Bare naked emotions

There are some sights in the natural world that appeal universally to all men. A 24-year-old naked woman, who has all the physical attributes which men subconsciously look for, is definitely one of the top rankers in that list. When it comes to a naked woman, men can easily bare their souls and get rid of their emotional baggage in the process; at least that is what Sarah White claims.

Sarah White, a psychology and biology undergraduate from New York, believes that a mix of the two subjects can make people shed their layers and find out who they really are and become more happy and centred.

She says, “The idea for Naked Therapy grew from an accumulation of my interests and professional ambitions. Having studied psychology and biology, I have a deep interest in helping people. I personally have found the traditional ways of many therapists boring and frustrating. I hope to offer something exciting and fresh to my patients, to challenge the puritanical basis of our society, and to have a positive effect on the acceptance of male and female sexuality.”

She further explains, “It's just like a regular therapy session, only during the session, if the patient wishes it, I get naked, and that becomes a part of the experience, eliciting different reactions and revelations.”

Therapy has always taken weird forms depending on the times and the social zeitgeist of the age. Lobotomies (brain dicing), for example, grew in the 1930s. A time when the world was being torn apart with wars and social strife, we thought that it would be a great ‘therapy’ if we sliced portions of our brains. Of course, we soon realised our brainless act and the procedure gradually declined.

I would prefer naked therapy to lobotomy any day, but of course, one must ask how effective is the therapy? If a person is suffering from a psychological disorder, which causes him to hallucinate and see dogs flying, would naked therapy help? Sarah replies, “I'm not sure I ‘treat diseases’. What I do is help people better understand their motivations, and feel better about themselves and their lives.”

Most men would definitely feel better and motivated seeing an attractive lady strip in front of them. Will it work on the fairer sex? “Yes! My site often says ‘men’ because the majority of my clients are male. However, I absolutely accept and welcome female clients as well.”

Traditional clinical psychotherapists on the other hand, at least some of them, are not too happy with her practice. They claim it to be soft-core interactive porn. However, the majority of them seem to be quite supportive of her ventures in the lands of arousal and temptation. She says, “I have been quite surprised at how supportive my peers have been. I've received a couple of negative emails, but the majority have been positive. I think that therapists tend to be an open-minded bunch, and they can sense that what I'm doing is new and interesting.” However, in our own country, psychotherapists like Dr S.K. Sharma of Ethos, Body and Mind Clinic, New Delhi, are disdainful of such an idea. He says, “There are hundreds of other methods to open up a person. In our country, which is very diverse, 99 per cent will not accept it. Some just might.”
In case you are wondering, is Sarah White the only clothes-dropping, eye-opening, arousal-therapist in the world? She replies, “I'm bringing in three new naked therapists for training soon, so there is interest, but it's largely not from traditional therapists. I also believe that when I come out with my book, the psychotherapy community is going to take more notice of what I'm doing.”

When treading a thin line, one must always be careful to not allow therapy to degrade into mere titillation. When asked how she stops her therapy from becoming just a strip show, she replies, “It's just like in normal therapy – every therapist deals with attachment and transference from the patient – and, yes, I have certainly had quite a few clients express pleasure at seeing my body, but that is all a part of the therapy process for us. I am glad they are enjoying themselves, and we talk through it all, seeking deeper truths. Also, having discussed this point with strippers, I know that strippers tell their clients what they want to hear, I tell them what they need to hear.”

Treading into new territories is, of course, a great way to increase our scientific knowledge. However, we must be sure about the effectiveness of the methods and should not be deluded either by something which is new and intriguing, or by something which is old and traditional. Proper tests and research will surely shed light on this quite exciting branch of therapy, but as for now, a comment from one of her clients sums-up her work: “What a whole lot of healing naked therapy does in this world of hurt we face.” If you’re not convinced, try lobotomy and you will at least agree that this is better!