Sexual boundaries in the relationship between clients and clinicians practising sexology in the UK

Abstract

A survey was carried out with the collaboration of seven European countries to identify clinicians working within the field of sexual and psychosexual medicine, and to gain insight into the varied practices of physicians, psychologists, nurses and therapists in this area. In the UK a questionnaire was sent to 2352 potential practitioners working in the field of human sexuality, of which 814 responded detailing their training, professional practice and opinions about sexology. Clinicians were categorised by their initial training as either physicians or non-physicians. A total of 279 physicians responded and 535 non-physicians. One area of investigation was the relationship between clients and their doctor or therapist, exploring the extent to which boundaries and in particular sexual boundaries are appropriately maintained. This paper seeks to explore the issues surrounding breach of boundaries by therapists and doctors working in sexology, including our findings on the extent to which various sexual practices or clients' sexual experiences have made clinicians feel uncomfortable.

Keywords:

• boundaries
• clinicians
• ethics
• therapeutic relationship
• psychotherapy