… or is it porn that has been elaborately hidden behind a veil of nice adjectives?

When I first heard of naked therapy I was frankly very excited. I thought, wow, here is a new and exciting concept. Something that has ventured outside of the norms and is adventurous. This could be the future! Then I went onto her website and was disappointed to find that she is little more than a porn star who has grand ideas about being a psychologist. Shame, I do think the idea behind it could have been great. Could being the active word here.

So what do I personally think? As a postgraduate student who is only provisionally registered here in Australia my professional opinion may not have much power behind it but with the little that I know of Psychology and Counselling I think I stand a greater chance of seeing the pros/cons of naked therapy than a lay person.

Firstly, Sarah White is not registered to practice counselling (-1), therapy, psychology sessions. She cannot call herself a psychologist. She is in the midst of finishing her psychology degree but even of that I am not quite sure holds much truth. She says she has done psychology as an undergraduate and is currently studying a wide array of psychotherapeutic methods to prepare for her PHD dissertation. But is she studying this through private means or is she completing a psychology graduate program at a university? She doesn’t mention what field of psychology and counselling she is studying and she does not mention which postgraduate program at which university she is studying at (-1). Is she clinical, counselling, forensics… is she at NYU or Cornell University? Who knows! Certainly her “clients” don’t!

Furthermore, instead of listing her credentials and perhaps posting up her current CV/resume she instead posts up pictures of her modelling. HOW does this relate to therapy and what she can therapeutically provide in session?! You would imagine she could provide some photos of how a typical naked therapy session would look like, or the environment she is in when she is conducting sessions but rather she posts up pictures of herself SCANTILY clad in lingerie in a sexually provocative position on a bed (-1). Those photos do not add any value to her as a psychologist/therapist and I for one have lost some respect for her in that sense.

Sarah White goes on to talk about naked therapy sessions. She states that she does in-person as well as webcam sessions (-1). For webcam sessions, the first session does not require the client to have a webcam as it is a one-way viewing ie. the client can see her but she can not see the client (-1). Sound like cam girl much? I can understand the need for webcam therapy sessions and I believe it has added great value to the field of psychology reaching out to help thousands of people living in remote and rural areas. However, those sessions are two-way. Psychology, therapy, counselling…. the basis of them and WHY they actually work has been shown to be because of the THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP. This therapeutic relationship is drawn from the empathic stance and alliance the therapist has with the client. This can be built upon from noticing and mimicking a client’s gestures, behaviours and tone of voice amongst many other factors. How can she work therapeutically without seeing her client?

She claims that the client is free and she encourages them to respond in whatever way they like during the session…. likewise if they are physically aroused (-1). So a client is basically masturbating whilst she purports to have a clinical therapy session with them? How is that possible? I wish she would elaborate more on that. I wonder if I am speaking for most people out there when I say that most humans don’t have a single wise/educated thought whilst masturbating. Do they know what she is talking about when they are physically aroused and responding to their arousal? Are they able to string together a coherent sentence at that time?

Some of her claims about naked therapy are actually quite thoughtful. She speaks about the lesser volume of men who attend therapy than women. The social stigma behind a man needing help, moreover mental and emotional help is still quite a big no-no in western society although it is slowly changing. Perhaps she thought that men can tell their mates that really, they’re not going to therapy, they’re just going to watch some lady strip and they can hide their therapy attendance behind the nakedness (+1). Nevertheless attracting men to therapy on the sexual basis (-1) starts them off on the wrong foot, not to mention attracts “certain” type of men in most cases.

Also she’s not naked the whole time. She starts stripping down in the middle of a session (-1). Is this not distracting for the client? I know when I’m watching the naked news “www.nakednews.com” I lose track and tune out of the actual content when they start stripping. So stripping vs naked I’d suggest Sarah stick to being naked the whole time. There are so many distractors already in the environment and in the mind as it is.

I guess my very vociferous and damning rant about Sarah White and her naked counselling therapy sessions stems from the fact that I am disappointed. Clear and simple.

If I was to attempt naked therapy I would start all my sessions naked. Either fully naked or in basic undergarments. My (and the clients) nakedness is a matter of fact thing and our attitude towards it shall be nonchalant. It is not something to be paraded or boasted about. Rather, the idea behind it is to show the client that I, as the therapist, am a human being. I am not greater than you, I am not perfect.  I have my vulnerabilities just as you (the client) have yours. I feel safe enough in this space to allow you to see all of me, physically. This is to show you and demonstrate to you that this is a safe place. Do you think this would work?

It’s blasphemous that Sarah White and Psychology be mentioned in the same sentence. -7 Miss White….

True story.

Reasons why people go to counselling.

What is counselling?
There are many definitions of counselling. However, all definitions of counselling centre around the idea of providing help and support to another person. Counselling is therefore a therapeutic procedure whereupon one person, the counsellor, takes on a supportive, non-judgmental role of an empathetic listener. The counsellor within therapy guides their client on their psychological and/or emotional journey rather than imparting the counsellors own views, opinion and advice upon the client. This allows the counsellor to enable the client to more effectively deal with their psychological and emotional issues. Ultimately the counsellor aims to make the client feel adequately equipped through therapy to be able to address and rectify these psychological and emotional problems on their own.
Counselling can be a positive way of addressing any unresolved psychological and emotional issues that may have arisen from daily life throughout the years. » Read more: Counselling