Adolescent experiences of touch in psychotherapy

The use of physical contact in psychotherapy has been a controversial issue in the field for some time. Ethical and risk management concerns about touching clients are prevalent in the literature. Yet few studies have explored the client perception of appropriate, nonsexual forms of touch that occur in the therapeutic setting. The existing research has focused on adult clients, while there are few studies that examine the role that touch plays in therapy with children and adolescents. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to explore adolescent experiences with and attitudes about nonsexual, ethical forms of touch in psychotherapy.;Qualitative approaches were utilized in this study. In order to examine the factors that potentially affect an adolescent's view of physical contact, a survey was constructed containing three different formats for acquiring information. These included forced choice responses with a Likert scale, open-ended questions, and clinical vignettes. The hard copy survey was sent to parents of adolescents, clinicians, organizations, and agencies that offer psychotherapy to this population.;Participants included six adolescent males and six adolescent females (N=12) ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old. Results indicated that adolescents hold strong opinions about touch in psychotherapy. Adolescents emphasized the importance of individual differences in response to touch and urged clinicians to be cautious when initiating physical contact. In addition, the strength of the therapeutic alliance influenced the adolescent's evaluation of touch. Gender differences were also noted. The data suggest that male and female adolescents differ not in the amount of touch they receive from clinicians, but the type of touch. Whereas female adolescents recalled examples of hugs or nurturing touch in their psychotherapy, male adolescents typically referred to handshakes, or greeting forms of touch. Gender-specific taboos about touch were mentioned. Specifically, male adolescents were the least open to touch when they had male clinicians.