I\u00a0 thought I made\u00a0 an error of judgment \u00a0when I consoled a grieving, inconsolable client by touching her on her knees\u2026..I had an urge to give her a hug —–knowing full well that I was feeling strong transference\u2026.but I caught on \u00a0when my right brain kicked in\u2026.and offered tissues\u00a0\u00a0 instead\u2026.Coming from a culture where it is okay to show how you feel by touching-appropriately off course, is not a taboo \u2026..to being told by my child\u2019s\u00a0 kindergarten teacher about the policy of no touch is taking a lot of shifting of gears in my head both personally and professionally—-personally won\u2019t my children grow up all warped and unsure about when\u00a0 it is okay( and who) \u00a0and when\u00a0 it is not okay to touch\u2026\u2026.professionally , having to constantly telling myself and reminding my clients why they cannot give me a hug when they are happy or why I can\u2019t hold their hand when they are crying, is, I think is acting as a barrier \u00a0for me from making genuine connections with the clients when it is needed\u2026.I know the boundaries and the\u00a0 ethics and all in between, what\u2019s\u00a0 acceptable and what\u2019s not\u2026but the\u00a0 conflict always remains, I always feel that something is missing, something just did not \u2019hit the spot\u2019 and I am wondering if I am feeling like that what about my clients\u2026.I am sure there are many studies, articles and ethics which suggest the pros and cons of touching and having have read a number of those, I would like to recommend reading-To Touch Or Not To Touch:\u00a0Exploring the Myth of Prohibition On Touch In Psychotherapy And Counseling-Clinical, Ethical & Legal Considerations By Ofer Zur, Ph.D. &\u00a0Nola Nordmarken, MFT\u00a0.The article can be found on http:\/\/www.zurinstitute.com\/touchintherapy.html. The purpose of this blog s not to dispute why should or shouldn\u2019t touch be used in counseling or therapy but more as a discussion question being posed to other practitioners who find themselves in similar conflict as I do and ask the question: Does Touch have a culture?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u00a0 thought I made\u00a0 an error of judgment \u00a0when I consoled a grieving, inconsolable client by touching her on her knees\u2026..I had an urge to give her a hug —–knowing full well that I was feeling strong transference\u2026.but I caught on \u00a0when my right brain kicked in\u2026.and offered tissues\u00a0\u00a0 instead\u2026.Coming from a culture where it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001009,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[637,232,149,771,772],"class_list":["post-2570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culturaldiversity","tag-boundaries","tag-cultural-diversity","tag-ethics-2","tag-touch-in-therapy","tag-transference"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n