Sex in Forbidden Zn C

For the past ten years, I have been enthusiastically recommending Peter Rutter's, "Sex in the Forbidden Zone" along with "The Betrayal Bond," by Patrick Carnes, to any clergy abuse victims I've worked with. I think of either book as being "must reading" for victims and survivors of any kind of sexual abuse. I also agree with another reviewer who said Rutter's book should be required reading for all psychotherapists. Add to that: this book should be required reading for any type of so-called "helping professional," including clerics, medical professionals and teachers. While I have provided support to male clergy abuse victims, most of the people I've helped are as myself, adult female survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation, committed against us by Catholic priests. Thus, I also reference Rutter's book whenever dealing with opponents of clergy abuse victims who persist in referring to priests' sexual exploitation of adult parishioners as "consensual affairs." Rutter's book is a godsend in exposing the insidious subtleties of therapeutic role reversal that can lead to professional misconduct. Rutter's book has helped countless victims clearly see beyond their own vulnerabilities long enough to work their way out. Based on what I've been told by countless victims of clergy abuse, I know most victims of sexual abuse have pre-disposing histories that unwittingly cause them to roll right out of one type of abusive relationship into another. Or people who have been "groomed" (usually from childhood) to comply with sexual predators, often simply cannot will themselves beyond that tendency, without professional counseling help. However, predatory therapists not only make it that much more difficult for any victim committed to recovery to break out of their own vicious-cycle tendency, they often discourage further recovery efforts. I know of several cases of women having been sexually abused, in succession, by clerics and psychologists, because they were inured from ability to heed the subtle warning signs of a healer morphing into predator. Rutter's book may not be complete in terms of exploring the full range of therapeutic abuses that can and do occur, but his examples are still detailed enough to serve as good, practical guides in assessing therapeutic abuse. For example, whenever a victim of multiple sexual abuses asks me if I think his or her relationship with a cleric or psychologist was actually "abusive" (or exploitative) I am usually able to cite something in Rutter's book that supports me in persuading the person to seek out more reputable therapeutic support.

Written so clearly - it would be hard to misunderstand! :)Yes, the role of male as authority/powerful and female as submissive/victim - needs to be addressed. Sex in the Forbidden Zone is a well written self-help to knowing your rights when considering relationships in any professional arena. I am so very pleased.

I've read this book 3 times over the years and refer back to it often. The book has helped me in so many ways and on so many different levels. The author is needed to continue writing many more such books so we can address this male/female power imbalance in society.

This important book has been around for a decade, and I'm pleased to see it is still in print. Rutter, a psychiatrist affiliated with the C.G.Jung Institute, was one of the first authors I know of to publish a book in the popular press about this topic. He demonstrates clearly the essential nature and healing potential of maintaining appropriate boundaries in helping relationships. Although I might, as a female mental health professional, take issue with his unilateral depiction of the man-as-powerful/woman-as-victim dynamic, his point is certainly well taken. I've read this book twice over the years.

Whether you are a man in a position of power/authority, or a woman who routinely encounters men in power and authority, this book should be required reading. Men using their positions of power and authority to victimize women is a problem of huge proportions. Some men are predators, some men are culpably ignorant of their own individual weaknesses. Dr Rutter attacks this issue of sexual tensions in relationships between men and the women who should be able to trust these men. His true stories are very clear and chilling. They are chilling because if you are honest, you can see yourself in those situations. Dr. Rutter has expressed the subtle emotional undercurrents that go on within a man-woman work/professional relationship better than any other book I have ever read. He does not mince words or try to nicely talk around blunt, painful and destructive sexual encounters within the "Forbidden Zone." If you want to bury your head in the sand and pretend that these interpersonal sexual dynamics are not there, then stay away from this book. If you want to deal with reality, try to understand yourself and safeguard your professional relationships, then read this book.