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Psychologist Paul Bindrim is known as the “father of Nude Psychotherapy,” and encouraged humans to draw together through activities like the one pictured above (left) at his Topanga Canyon therapy center. His unconventional methods included groups of people touching, massaging, and making prolonged eye contact in a warm pool together, and nearly got him kicked out of the American Psychological Association. He got considerable attention when, in 1971, he won a controversial lawsuit against author Gwen Davis, who he claimed painted his therapy methods in a bad light.
You’d think that nude therapy would be safely vaulted in the annals of psychology’s past, but it’s still alive! Sarah White (above, right), a 24-year-old graduate student, has dubbed herself the Naked Therapist. Her patients stay fully dressed (to our knowledge), but her theory is that they’ll become more comfortable and open about themselves as she takes off her clothes. Is anyone else longing for the days of when therapists just offered their patients a really comfortable couch?
I’m sorry, but I fear her theory is she’ll make more money because her male clients will keep paying to see her naked. Although I’m not prude about nudity in general and have gone to nudist colonies myself, I really can’t see where it would make me feel anything but disconcerted to be looking at my therapist’s privates while I talked to them.