Abstract

This paper aims to discuss selected issues related to the effect exerted by the financial aspects of psychotherapy on a psychotherapeutic relationship. At the beginning, I consider the effect that remuneration received by the therapist directly from the customer can have on their therapeutic relationship. Then I discuss the issues related to the compensation for psychotherapy services and show the consequences which the criteria of compensating for specific therapeutic methods have for the quality of psychotherapeutic relationships, as well as the influence which the requirement to study the effectiveness of psychotherapy in the natural science paradigm has on psychotherapeutic services. The arguments I put forward lead to the conclusion that the criteria of the compensation for psychotherapeutic services can change the psychotherapeutic relationship into a business relationship and, as a result, the therapist can start to treat the customer instrumentally.