Running Head: Dual Relationships1. . Dual Relationships

A social worker has a multitude of responsibilities to ensure the best care is provided for their clients. Due to conflicting interpretations of ethical guidelines and rules, and a variety of personal views, social workers can sometimes find themselves in a tough situation when there are conflicts of interest. This can cause difficult or awkward sessions between the social worker and client, and can ultimately lead to the termination of services. In the case between Allison and Carmen, conflicting views caused Carmen to discontinue her sessions with Allison.

Social workers face complex ethical issues in every aspect of their profession. This work is often ethically challenging because it involves direct contact and interaction with individuals who are vulnerable. There are many factors that influence our decision making especially when working with at risk youths, we often face challenges in wanting to take on certain roles to protect our clients. These roles often conflict with our professional obligations. When our personal and professional values conflicts, our decisions may affect the individual, family, group, community and the organization.

Professional associations establish codes of ethics to ensure that clinicians uphold the standards of their association in order to protect the clients they serve and the profession they are affiliated with. This paper will compare the codes of ethics of the American Counseling Association (ACA), American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

I would like to add to your findings concerning your responsibilities as a student and the obligations of supervision. Kiser (2012) explains that effective supervisors are knowledgeable, supportive, and skillful in giving feedback. They must be willing to address difficult issues as they arise, teach their supervises important information and skills, model high standards of professionalism and expertise. I agree that social workers advocate for person or persons with mental illness. Involvement in policy practice is widely regarded as an important means for social workers to contribute to the development of policies that promote social and economic justice, improve the well-being of social services users, and provide opportunities for self-determination (Colby, 2008; Haynes & Mickelson, 2009; Hoefer,

Counseling takes many different roads in the direction of improving a client’s mental health. These roads all lead to a common goal, but the therapist must be diligent in the direction chosen. A code of ethics provides the parameters for proper and effective treatment and boundaries protect the process of healing. Understanding how these two critical components interweave into this process aids in the conceptual framework of therapy. It may become necessary to expand upon and even cross the theoretical aspect of a boundary in order to stimulate the process of helping the client, but by no means shall these boundaries be violated. The Royal College of Psychologists (2013) compare professional boundaries to that of guardrails at the Grand Canyon, providing the visitor a safe area to enjoy the view with minimal risk of harm. Though the therapist’s boundaries can be much more flexible than a guardrail as it involves the process of therapy, some aspects such as sexual contact as an example are just as unyielding. Utilization of ethical treatment keeps the counselor on the path with clear direction and out of harm’s way for both the client and the therapist. The substance abuse therapist must become intimately familiar with the definition and application appearance of boundary crossing versus boundary violation and how a code of ethics model successful treatment for the substance user.

1. Identify the most significant boundary issue(s) or “circumstances where social workers encounter actual or potential conflicts between their social, sexual, religious or business relationships” (Reamer, 2003) exhibited by the worker in this case. Justify your answer with specific evidence from the case AND the NASW Code of Ethics.

The commitment to act ethically is an essential aspect of social work due to the effect it can have on the quality of the service offered to those who engage with us. Through group discussions in our foundations of social work practice I have become extremely ethically aware and now will always seek to ascertain and respect, as far as possible, each individual’s preferences, wishes and involvement in decision making. From discussions with my fellow classmates I have learnt to strive to respect and uphold the values and principles of the profession by making sure I promote and work towards the code of ethics wherever possible. This in turn enables me act in a reliable, honest and trustworthy manner having worked closely with service users in a professional setting and learned of their good and bad experiences with practitioners through the service user experience we undertook in class. I believe I am now in a good position to apply the social work ethical principles to my professional practice, in a way that seeks to empower my service users and enable me to emulate the best practice. In addition from reading social work journals and staying on top of news regarding the profession more generally I am knowledgeable about the value base of social work as a profession .

There is a pressing need for a high level of worker/client boundary identification when working within a client population, however realizing a conflict of interest scenario is vitally important when facing a dual relationship with a client. There are so many issues that are faced by a human service professional, explaining all of them may be difficult. In this field there are issues such as burnout, secondary trauma, compassion satisfaction, dual relationships, and boundary issues. (Reamer, F. (2012). As human services professional or social workers there is a code of ethics. In statement 6 of the code of ethics, it states human services experts must be mindful that in their associations with customers/clients power and status are

In this scenario, as a psychologist I face several ethical issues. According to the American Psychological Association, Ethical Principles of Psychologist and Code of Conduct there are at least six standards I have to

Moreover, this case should be analyzed based on the information provided by the NASW Code of Ethics. The ethical principle included in the NASW Code of Ethics (2008) states that “social worker’s primary goal is to help people in need and to address social problems…Social workers seek to resolve conflicts between clients’ interests and the broader society’s interests in a socially responsible manner” (p.5). Suzanne’s social worker would only have to seek for Suzanne’s well-being because if Suzanne and Cindy get separated, they can lose contact, which would affect Suzanne 's emotions.

The nature of these relationships can vary from friend, employer, family to sex partner. A social worker can enter into a social relationship any time before the therapy begins and even in between and after that. These relationships can vary from sexual to non-sexual. However, it is necessary to understand that not all dual relationships have unethical impacts on professional boundaries. Similarly, there is also a clear difference between violating the boundaries and crossing them. Violating these boundaries is inherently immoral and cannot be permitted in any circumstances. In such relations, a professional boundary is violated when there is an intentional exploitation, manipulation, deception and coercion of clients and third parties related to them.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) have developed Best Practice Standards in Social Work Supervision were social professional supervision is defined as “the relationship between supervisor and supervisee in which the responsibility and accountability for the development of competence, demeanor, and ethical practice take place”(2013).

The role of the social worker supervisor is to evaluate an administrative, educational and supportive role. The supervisors at my internship site are always exercising flexibility and the ability to assess a situation and are always prepared to make immediate decisions in life threatening situations. The manner in which I have seen the supervisors being able to access the individual workers needs and draw from their knowledge and experiences and even utilize high quality interpersonal skills to maintain a positive relationship between each of them, is quite remarkable. How the supervisor responds to staff is crucial for job success and worker productivity. I have seen supervisors connect with individual strengths and weakness as well as value and respect the diverse perspectives of the workers by understanding the hardship that comes with this type of work. The staff and supervisors at my internship site at child protective services encourage staff creativity by being sensitive to personal and professional diversities as well encouraging continued growth of staff. By seeing the strengths each worker has to offer, it becomes an asset for a better team development to form. By motivating, coaching workers and interns, and

As a social worker, personal values can and often times conflict with professional values. “Values are deeply held preferences or ideals to which a person aspires” (Barsky, 2010). Neither right or wrong, personal values explain how individuals conduct their lives. To enhance the well being of an individual takes building a rapport and a professional relationship. While making ethical decisions, social workers should reflect to the The National Association Social Work (NASW) Code of Ethics. The NASW “serves as a social and moral compass for social work professional” (Cox, Tice, & Long, 2016 p. 10). Commitment to clients, privacy and confidentiality, and as well as conflict of interest must be considered while interacting with clients and making ethical decisions. In the Eye on Ethics ethical dilemma case, the parents of Alice, a client of a social worker, beseeched the social worker for a special favor. “They explained that the social worker was an important person in their family’s life and that it would mean a lot to them if the social worker would deliver a eulogy at their daughter’s funeral” (Reamer, 2002). Immediately, the social worker recognized the ethical dilemma.

In the code of ethics, it talked about conflict of interest, which stated that a social worker should not engage themselves in any type of dual relationships that might affect the client. The NASW COE (2008) states, “Social workers should not engage in dual or multiple relationships with clients or former clients in which there is a risk of exploitation or