It's common for a therapist to advise clients about romantic
relationships, but a service called TheraDate goes one step further,
turning counselor into Cupid.
Participating psychotherapists provide information about their
client's defense mechanisms, family relationships, birth order and dating
history. After an automated process based on geography and age narrows
the pool to five matches, health professionals use the premise that like
attracts like to pick the best date. Yes, photos are provided.
The client pays $2,000 for these services, which became available
this spring in New York City and Los Angeles. TheraDate recommends the
client pay the would-be-matchmaker the equivalent of one session for his
input, but there is no financial incentive for the
psychotherapist.
Psychoanalyst F. B. Levenson, Ph.D., says the idea came to him when
one of his clients pleaded, "Don't you know someone you could introduce
me to?" Says Levenson, "The frustrating part was, I did."
New studies do support alternative methods for dating. Jeff Gavin,
Ph.D., a lecturer at the University of Bath in England, found that 50
percent of couples whose relationship began on the Internet formed close
friendships and love connections. A few couples even married, according
to Gavin's recent report at the British Psychological Society annual
meeting.
Of course, some question the TheraDate model. "The notion that
people will be compatible just because they are similar is a myth," says
David Olsen, Ph.D., co-author of
The Couple's Survival Workbook(New Harbinger, 2001),
who also considers the service "a violation of neutrality and the
therapeutic relationship." He asks, "How honest can a patient be if they
know their therapist is 'promoting' them on some type of dating
service?"
Tags:
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family relationships,
financial incentive,
harbinger,
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love connections,
matchmaker,
neutrality,
psychoanalyst,
psychotherapists,
romantic relationships,
university of bath
