Protecting the assessor: Sexual harassment in neuropsychology and related training issues

Abstract

Objective: Despite a growing body of literature on sexual harassment and inappropriate patient sexual behavior towards clinicians within the broader fields of psychology and medicine, literature, guidance, and supervision frameworks specific to neuropsychology are lacking. This gap in the literature is significant, given that neuropsychology is a specialty field faced with vulnerabilities to sexual harassment, and neuropsychologists may weigh unique factors into their decision-making of whether and/or when to respond. This decision-making may be further complicated for trainees. Method: A review of the literature addressing sexual harassment by patients in neuropsychology was completed. In this paper, we summarize the relevant literature on sexual harassment within psychology and academic medicine and provide a framework for discussing sexual harassment in neuropsychology supervision. Results: Research suggests high rates of inappropriate sexual behavior and/or sexual harassment from patients towards trainees, especially amongst trainees who identify as female and/or hold marginalized identities. Trainees report inadequate training in how to deal with sexual harassment by patients and there are perceived barriers for discussing the topic in supervision. Further, most professional organizations do not have formal policies regarding how to handle incidents. Conclusions: As of this writing, guidance and/or position statements from prominent neuropsychological associations could not be found. Research and guidance specific to neuropsychology is needed to help clinicians navigate these challenging clinical situations, provide effective supervision on the topic to trainees, and normalize discussion and reporting of sexual harassment.

Keywords:

• Neuropsychology
• sexual harassment
• inappropriate patient sexual behavior
• supervision
• burnout

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This material is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the VA Portland Health Care System, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs under Award #W81XWH1910747 to MLC. The contents do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government.