ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how the structure of psychotherapy builds in stubborn problems of power and control, irrespective of the good intentions or otherwise of the practitioner. The psychotherapy relationship is vulnerable to the abuse of power, from hard-to-define but nonetheless damaging emotional manipulation to very concrete behaviours such as financial and sexual exploitation. Sex in therapy is a difficult subject to address soberly, being subject to the “moral panic” effect. Clients arrive at therapy hoping and expecting that the therapist will be able to help, through their wisdom, understanding, and expertise: in a very natural way, they tend to give power to the therapist. And if the client protests, the therapist has a number of finely honed tools for putting them back in their place. Therapy that positions the client as powerless in the face of socially sanctioned expertise clearly supports the uneven distribution of power.
