Are you affected/attracted by what clothes your therapist is wearing?

What a good thread. I am struggling with this issue a bit right now.

But the first thought that comes to my mind is this therapist who facilitated a group of sexual abuse survivors. I was in the group; it was many years ago. A very small (4 women), intensive group.

The therapist seriously looked like a Barbie doll. So okay, she was really pretty in a certain kind of Barbie way. But she dressed like she was in a fashion show! Every single week...high-fashion, very expensive clothes, shoes, accessories. I had more money at that time, the group was pricey, and it used to irritate me that my money was going toward the exceedingly expensive clothing the therapist wore. Because the problem was that the way she dressed made all 4 of us feel like...she was pulling a power trip on us. We would have preferred that she look and acted more "human" and less like a mannequin.

Anyway, she turned out to be a rotten therapist and we all eventually defected the group. Maybe she was in the wrong line of work, altogether. Fashion design would have suited her so much better.

But back to today. So a few days ago I had an appointment with my T. She usually wears homey, lovable clothes...they almost have a home-sewn look to them. Her hair is grey, long, and straight. She looks like a "wise woman."

So a few days ago I showed up for my appointment and my T had cut her hair to shoulder-length and curled it. It really shook me, quite honestly. She looked so different...I told her it looked really cute, but that I liked her straight hair better...it suits her so well.

Yeah, I've had a creepy feeling all week from her very different hair. I'm just sensitive to that kind of change. I hope her hair isn't curled when I see her on Monday.

L wears slacks, a blouse, and sometimes a jacket. Beyond that, I don't really pay attention to how she dresses. Actually, if she ever wore a skirt or a dress, I think I'd be shocked.

Towards end of summer my T wore her hair up for about a month every session. Now with it getting warmer her hair is down, and i realized how much i like it down.

My T dresses professionally with nice clothing. Like an office worker in business casual dresses, or tops with pants. Never seen her wear a skirt though. I do notice when she looks extra nice, but don't comment.

I don't really care what she wears.

Sometimes his outfits affect me more than others. I’m attracted to him in general, so I guess it’s to be expected. He usually wears jeans with either a sweater when it’s cold or a polo when it’s hot. And he always wears brown dress shoes, but I saw him wear converse a couple times. For some reason I didn’t like that look on him
Every rare once in a while he’ll wear black dress pants and a dress shirt (and will swap the brown shoes for black of course), but that’s super rare and I think only when he has a new client or a meeting maybe.

Emdr T and I have discussed clothes a couple of times. She has said she is a Jeans and shirt type of person. She does not wear skirts or dresses (which I wear frequently). Then this summer she wore a jersey style skirt with a plain t-shirt. I was very surprised and it caught me off guard. I really wish I had commented on it.

Oh, once he wore a black, relatively form-fitting t-shirt. Tbh I found that really attractive. I was a little surprised, because I don't find his shoulders/chest so good-looking, but I was also happy with the fact that apparently someone's shoulders are not a turn-off for me (I'm very critical of people generally so that's a small relief).

Not typically, although sometimes he wears a cool pair of what looks kinda like cowboy boots. I get much more interested in his nice pens/fountain pens. One session he told me I was the only client he's ever talked to about fountain pens.

Man I feel silly but the discussion over fashion has never happened. The closest we’ve gotten was for me to reiterate that he didn’t have to dress up for sessions with me (it’s always a dressier shirt and pants for him). I’m not bothered or really concerned otherwise. I don’t look at my T a whole lot though so that maybe plays a part.

My psyd wear the same
Types of clothes every day lol

Jeans with dress shoes and either a collared polo or
Button up
Shirt.

He’s simple

My T dresses business casual every day. She's also a college professor, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. On rare occasions she dresses up even more (like dress/skirt as opposed to pants) so I spend a lot of time wondering why... (i.e. did she have a special presentation? was she meeting with someone important? was she doing something special that night?) I read into everything - it's one of my biggest character flaws.