The Pregnant Therapist: A Qualitative Examination of the Client Experience

This article reports on the findings of a qualitative study that was designed to capture the clinical dynamics that emerge when a therapist becomes pregnant during treatment. While there have been some empirical studies that have captured the pregnant therapist’s perspective, it is a sparse amount in comparison to the vast number of women therapists who become pregnant, and there have been no studies that have actually interviewed clients of pregnant therapists. This study seeks to begin to redress that crucial missing perspective by interviewing the clients of pregnant therapists, as well as first-time, formerly pregnant therapists. This article will look at the coded results of this qualitative study and the emergent themes from the client perspective, as well as discuss their implications for clinical social work practice.