Boundless Love

When Susan Simpson, a social worker, starts working at the Metcalf Mental Health Center, she quickly falls under the spell of Milton Lindholm, its brilliant but lecherous director. The more she gets to know him, however, the less she likes him. But, even upon learning about his past transgressions--namely, the string of broken hearts he has left in his wake--her love-hate relationship with him persists. All the while he is lusting for her and hell-bent on adding her to his trophy case of romantic conquests.
In addition to fending off his sexual advances and counseling some emotionally difficult clients,--an anorexic, an alcoholic, and a high school underachiever just to mention a few--she is trying to help her wild and errant younger sister turn her life around and pondering how best to reconcile with her alcoholic father.
Tired and depressed, she reaches a point of quiet desperation. Then, like a breath of fresh air, Ned Baxter, a doctoral student and expert on Henry David Thoreau, arrives at her office, seeking her advice on how he can minimize the rancor and ill which breaking up with Sheila Bradford, his fiancée, is sure to cause. Although their contact in the clinic is fleeting, he leaves a lasting impression on her and, as a result, she pulls herself together, succeeds in breaking the spell of Milton Lindholm, a modern-day Svengali, and hands him her resignation.
Meanwhile Ned tries to woo her without success; for, she insists that professional ethics forbid a counselor to date a client. He, however, argues that since she is no longer a social worker at the Metcalf Mental Health Center and he is no longer a client there--if he ever was because he came to their first session merely for advice and after that just for an excuse to see her--ethics do not apply. Only when he suggests that they share some activities as friends and, as it were, dip their toes into the water before taking the plunge, does she relent. During a visit to Walden Pond, true love takes root and, no matter how hard she tries, she cannot prevent it from growing.
She shows up unexpectedly at Ned's apartment to declare her love for him only to get the shock of her life when his pregnant ex-fiancée opens the door. In anger and hurt, she flees and refuses to talk to him. Only when she learns that Milton Lindholm is the prospective father, not Ned, who is merely giving her moral support and a temporary place to live, does she realize her mistaken rush to judgment.
Ironically, Milton's dalliances with both Susan and her sister bring the two of them closer. And, through her counseling sessions with Mrs. Flaherty, an alcoholic, she gains a greater understanding of the causes and effects of alcoholism and reconciles with her father.
So, all is well that ends well.