Envision yourself trying to plan treatment for a sexually disturbed
client. Even though you have been trained to set aside or bracket
your personal feelings and biases about sexual deviations from the
norm, your thought processes are impaired. A judgmental attitude
starts to build within you. You want to help this person, but you
are having difficulty listening. You are aware that he or she has
committed a sexual crime or engaged in a sexual act that you con-
sider unacceptable. Your training prevents you from displaying an
obvious negative reaction, but that takes energy on your part.
Consequently, your understanding of the sexually disturbed client
is imprecise. You might make erroneous assumptions, based on a
faulty perception of your client's condition. To prevent this, you
reframe your perception of this client as a victim of developmental
misfortune.

Disruptions in sexual development must be identified, and ad-
dressed directly, if normal development is to resume. Utilizing a
developmental blueprint to plan client-specific treatment also pro-
vides the therapist with knowledge and understanding that en-
hances empathic response, and helps to alleviate negative attitudes
about and biases against the sexually disturbed.

My own experience with this type of reaction prompted me to es-
tablish a series of guidelines for applying developmental theory to
the process of therapy. This method of perceiving my client's

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