Is it permissible to meet men in couple therapy?
I am a family counselor and I also provide psychological support to women through the online platform. I don't work with gentlemen because I care about privacy. For this reason, I only do therapy with women instead of couple therapy. However, in some cases, it is important to interview both the woman and the man from the spouses. In this case, I refer to a family counselor who takes couples together. I have a female client and we have come a long way, now there is a possibility of reconciliation with her husband, who divorced with a single talaq. Can I have both of them in the same video session? Apart from this, I have a few other sensitive sisters who do family counseling. We have religious sensitivities at the point of doing couple therapy. If necessary, can we take them both to the session together? Is there such a license in fiqh?
Yes, there is a risk of inconvenience in such a business. It is clear that it is necessary to stay away from it, but it is also possible to have conversations that are not "one-to-one with a foreign man" by paying attention to the words, clothes and actions. I think there will be no harm as long as the difference between making a conversation and responding to what is being consulted is observed.