Nick,
>From your post, "The responses so far seem to split pretty evenly
between - 1)hugs are therapeutic; 2)hugs are OK in themselves
('judiciously')
but not actually therapeutic; and 3)hugs are boundary violations.
How can we progress this? regards Nick"
All physical contact has significance. This is borne out by the story of
the patients who became pregnant through hand shakes.
My opinion is that both 1 and 3 are true. This seems an obvious
conclusion. Hugs are so popular precisely because they make people feel
good. On the other hand some hugging is also unwelcome, much has been
made of the mandatory hugging of great aunts at family reunions. There
is also the question of sexually charged hugging(or touching) or the
perception of such.
If a therapist feels an urge to hug(or touch) a patient which the
therapist feels would be in the patients interest, then the therapist
should address the subject with the patient, ask the patients response
and if the response is positive ask permission before giving a hug(or
touch). The therapist must however be conscious of the possible effects
of their actions and be ready to deal with any consequences.
With many disorders hugging can be the main course of treatment, as with
young anorexics. With many patients to withhold physical contact can be
a death sentence.
I believe one party to this discussion is a dance therapist. For that
therapist to be barred from touching would negate much of the effect of
treatment. Acupuncture is another form of treatment requiring touch.
There is a definite place for touching and even hugging in treatment but
great attention must be paid to the details(why,when, where, how and who
is envolved).
David Heyer
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