Lesbian Therapists and Lesbian Clients: Therapeutic and Practical Considerations, with Implications for Private Practice

Abstract

The author, on the basis of their own experience, explore plore issues specific to therapists working openly as lesbians with lesbian clients. Their discussion covers the structure of a private practice, the therapeutic relationship between lesbian therapist and lesbian client, and personal challenges for the lesbian therapist. Questions are raised and direction given with the aim of facilitating congruence among the therapist's personal capacities, the therapeutic setting, and the psychological intention of the therapeutic work. The authors note the thera-pist's need to tolerate the exposure of her personal life and the pressure toward fusion that are both entailed in work with lesbian clients, and they suggest that these special challenges, when the lesbian therapist's engagement with them is conscious, offer rich material that can deepen the therapeutic relationship and the therapeutic work. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: [email protected]]