Touching, Encounter & Group Psychotherapy:

Personal Memories of an Old Therapist

Authors

  • Ray Naar, PhD, ABPP, CGP, TEP Author

Keywords:

touching, individual psychotherapy

Abstract

‘‘Exploring the Use of Touch in the Psychotherapeutic Setting: A Phenomenological

Review.’’ (2009). The author presents a number of personal perspectives derived from 43

years of practice. It includes empirical findings regarding patients’ attitudes toward

touching, as well as practical guidelines regarding physical contact in psychotherapy. The

paper concludes with a long vignette illustrating the nature of the psychotherapeutic

encounter.

References

Forer, B. R. (1969). The taboo against touching in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy:

Theory, Research & Practice, 6(4), 229–231.

Fox, J. (1987). The essential Moreno. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co.

Koocher, G. P. (2006). On being there. Monitor on Psychology, 37(4), 5.

Touching, Encounter & Group Psychotherapy 45

Mintz, E. E. (1969). On the rationale of touching in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy:

Theory, Research & Practice, 6(4), 232–235.

Naar, R. (1970). Client-centered and behavior therapies: Their peaceful co-existence:

A case study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 76(2), 155–160.

Naar, R. (1981). Psychotherapy: A non-school approach. In C. J. Golden, S. S.

Alcaparras, F. D. Strider, & B. Grober (Eds.), Applied techniques in behavioral

medicine (pp. XX–XX). New York, NY: Grune & Stratton.

Norcross, J. D., & Goldfried, M. R. (Eds.). (2005). Handbook of psychotherapy

integration. New York, NY: Oxford Press.

Phelan, J. E. (2009). Exploring the use of touch in the psychotherapeutic setting: A

phenomenological review. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training,

(1), 97–111.

Rogers, C. (1961). On becoming a person. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin Co.

Zeldow, P. B. (2009). In defense of clinical judgment, credentialed clinicians, and

reflective practice. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 46(1), 1–

Downloads

Published

2024-03-19