Questions about professional ethics get stirred up when dual relationships or professional and client boundaries are violated. The American Psychological Association (APA) Ethics committee revealed 40 to 50% of complaints filed originate from concerns with dual relationships (Meyer, 2005). License held by psychological professionals are revoked when the professional disregards the rights of the clients. The leading cause of professional termination is because of dual relationships between the professional and their client (Meyer, 2005).
The scenario presented in this paper will discuss a dual relationship between a college professor, who is also a psychiatrist and one of the professional’s students. The student seems distraught and the professor asks if everything is all right. The student explains the situation and the professor speaks with the student for a few minutes and proceeds to leaves for the office. The next day the student thanks the professor for listening and understands that the professor is a psychologist. The student asks the professor for his business card. The next day the student calls to make an appointment with the professor/psychologist. This scenario will be analyzed and used to explain the ethics in the situation as well as the challenges with the boundaries professionals must follow.
What a Dual Relationship Means (tammy)
According to Ofer, the term dual relationship denotes any situation in which more than one role occurs between therapist and client (2007). Most consider a dual relationship to be the result of a patient and client building a sexual relationship but not always the case. Whereas many instances of dual relationships are indeed sexual, most are not. Dual relationships are str...
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Relationships Within Counselor Education: A Qualitative Analysis. Counselor Education & Supervision, 41(3), 193.
Meyer, J., (2005). Fresh legal perspectives: Psychologists in dual relationships. American Psychological Association. Retrieved on October 8, 2011,from http://www.apa.org/divisions/div12/legalper.pdf.
Ofer, Z. (2007). Dual Relationships. In O. Zur (Ed.), Boundaries in Psychotherapy: Ethical and Clinical Explorations (pp. 21-46). American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/11563-001
Pope, K. S., & Vasquez, M. J. T. (2007). Ethics in psychotherapy and counseling: A practical guide (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
Rupert, P. A., & Holmes, D. L. (1997, November/December). Dual Relationships in Higher
Education. Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 68, No. 6. Retrieved October 8, 2011, from https://blackboard.centenarycollege.edu.
It is important as a professional health care provider to have guidelines, regulations, and ethical standards to obey when providing care to the public. The ACA is to improve the quality of professional counselors in the community with education, knowledge, and guidelines by providing an ACA Code of Ethics standard when delivering treatment toward a clientele (American Counseling Association, 2015). One particular part of the ACA mission that is essential, is the ACA Code of Ethics. The purpose of the ACA Code of Ethics is a guide to ensure counselors in training and professional counselors understand the ethical obligations toward clients, possible grievances for conduct unbecoming, and professional responsibilities, which supports the ACA
Mumford would be called to a meeting after the board of directors and I had met initially to discuss the unethical practice that he been performing. Although it appeared to all that the patients that he counselled or diagnosed became healthier in their actions but the facts remain that he did not follow any ethical standards for psychologists. During the board meeting, we would discuss the competence and responsibility of the professional ethics guideline on Mumford. “It is hoped that these guidelines will be of assistance when human service professionals and educators are challenged by difficult ethical dilemmas” (Woodside and McClam, 2011, p. 276). After the board members reached a mutual agreement, the meeting with Mumford would begin. In the meeting with Mumford, the board of directors would discuss his unethical act of practicing psychology without a license. According to our textbook, “psychologists provide services, teach, and conduct research with populations and in areas only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, consultation, study or professional experience” (Woodside, 2011, p. 276). Although Mumford attended college, he did not have enough credentials to hold a position as a psychologist. Concluding the meeting with Mumford and the board of directors, with lack of training and no license to
Throughout the second half of this semester, dual relationships have been emphasized as one of the most frequently encountered ethical dilemmas faced by behavior analysts in the field today. According to the class lectures, assigned text, and other articles that we have read, this is due to the fact that we interact with our clients and those caring for them in their natural settings. As a result, those we provide services to, and interact with, are in the places in which they feel the most comfortable, their homes or regular classrooms. This is in stark contrast to a formal office setting, which projects an atmosphere with both expected standards of acceptable behavior, and clear boundaries between client and the service provider. In an effort
...h professional the advice you gave you friend who is a psychologist is solely based upon the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, your expertise and experience. Any advice advised to you, should be a foundation to formulating your own ethical opinion. However, be aware that many ethical dilemmas sneak up on you and you have to remember you role as a mental health professional. Yet, there are situations where dual relationships, boundary violations and conflicts of interest of unforeseen.
American Counseling Association (2005). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author. - See more at: http://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/ethics#sthash.13ImD8Lb.dpuf
Positive ethics allows a psychologist to be aware of potential ethical dilemmas they face while striving to achieve their best in clinical practice. Positive ethics allows me to think through difficult situations that may arise and resolve ethical issues that may occur. For this reason, a clinician must be able to describe how they will apply positive ethics into their decision-making process. From my perspective, I plan to apply the five general ethical principles into my decision-making process because they share a set of core values. Principal A is Beneficence and Nonmaleficence meaning psychologist will strive to benefit those whom they take care of and do no harm. By applying this principle into my decision-making
Over the course of their therapeutic relationship, Dr. Davenport violates client confidentiality as it is described by the American Counseling
Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Callanan, P. (2011). Issues and ethics in the helping professions. (8th
However, there are some cases that professionals have to rely on the Law. The Law is different from moral principles and Code of Ethics and its focus is on the legal perspective to protect the professional. The Law is defined by Remley and Herlihy (2010) as “general or specific regarding both what is required and what is allowed of individuals who from a governmental entity” (p.4). One major example is the Tarasoff and the Duty to Protect which is a law that was created after the case that happened with a university student, Tatiana Tarasoff and her boyfriend. Tarasoff’s parents sue the psychotherapists alleging that the professionals should have warned the student. Because of this case, the law raised a major concern that the confidentiality that professionals should follow according to the ACA and AMHCA Code of Ethics has to be broken when there is an issue that can affect a third party in the situation. Like the AMHCA refers to confidentiality as “a right granted to all clients of mental health counseling services. From the onset of the counseling relationship, mental health counselors inform clients of these rights inclu...
Ethical issues in a counseling practice lay the foundation of a therapist in practice. Ethics are at the center of how the counseling process functions and operates in a successful manner for the clients who seek help in such a setting. In order for the counseling profession to be ethical and hold professional recognition, there are many facets that need to be examined and outlined to make sure all counselors and practitioners are functioning at the highest level and withholding their duties required by the counseling profession. The first introduction so to speak of the area of ethics also happens to be one of the first steps in counseling, which is the informed consent. The informed consent provides the basis of what happens or will be happening in a counseling setting and serves to inform the client to their rights, responsibilities, and what to expect. Most importantly, the informed consent is in place for the client’s benefit. It also is important to understand that culture and environment play a role in the treatment of a client and how theories can positively or negatively impact this treatment. Therapists need to understand how to work within the context of a theory while being able to understand the individual in their own environment. Although theories are put into place to serve as a framework, there are also alternative ways to approach counseling, one example being evidence-based practice. Such an approach is very specific, which presents a series of solutions for counseling as a whole, but also brings forth many problems. Every approach or theory introduces ethical concerns that need to be taken into consideration by the entire counseling community and how each can positively and negatively affect clients and the pr...
New York, NY: Guilford Press. Gurman, A., (Ed.). Clinical Handbook of Couple Therapy (4th ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Smith, T. B., Rodríguez, M. D., & Bernal, G. (2011). Culture. In J. C. Norcross (Ed.), Psychotherapy relationships that work (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
The techniques used in marriage and family counseling can be different. For instance, counselors will sometimes handle family therapy in different ways than they would couples or marital therapy. Both family and marriage c...
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.
Koocher, G.P., & Keith-Spiegel, P. (2008). Ethics in psychology and the mental health professions. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.