Ethics in Counseling
Ethics
Introduction
Counseling requires therapists and clients to build trust and a rapport. For clients to feel comfortable enough to explore their psychological challenges and issues affecting their lives, a therapist has to build a relationship based on confidentiality and trust. For the therapy program to be effective, the relationship between a client and a therapist has to have clear boundaries. Because effective therapy requires clear boundaries and ethical practices, therapists have to avoid social relationships and therapist-client attraction.
Therapist-Client Social Relationships
Social relationships between clients and counsellors or therapists can be unethical or ethical. Social relationships between a therapist and a client require mutual trust whereby needs and boundaries are respected, and one party will not misuse the other person’s vulnerability. Social relationships can be ethical when both the client and therapist are mental health practitioners interested in exploring each other’s techniques. It is ethical when both parties have agreed ahead of time. But when it comes to therapists and an ordinary client, the therapeutic relationship requires boundaries. According to the American Psychological Association (2020), psychologists have to avoid relationships with clients. Clear set boundaries ensure that the counselling program has a clear objective, the roles between the therapist and the client is clear, and there are guidelines for the therapy. As a result, treatment becomes effective. Once a therapy program is over, the therapist and client need to respect the boundaries that were set during the counselling program to ensure they are protected from harmful or exploitative therapists.
Therapist-Client Attraction
A therapist’s attraction to a client is a sensitive issue. It can be perceived as harmful, inappropriate, or it can be linked to abuse since the therapist has higher power compared to the client (APA, 2020). It would be unethical for a therapist to act on the feelings he or she has for a client because it is an abuse of power. Moreover, acting on the attraction, a therapist feels for a client can make a client feel exploited, harassed, or demeaned, which can be detrimental to their progress while in therapy. Therapists have the knowledge and ability to handle their attraction for a person in treatment. Therefore, when therapists feel they are attracted to clients, they can talk to a colleague and take appropriate steps to ensure they maintain an ethical therapeutic relationship. Also, they can seek counselling to resolve their feelings of attraction. If therapists cannot maintain an ethical therapeutic relationship or fail to address the attraction they have for a client, they can terminate the professional association and refer the client to another therapist. If clients admit to having feelings for a therapist, it can be addressed during the therapy session to understand the issues from their personal lives that might be manifesting as an attraction for the therapist. Also, it would be essential to develop boundaries with an explicit agreement that a relationship based on the attraction will not be established at the moment or in the future.
Conclusion
Social relationships between clients and therapists are not only ethically wrong; it is harmful to clients. Also, the attraction for clients is ethically wrong. Therefore, therapists have to ensure they do not act on the feelings of attraction they might have for the client. When clients admit to having feelings for a therapist, the therapist has to help a client address personal issues that are projected as an attraction for the therapist. That said, developing social relationships with a client is unethical because it exposes clients to abuse and exploitation from therapists and can have a detrimental impact on a client’s wellbeing.
References
American Psychological Association. Potential Ethical Violations. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/topics/ethics/potential-violations