The stalking of psychologists by their clients.

Abstract

A number of practicing psychologists have become victims of threats and/or harassment from clients. This preliminary study provides descriptive information for a group of psychologists and their experiences with clients who have stalked them. Results revealed that (a) there is no specific profile for the psychologists who had been stalked; (b) the stalked psychologists subsequently employed significantly more safety measures than those who had not; and (c) the clients who stalked were usually single, likely had mood and/or personality disorder diagnoses, childhood relationship disturbances, and/or recent major stressors. The findings suggest that psychologists who work with clients may benefit from a heightened awareness of the potential danger that clients pose. The implementation of safety measures to deter unwanted client contact is discussed. Some mental health professionals who deal regularly with individuals having mental or emotional difficulties have become the victims of stalking by their clients (Corder & Whiteside, 1996;Lion & Herschler, 1998;Romans, Hays, & White, 1996). Though data concerning the prevalence of stalking from these studies varies from 5.6 to 13%, the data suggest that further research in this area is needed, as studies show that stalking can lead in some cases to physical violence and even murder (Tjaden & Thoennes, 1997). However, even when stalking does not lead to physical violence, the emotional ramifications of being stalked can be substantial (Brown, Dubin, Lion, & Garry, 1996;Corder & Whiteside, 1996).In 1990, California was the first state to enact an antistalking law as the direct result of the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer and the physical attack on actress Teresa Saldana (Saunders, 1998). The high-profile nature of these two crimes prompted the state to enact the first laws against stalking in January 1991. By 1993, 49 states had passed laws against stalking behavior, and presently all 50 states have some form of antistalking law. Though STEVEN R. GENTILE received his PsyD in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University in 2001. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Children's Hospital in New Orleans, LA.

Stalking Behaviour By Patients Towards Psychiatrists in a Large Mental Health Organization

“…Lifetime prevalence rates found in this study were higher than that found in the general population, but conform to high rates among other mental health professionals (Galeazzi et al, 2005;Purcell, Powell & Mullen, 2005;Ashmore et al, 2006). Our fi ndings confi rm previous reports that the risk of male healthcare workers appears greater than that observed in the general population (Gentile et al, 2002;Galeazzi et al, 2005), but there were no overall gender differences in those stalked. Unlike other studies (Purcell, Powell & Mullen, 2005;Galeazzi et al, 2006), no speciality was found to be at higher risk, but numbers were probably too small for signifi cance to emerge.…”

Who stalks? A description of patients at a high security hospital with a history of stalking behaviour

“…As with previous studies (e.g. Meloy and Gothard, 1995;Harmon et al, 1995Harmon et al, , 1998Mullen et al, 1999;Gentile, 2001;Rosenfeld and Harmon, 2002;Meloy and Boyd, 2003) both Axis I and II mental disorders were confi rmed. In so far as the diagnostic data differ from previous work, it is in the frequency with which psychosis was identifi ed.…”

When Social Workers Are Stalked: Risks, Strategies, and Legal Protections

“…In studies of perceived motivation for stalking of professionals in other mental health disciplines, 42% of psychologists Purcell et al (2005), 21% of therapists (Hudson-Allez 2002), and 34.1% of psychiatrists (McIvor et al 2008) who reported being stalked, believed that the client was angry either because of negative outcomes of an assessment, or the termination of treatment. Stalking behavior of mental health professionals motivated by resentment or retaliation is most commonly perpetrated by males who have never been married, misuse substances, have a diagnosis of personality disorder or major mental illness, have a history of assault and self-harm, and have repeated hospitalizations (Galeazzi et al 2005;Gentile et al 2002;McIvor et al 2008;Rosenfeld and Harmon 2002;Sandberg et al 1998Sandberg et al , 2002.…”