapist education and knowledge. Finally, the article closes with a discussion of therapist bias.

KEYWORDS:

• Polyamory
• non-monogamy
• open relationships
• psychotherapeutic bias
• marginalization

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge and thank Dr Arnold Mindell, founder and source of Process-oriented Psychology (Processwork), and those colleagues and teachers who most closely supported Henrich's original research including Drs Julie Diamond, Salome Schwarz, and Amy Mindell. Thanks to Brooke Noli for editing the original, unpublished paper, to Dr Elisabeth Sheff for editing this article, and Dr Geri Weitzman for commenting on a draft. In addition, thanks to all participants of the Chicago Polyamory Support Group and to those who volunteered to be interviewed for this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. One couple requested for the interview to be conducted in their home.

2. For a more complete discussion of polyamory as an identity or a sexual orientation, see Tweedy (2011) or Klesse (2014).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rami Henrich

Rami Henrich, LCSW and Cindy Trawinski, PsyD are diplomates in Processwork who work with inner and outer diversity issues. As sex-positive therapists, they share an interest in working with relationship difficulties and embrace those who identify as living alternative lifestyles. Rami and Cindy are founding partners of LifeWorks Psychotherapy Center, an explicitly inclusive practice in Chicago. They have studied, taught, and applied Process-oriented Psychology as developed by Arnold Mindell, PhD, for over 15 years.