Physicians and the New Sexual Freedom
IRADJ SIASSI M.D.1, and
MIVART THOMAS M.D.2
1 Director of Adult Services and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health Sciences, Rutgers Medical School, University Heights, Piscataway, N.J. 08854
2 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health Sciences, Rutgers Medical School, University Heights, Piscataway, N.J. 08854
Articles in the popular press and books by mental health practitioners have raised the question of whether psychiatrists should have sexual relations with their patients. The authors compare the relationship between a physician and a patient with that between a parent and a child and conclude that sexual involvement with a patient impairs the empathy and objectivity that are necessary for therapeutic effect.
