Dual Rlationships

LaMarr Allen

HSM 420- Legal and Ethical Issues in Human Services

Colorado State University – Global Campus

Suzie Johnson

August 5, 2015

A “Dual Relationship” refers to any situation where multiple roles exist between a therapist and a client. Besides having sex with a client, other examples of dual relationships are, engaging in therapy with a student, friend, or business associate. The original prohibition on dual relationships in therapy emerged from two sources. Professional, federal, and state regulatory agencies developed the prohibition in an attempt to prevent therapists from exploiting and harming clients (Dewane 2010). Traditional psychoanalysis developed such prohibition for theoretical-analytic and clinical transferential reasons.

A debate has emerged about dual relationships. On one side are those who support avoiding dual relationships at all costs. On the other side are those who say these relationships are situationally and contextually determined. They argue that being too dogmatic about avoiding dual relationships diminishes the essence and authenticity of social work (Dewane 2010).

Ethical issues related to professional boundaries are common and complex. Issues of exploitation in general, and sexual or business

exploitation in particular, are appropriately at the forefront of consumer advocates’ agendas. The valid concern is that helping professionals, especially, can easily exploit their clients by using

their positions of power for personal gain. Hence, the effort to curtail exploitation and to protect consumers from harm is indeed essential.

The social work Code of Ethics stipulates that if a dual relationship is exploitative, whether it begins before, during, or after a professional relationship, it should be avoided (Freud, S., & Krug, S). There is room for interpretation, and many of the dual relationships social workers encounter are much more subtle than the exploitation of a sexual relationship: developing a...