Providing therapies to the opposite sex: Views of complementary therapists working in clinical and private practice settings

AimThe study explored the experiences of working with the opposite sex as a therapists in a cancer care centre (CCC).MethodologyTherapists (n = 17) participated in three focus groups. Audiotapes were transcribed verbatim and analysed.ResultsThemes and sub-themes were identified; these related to maintaining safety, the relevance of location to how safe therapists felt when working with men, the therapeutic relationship, safety precautions and being vigilant.LimitationsThe participants were from one cancer care centre in the North West of England. Only two males participated.ConclusionThis exploratory study identified that the majority of the participants in this study had concerns about safety related to the gender or sex of their patient or client. This was more of an issue in private practice with concerns centred on inappropriate sexual responses from male clients. This has implications for training and safety in establishing and maintaining a practice.