Loving Our Clients: Can We Share All The Fruits?

Abstract

How can therapists love clients ethically? Kierkegaard, Plato and other philosophers suggest some forms of love are better than others. I argue that elevating a chosen agape over a given eros is ontologically confused. All forms of loving our clients reveal something helpful, and ethically we can be aware and beware. Key words Love, ethics, Kierkegaard, Plato, agape, eros, choice, emotion