Psychiatrists and Psychologists:
Protect Thyself

Guidelines for protecting your
personal safety and professional integrity 

by Russ Pride, MA, CPHRM, Princeton Insurance Healthcare Risk Consultant

Printable Version of this Article

The Fall of 2001 found me several months into my one-year internship as a student therapist for a behavioral health clinic. The internship was one of the last requirements standing between me and a master’s degree in clinical psychology.

Clinic practice very often does not afford an intern or therapist the luxury of pursuing one’s specialized training to the exclusion of other behavioral needs and services.  So, despite my educational track in marriage and family therapy, I found a sizable portion of my client roster to be comprised of male adolescents with a variety of issues, not the least of which were anger management, anti-social and oppositional defiant behaviors.

This one particular October evening I had my customary 50-minute appointment with an 18 year old male.  About 20 minutes into the session, I began to feel uneasy, but not sure why.  The trusty alarm in my gut was triggered.  In the time it took my client to utter several benign sentences, his calm demeanor catapulted to rage as he jumped to his feet, squared off in front of me with clenched fists and verbally threatened me with a left hook to my jaw.  At 6 feet-two inches and 190 pounds I’m no “small fry.”  But I admit that - sitting in front of this enraged young man, pound-for-pound and inch-for-inch - I felt dwarfed and unsafe.

Wrestling to maintain my composure, I lowered my voice and quietly advised him to take his seat.  I continued slowly, reminding him that if he was unable to get control of himself, I would call for assistance, per clinic policy.  With that, his fist relaxed, he moved back and took his seat.  We continued through the remainder of his session without incident while we talked about the circumstances that provoked his outburst.

Has something similar been your experience?  How did you handle this?  In retrospect, what would you have done differently to better protect yourself?

Self protection and personal safety are considerations about which many professions are coming to terms.  For example:  realtors who have to meet clients … often alone, often after business hours in the twilight of the evening in a strange neighborhood, building, etc.