The harmful effects of emotional abuse have been studied in children,
romantic relationships, and families, but little work has explored the
phenomenon of therapists experiencing emotional abuse from their clie
nts. The current paper examines the characteristics of emotional abuse
as experienced by therapists, and presents methods by which clinician
s can best maintain their professional decorum, responsibilities, obje
ctivity, conceptual skills, and overall effectiveness in spite of aver
sive interactions with clients. Therapists can facilitate their own st
aying on task, and can reduce their subjective levels of stress by uti
lizing such self-help techniques as cognitive rehearsal, rational resp
onding, assertiveness, and the use of social supports. These strategie
s help therapists to deal with patterns of hostile outbursts and bound
ary infringements from clients, without feeling helpless and burned ou
t, and without terminating their clients prematurely out of desperatio
n. Therapists also can remain suitably professional in managing emotio
nally abusive clients by making judicious use of documentation and sup
ervisory consultations. Issues regarding appropriate termination of em
otionally abusive clients are discussed in light of the ethical obliga
tion not to abandon clients. The principle of ''therapist self-preserv
ation,'' which takes into account the therapist's need to consider his
or her own well-being, along with the client's, is addressed as well.