Question

Are female psychologists better suited to treat female offenders? Explain why based on the role a psychologist should play.

Answer 1

• People have different comfort levels and may have preferences about working with certain kinds of therapists, such as male or female.Whether female psychologists are better or not depends upon the comfort level of the patient as well as the issue being addressed.
• A good therapist will reach out to the person in treatment and develop a mutual understanding and ability to be helpful. The skillfulness, training, and experience of the therapist are important. So, I would say that ultimately gender of the therpaist is not so important, but it can take a while to reach that understanding.
• One of the biggest determining factors if therapy will be successful is how well a person is able to connect with their therapist. A person needs to feel that their therapist is nonjudgmental, interested in what they have to say, and accepting of them exactly as they are.
• So, depending on the issue that brings someone to therapy, the gender of the therapist can sometimes make a significant difference.
• For example, if someone was mistreated by their mother growing up, they may have difficulty trusting a woman, especially if she is of the age the person’s mother is. If a girl or woman has been sexually abused or assaulted, she would likely prefer a woman therapist, as most sexual abuse/assault incidents against women are committed by men.
• The majority of therapists are women, and the majority of people in therapy are women. In general, women have more of a need to talk things out than men do.
• Women as a gender do have more sensitivity and emotional side than men,which kind of gives them an upperhand in being a psychologist and sometimes a woman patient needs another woman with that sensitivity,but again it depends upon the individual patient.