The American Psychological Association Code of Ethics, Section 10.05, states that psychologists do not engage in sexual intimacies with current therapy clients/patients. In most all states, laws prohibiting sex with clients are limited to current or recent clients.
Can a therapist fall in love with his patient?
There is actually a term in psychoanalytic literature that refers to a patients feelings about his or her therapist known as transference,1 which is when feelings for a former authority figure are transferred onto a therapist. Falling in love with your therapist may be more common than you realize.
It is also important to recognize that counselors can decide to make the personal choice to never engage in romantic or sexual relationships with former clients even though the ACA Code of Ethics allows one to do so after a five-year waiting period.
There arent official guidelines about this for therapists. You might be wondering if your former therapist would even be allowed to be your friend, given how ethically rigorous the mental health field is. The answer is technically yes, but its generally inadvisable.