Sex and the Therapist

For anyone that has been told that this is a "gray area" -- that "there are many people arguing on each side of the issue: some saying it should never happen and some saying that it can be a very helpful and viable part of the therapeutic process" -- I thought I would do some online investigating and find out what some "authorities" (in the counseling world) thought about it:

• According to the American Psychological Association, it is unethical for a therapist to have sexual contact with a client during treatment and for two years afterward. (There is a current effort to extend this to a lifetime ban.)
  
• This brochure from the State of California entitled, Professional Therapy Never Includes Sex, provides an interesting commentary on the ethics involved.
• This brochure discusses Therapist-Patient Sex Syndrome, a syndrome which "has many symptoms similar to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder." (Fascinating!)
• This article in Psychology Today discusses many aspects of the issue, including the fear-based tendency to dismiss the problem because the patient "is an adult and agreed to it."
  

I was actually unable to find any proponents FOR bringing sex into the therapeutic setting outside of sex therapists or sexual surrogates. What little information I was able to find stated categorically that any situation of that nature is meant to be used in conjunction with regular therapy only and that a different therapist should be used for all other issues being treated. If anyone has any information they would like to send me where such behavior is encouraged, I would be most interested in seeing it.

As a side note: In response to the argument that Angelo's therapy was hypnotherapy and thus "the rules for therapists do not apply": The American Council of Hypnotist Examiners' Code of Ethics also bars its members from intimate social contact with their clients. (It was also interesting that hypnotherapy is suggested as a way to address a specific issue through a limited number of sessions -- not as a therapy that is meant to go on for years.)