Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships
Introduction
Ethical issues pertaining to professional boundaries are challenging and problematic. Boundary concerns involve circumstances in which counselors encounter conflicts between their professional line of duty and their business, sexual, social or religious relationships. Many boundary issues are unethical and problematic, however; it is good to note that not all cases are unethical or problematic. Therefore, in professional practice a counselor should establish a mechanism that can help him/her in determining whether a certain occurrence or boundary crossing act is ethical and problematic or not.
Making decisions on concerns about boundaries
In order to determine whether a certain instance of boundary crossing will be helpful or harmful, the client should use these steps as the determinant. Firstly, the counselor should try to visualize the worst and best possible outcomes of the crossing, and if there is any harm, are there ways that the harm can be addressed? The counselor should also consider looking at research papers and publications highlighting issues about that type of boundary. Thereafter, the counselor should consider ethical codes, guidelines, case law, legislation and any other resources that offer guidance on the boundary’s crossing. If all is not clear, the counselor should identify a colleague who can offer honest feedback and views (Pope & Keith-Spiegel, 2008).
The counselor should also pay attention to any form of doubts, uneasiness or confusion that comes to mind on reviewing the boundary crossing, and thereafter try to establish their causes. At the onset of therapy the counselor should explain to the client the kind of therapy that s/he will use. If the client seems uncomfortable the counselor should refer the client to another suitable colleague of equal qualifications. The counselor should also refer clients whose attributes make him/her uncomfortable to work with effectively Pope & Keith-Spiegel, 2008).
These outline of steps used in decision-making can be applied to various situations of boundary crossing within therapy. Boundary crossing may be exemplified by a client who loses her job, and as result; takes up a job at the counselor’s work place in order to pay for her therapy fee. In this case the client doubles up as a worker to the counselor and as such a dual relation develops. Lending of money to cash strapped clients is also a form of boundary crossing. Other forms of boundary crossing include decisions to go into business with clients as partners or inviting clients to a movie or game of golf after work or on the weekends.
As a counselor, I would consider each of these cases in the light of the outlined steps listed in order to determine dangers of crossing the involved boundaries. Personally, I would consider all these boundary crossing dilemmas unethical because they may compromise the future existence of a smooth client-counselor relationship. However, these types of boundaries may be crossed if the cases involve clients whose therapy sessions have been terminated. This is because the new relationship cannot affect the smooth ongoing of the client-counselor relationship. Termination of therapy changes the kind of existent relation-the active counselor-client relation turns dormant and thus allows boundary crossing with little concerns about possibilities of any harm.
References
Pope, S. K. and Keith-Spiegel, P. (2008). A Practical Approach to Boundaries in Psychotherapy: Making decisions, bypassing blunders and mending fences. Retrieved on 24th August, 2010 from, http://kspope.com/ethics/boundary.php.
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