on hugging your therapist

There is no rule that therapists cannot touch their clients (at least in the U.S.). The guidelines of professional organization do not prohibit hugs, for example. Each therapist (or clinic) forms his or her own policy. I agree with you that avoiding litigation is a big reason why some therapists might choose to have a blanket "no touch" policy. This is called "risk management" and stems from the idea that when there are successful lawsuits against therapists for misconduct, there are certain factors that preceded the misconduct. For example, if a therapist has sex with a client, it tended to be preceded in their relationship with hugs. This doesn't mean that every therapist who hugs a client will move on to have sex with the client, but just that those who do have sex tended to have previous hugs. So in risk management, the idea is to eliminate these associated behaviors like hugs, and you will cut your risk of moving on to misconduct like sex with clients, and so you won't get sued. Other behaviors associated with misconduct include frequent out of session contact (phone calls, emails), longer sessions than is typical (or sessions that frequently run late), more frequent sessions than is typical (> once a week), often scheduling the client for the last session of the day, and frequent therapist self-disclosure. None of these behaviors cause or necessarily lead to misconduct, but among therapists found to have committed misconduct, these behaviors were found more frequently than not.

What can a therapist do to manage risk and protect himself/herself from being sued? Read on for one psychologist's solution:
http://www.drmwilliams.com/SAdocs/trm.html

No, I have had good touch with others, this is how I know it has healing power.....to me, touch has to do with the sense of connection too. When I feel deeply connected to someone, I want to hug them; it is also assurance of the connection itself. Words aren't as powerful for me as are words with touch......so T hugging me and telling me things would be OK was like a double reinforcement, both of the connection and of the healing belief that she was right, things would be OK, I was OK. Yes, it was also powerful because it came from her as my T...because I was telling her deep, dark things of which i had been ashamed, things that made me feel dirty, untouchable, unworthy. In that light, her hugs also meant acceptance of me, of all of me, a tangible symbol I was not dirty to her, that she saw all of me, accepted all of me. And it was a tangible symbol of her care........it was also safe touch from a woman who knew my sexual leanings and did not feel (then) that it wasn't safe to touch me because of those leanings. So her touch meant several things to me, but mostly it was simply healing connection, safe touch......and so grounding after a hard emotional session......Touch is so vitally important to me......to take it away feels like having something uprooted.....

The hug leading to sex......I know it has happened! It sure wasn't going to in my case......a married female client seeing a married female T who made it extremely clear that not only was she bound by ethics but also bound by marriage vows AND that she had no gay leanings nonewhatsoever anyway! Hugs could also lead to sexual expectations/longings on the client's part, when there is none on T's part.....I see that this makes it appropriate for Ts not to hug clients, too. And is partly T's reasoning with me, except for the small fact that I had no expectations or true longings of sex with her. I had the thing where I wished she would hold me, but that was not sexual, that was comfort, that was wanting to cry in someone's arms, thinking tears would only come with that touch......but I had no expectations really of that. Just the wish.
So I see T's reasoning ethically.....but I think in the name of ethics genuine connection and acts of simple caring are being sacrificed at times......I feel sort of sacrificed on the altar of ethics......that's dramatic, but with truth despite the drama of the wording!

I love hugging my T (lets not forget that we are hugging them as much as they are hugging us... unless you stand there like a telephone pole). 98% of the time I can't feel it though. I let me feel me hugging her but I can't feel her arms around me. So I enjoy being close enough to smell her and hear her breathe (Smells are part of my autism and hearing her breathe reminds me that she really is real). Hmmmm.... guess what I'm gunna have to be working on next session...

I had one T who let me hug her even though she knew I had sexual feelings towards her. She used it to teach me that I can not act on my desires if they might harm someone else and my abusers didn't have to act on theirs either. She also used it to teach me that there are many kinds of love and touch that don't involve sex.

my T hugs me after each session (and i of course hug her back). she didn't for the first 1.5 years. now days it isn't weird to me any more. it lets me know that no matter what work i do in therapy, i am still a good perosn worth something as simple and endearing as a hug.