Feeling Offended By Clients: The Experiences Of Doctoral Student Therapists

Ten doctoral student therapists (8 White, 5 female) in 1 counseling psychology doctoral program located in the Mid-Atlantic United States were interviewed for approximately 1 hour each about their experiences of feeling offended by a client during an individual psychotherapy session. Interview data were analyzed with consensual qualitative research (CQR). Trainee therapists typically felt offended related to their sociocultural identities (e.g., being a woman, LGBTQ+, racial-ethnic minority), felt frozen after the events and uncertain about how to respond, wished they had handled the events differently, and struggled when clients expressed opinions or beliefs that ran counter to their own values. Trainees had difficulty maintaining an empathic, nonjudgmental therapeutic stance where they could both value the client and maintain their own sense of integrity and beliefs about social justice and multiculturalism. Implications for training, practice, and research are provided.