In the mental health field, dual relationships can often be damaging to both the client and the therapist. There are several situations where dual relationships, whether considered ethical or not, affect the course of treatment for the client, and the personal lives of therapists. Although some forms of dual or multiple relationships are unavoidable, engaging in a personal relationship between patient and client always involves the possibility of skewing therapeutic results. Dual relationships are defined as having relations with the client outside of therapy, and in most cases it is considered to be unethical. There are four main types of dual relationships including professional, social, business, and sexual. A professional dual …show more content…
Once a therapist enters into a dual relationship with their clients, feelings of mistrust, unhealthy attachment, and exploitation are common. In a survey conducted by the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, a group of various females who admitted to having sexual contact with their therapists/ psychiatrists were interviewed and given a questionnaire to measure their self-esteem, depression, attitudes, and psychosomatic/psychological assumptions. The results showed that the women ranging from ages 26-45 developed a strong mistrust and anger toward these health care professionals (Feldman-Summers & Jones, 1984). This study demonstrated how much influence a therapist has on their client and shows that the bond between therapist and client is delicate and needs to be treated with both respect and understanding. “Sexual boundary violations are considered the most serious ethical infraction in the mental health profession, as well as in higher education and pastoral counseling. Recognized as unethical due to the power imbalance inherent in the structure of the therapist-patient and teacher-student dyads, erotic contact between therapists and patients has been revealed in prevalence studies to occur at an unacceptably high incidence rate (9 to 12 per cent) among mental health practitioners” (Czlenza, 2007). The imbalance of power when there is a sexual relationship present can be extremely damaging to
The video presentation, Legal and ethical issues for mental health professionals, Vol. 2: Dual relationship boundaries, standards of care & termination (Feldman & Sommers, 2010), is broken up into four vignettes: dual relationships and boundaries, gift giving and touch, beginning treatment, and terminating treatment. Boundary violations occur when there is no clinical purpose for a
This paper will discuss the concept of non-sexual dual relationships between Ms. C and Ms. R., and the ethical consequences of relationships. This paper will also an ethical standard to use a guide when facing a dilemma like Ms. C. In addition to discussing ethical consequences, this paper will also explore how ethical decisions must be made to avoid potentially harmful or exploitive relationships in therapy as well understanding how the Virginia Certificate Board, located in Virginia, may deal with reporting dual relationships, and how different interactions between Ms. C and Ms. R can be understood from an ethical standpoint, as well as preventive measures to avoid dual relationships.
In conclusion there are ways to maintain the healthy relationship with your client. No matter when the dual relationship may occur, before during or after, it should be avoided at all cost if it jeopardizes the
There are several ethical dilemmas that the mental health professionals that are working as a team will face including “ensuring that the client has given informed consent, maintaining client confidentiality, and involving professionals, paraprofessionals, and family in appropriate coordinated processes that benefit the client” (Paproski & Haverkamp, 2000, p.96).
Geyer (1994) defines dual relationships as occurring when a mental health practitioner, “relates to a client in roles other than that of a mental health practitioner outside the therapeutic context” (p.187). Areas outside of context may include church, social gatherings, and organized events to name a few. The term dual relationship is interchangeably used with multiple relationships or nonprofessional relations. Corey et al. (2011) further defines this role as a professional who assumes multiple, two or more, roles at the same time with a client. The following paper will look to address a literature review of dual relationships along with a review of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapist (CAMFT) and American Counseling Association (ACA) ethics codes regarding the topic. I will further provide personal reflections and values as they relate to dual relationships. In closing I will provide an ethical resolution to a hypothetical case and provide final thoughts.
Most major professional codes of ethics have a policy or rule against dual relationships (Gottlieb, 1993). Dual relationships exist when a professional acts at the same time or sequentially in two roles (Gottlieb, 1993). Through the course of this paper, the concept of dual relationships will be examined. Ethical issues with dual relationships will be explained as well as the clarification and analyzation of a specific dual relationship. Not to mention the explanation of challenges presented by boundary issues in professional psychology.
Zur really makes us look in to our own personal beliefs when he offers questionable situations to make us think how we can travel down a Slippery slope as professionals in the therapeutic industry. While there are some situations that are very clear that professionals must never cross the lines such as Sexual contact and continuing therapy outside of the state we live in. There are also some situations where the lines may be blurred and that are not that easy to understand. Joining a basketball team with a client, attending a client’s wedding or graduation. In a larger population these situations may be looked down upon. In a small rural town, it may be normal to do these things. An interesting thing Zur talked about was how Sigmund Freud, who was a pioneer in the inception of therapeutic boundaries, and many of the therapists that worked with him, crossed many boundaries. Including having sex with clients. In the 1930’s he started to become worried about the reputation of the industry and two prominent people in Freud’s group of neo Freudian therapists were expelled. The
Dual relationships and the ethical behavior that revolves around boundaries with clients present a multitude of very complicated situations to counselors where a clearly defined course of action is not always evident. Aside from no accord amongst mental health professionals and boundary issues being unavoidable at times, recognition and prediction of potential benefits or pitfalls correlated with dual relationships can prove to be troublesome as well (Remley & Herlihy, 2010). For most cases, it is best if an outline is used to discern when it is appropriate for a counselor to breach the client-counselor boundary.
For that reason, in the mental health professions, dual relationships are generally not recommended. Thus, if your friend who’s a psychologist assumes two more roles consecutively with a client, this is considered a dual relationship. For instance, if an individual held a role as a counselor and business partner, or client and friend, this is a considered a dual relationship. Common examples of dual relationships include: bartering therapy for goods or services; providing
Ethics and therapy are closely intertwined. It is important that healthcare professionals dealing in therapy adhere to strict professional standards and values that help define expectations and also prevent harm to those who seek therapy. Although the application of such values can sometimes be somewhat complicated when such therapists are dealing with individual clients, the complexity is even more heightened in the context of having multiple family members under therapy. Advancing conversations regarding values and marriage and family therapy is important to enable professionals grapple with the complexities of the topic as well as support their clients better.
Therapy relationships with clients. The psychologist to patient relationship during therapy is a crucial aspect. It is within ethical guidelines that the psychologist clearly establish his role whether it be with an individual, group, or family therapist. These roles need to be understood for the variety of issues that may arise; one of which is the disclosure of information. Psychologists, for obvious reasons, are not to have sexual relationships with patients or former patients within a
An effective method that Kylie should have taken into account is counter-transference where she may be able to seek peer or professional supervision. Moreover, there are ways to safeguard the practitioner and client when entering dual relationships. These approaches include, developing treatment plans that reflect the client’s problems (Zur, 2004),maintaining clinical documentation of consultations and discussing the limitations and complexities with the client, exhibiting office policies, consulting other professionals in the same field for advice and employing a networking scheme with referrals and fundamentally obtaining informed consent which informs clients of vital information, risks and benefits and a practitioner’s ethical duty to include
This paper will explore the concept of dual relationships between counselors and clients and the ethical implications of such relationships. In addition to presenting several examples of dual relationships, this paper will also explore how ethical decisions must be made to avoid potentially harmful or exploitive relationships in therapy as well understanding how different interactions between counselor and clients can be understood from an ethical standpoint, as well as how reviewing these ethical dilemmas may shape my future career as a counselor.
There are many variables that influence the success of therapy for the client, none more so than the therapeutic relationship. The therapeutic relationship is defined as the strength and collaborative relationship between the client and therapist that emphasises mutually agreed goals and tasks within the context of a strong affective bond (Horvath, 1994.) In the therapeutic relationship, the clinician offers care, touch, compassion, presence, and any other act or attitude that would foster healing, and expects nothing in return (Trout, 2013.) Some clinicians believe that the “therapeutic relationship is a precondition of change, others as the fertile soil that permits change, while others see it as the central mechanism of change itself” (Norcross, 2010.) This is not to devalue other variables that impact the success of the therapy such as client involvement and the treatment method.
Dual relationships occur when a practitioner is in a professional role with a client as well as taking on another role outside the clinic with the client. The professional needs to assess the risk in the relationship and whether both the practitioner and the client can differentiate between a boundary crossing and a boundary violation. In rural area’s a dual relationship may be unavoidable, the article discuses that the practitioner may have been chosen because of the prior relationship, and that some form of prior relationship may even be a prerequisite for the development of trust and respect in a small community. However, Zur also writes about the “Slippery Slope Effect” in which that all boundary crossings eventually lead to sexual relationships and boundary violations. The author then notes that the slippery slope effect is an unreasonable link and adds that when thinking of crossing a boundary the professional needs to consider the welfare of the client and benefits to treatments, whilst avoiding harm or exploitation and to respect the client’s autonomy (Zur 2004, pp27-32).