Frequently Asked Questions

No. Sexual contact with a patient is certainly a boundary violation that is almost always harmful to the patient. There are numerous other boundary violations that can be harmful to the patient/client. These often include dual roles such as business relationships, social relationships and employment relationships.

The role of the therapist is to be a fiduciary to the patient/client. This means that the therapist has agreed to take on a "trust" relationship and to act only in the best interest of the patient/client. The fiduciary role is violated when the therapist acts in his or her own interests whether it be sexual, business, social or employment related.

The first successful case in the country finding therapist malpractice was Zipkin v. Freeman (Missouri, 1968). The Court recognized that the harm is not the sex itself but, rather, the breach of trust in a fiduciary relationship.