Misleading ‘Sex Lure’

Susan Golant’s View piece entitled “Therapists Admit Sex Lure: 87% of Psychologists in Poll Drawn to Clients” (June 24) was dismaying to me as a practicing clinical psychologist. The title is misleading and sensationalistic; it disserves both the public and the profession. It implies that the client-therapist relationship is sexually tainted or threatening. “Lure” is a term for Hollywood Boulevard billboards perhaps, but not for serious journalism designed to enlighten the public. At a time when there is widespread public concern about sexual abuse in professional contexts, a responsible approach would have 1) chosen a title more carefully, 2) defined sexuality and sexual attraction more clearly, and 3) placed the matter in a larger context, i.e. the development of warm, even “sexual” feelings among physicians and their patients, teachers and students and other groups.

DOREEN SEIDLER-FELLER

Ph.D., Los Angeles