Comments on: Therapist Job Risks: Murdered by Your Client

By: Anon

Anon — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:08:36 +0000

As the field of psychotherapy becomes more and more flooded (there are 8 times as many therapists as the market can realistically and comfortably handle), therapists are increasingly pressured to see more dangerous clients, in more dangerous situations, for shorter periods of time. Each murder is tragic, no matter who dies. The murder of a dedicated psychotherapist is not only personally tragic, but should make the profession wake up to the fact that new therapists in practice are asked to take bigger and bigger risks for less and less pay.

In the old days, when therapists could see clients for longer periods of time and could limit their work to the office, we could do a better job of getting to know people, do more to help them control their impulses, and keep our work in the relatively safer confines of an office. Now we are being asked to visit violent people in their homes, at great personal risk. It’s a sad commentary on how therapists are now being treated as a commodity.

By: James Turner PhD

James Turner PhD — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 12:04:22 +0000

I worked with abused, addicts, rapists, murderers, pedophiles, etc., for 30 years, in schools, jails, prisons, private practice and the only 3 times I ever was attacked was by teenage students in an alternative school.

By: anne Rufiange

anne Rufiange — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 05:18:44 +0000

I work with substance abuses and perpetrators of domestic violence. the other night the police came and arrested my client in my office for armed robbery and physically attacking the person. He was attending a group for perps of domestic violence. Someone overheard he may have had a weapon. This is the first time I as a therapist have been scared. i guess his probation office told the police he had group that night.

By: » Thou shalt not murder thy therapist Millennial Mind: Helping young adults navigate the world of mental illness

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:37:25 +0000

[...] A man in New York City hacked his psychiatrist to death at her office in a gruesome attack with a meat cleaver. Earlier, John M. Grohol at World of Psychology told of another counselor being killed during a house call. [...]

By: Second Therapist Murdered Within the Week - World of Psychology

Second Therapist Murdered Within the Week - World of Psychology — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:45:51 +0000

[...] A week ago, I reported on the murder of a therapist by her client, in a town down the road from where I live. [...]

By: Jaime

Jaime — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:32:18 +0000

This does not come as a surprise to me because there is an automatic risk when working with people. When you add in that these people are disturbed in some way, there is an even higher risk. I work with kids who are involved in both drugs and gangs, and the thought does not go through my head every once in awhile.

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:57:30 +0000

“Yet for professionals who work in family crisis centers in urban areas, they usually take on a wider role, sometimes similar to that of a social worker. ”

Um…yeah…social workers are actually professionals too. And we go into homes a lot, and we also don’t like being murdered.

By: John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

John M. Grohol, Psy.D. — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:51:41 +0000

In one of our training clinics, the desks were equipped with a hidden emergency call button, because the clinic dealt with a lot of abused clients and their abusers.

It does happen. It’s just rare.

By: Jude

Jude — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:45:46 +0000

I asked my former therapist once if he was afraid of being hurt by a client because his clientele consisted largely of abusive men, and he said that he’d only even felt threatened once or twice, and didn’t worry about it at all.

By: diruhi mattian | Hot Trends

diruhi mattian | Hot Trends — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:05:28 +0000

[...] Therapist Job Risks: Murdered by Your Client [...]

By: Holistic Health and Healing Information » Blog Archive

Holistic Health and Healing Information » Blog Archive — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:08:26 +0000

[...] Therapist Job Risks: Murdered by Your Client [...]