Sex and the Physician-Patient Relationship
SHELDON H. KARDENER M.D.1
1 Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif. 90024
In a psychodynamic discussion of why sexual relationships between physician and patient are not therapeutically beneficial, the author explores the concept of the physician as parent surrogate and its relationship to the incest taboo, the need to be loved, and the physician`s position of power vis-à-vis his patients. The author points out that these concerns must also be applied to the growing number of nonphysicians who engage in various modes of quasi-psychotherapy.
