Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:1057-1061
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
Psychotherapy patient transfer: secondhand rose
L Sederer
The author uses the analogy of the marketplace to examine the dynamics of
the transfer of psychotherapy patients in university clinic settings. The
outgoing therapist is the seller, the prospective therapist the buyer, and
the patient the commodity--the secondhand Rose. Marketing techniques that
are used in this buyers' market allow no active patient participation and
are therefore antithetical to the tenets of psychotherapy. The author
suggests early clarification of therapeutic goals, assignment of therapists
on the basis of patient choice, and explanation of time frames and limits
as means for ameliorating the problems he describes.
