Ethical concerns have echoed across all professions in recent years indicating the need to incorporate appropriate ethical frameworks in and out of the workplace. How professionals conduct themselves determine the quality of image relayed to the public and stakeholders of the respective professions. It is, therefore, important to consider various ethical responsibilities that are associated with the different professions to ensure that the practices carried out are consistent with the ethical expectations of the society at large (Owens et al., 1998). However, there exist several ethical dilemmas relating to particular professions especially counseling. Therefore, there are various ethical boundaries and practices concerning counselors that need to be considered to ensure the effectiveness of the services delivered to clients. For instance, the issue of boundary and dual relationships has been a subject of great concern in the counseling practice. The paper will, therefore, highlight the various moral and clinical worries that counselors go through on a daily basis.
Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships
Decision-Making Model and Counseling Examples
Boundaries refer to the rules that clarify which behaviors are acceptable or unacceptable within the professional counseling relationships. On the other hand, dual relationships occur where multiple roles exist between the counselor and the client. In the face of such ethical situations in my practice, I would consider taking an action that will reasonably not impair my effectiveness as a professional counselor. It is actually important to consider how various boundary-crossing situations facilitate the effectiveness of my counseling services. Avoiding social contact with the client will render the counseling exercise ineffective. Locking out me from the social life of the client will mean that I will only use the information from the client for analysis hence limiting the effectiveness of the counseling process. Information from the client may be biased hence the need to carry out observations regarding the condition of the particular client (Burns et al., 2004). Declining gifts from the clients can have injurious effects on the therapeutic process as the gesture may be interpreted negatively by the client. It will, therefore, be necessary to put the issues of boundary crossing and dual relationships open to the clients and discuss the risks and benefits associated with the various issues.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
There are various cases in my profession that will exhibit boundary crossing or dual relationships that need critical analysis to ensure that I make appropriate decisions as a professional counselor. Additionally, I should uphold the values and the social expectations regarding my profession to facilitate quality service delivery. For instance, I may give a supporting hug to a grieving client. The physical contact may, however, be misinterpreted by the client for physical attraction. The client may further wish to advance the perceived gesture by developing emotional contact with me. In such a situation, I will need to discuss the issue in detail with the client regarding the associated risks of the dual relationship and document the resolutions.
In the course of my practice, I may encounter my employer who needs my services as a counselor. As such, there will be an ethical dilemma as to how I will attend to him or her. The fact that the individual is my employer should not deter me from effectively discharging my services with utmost precision. I will raise the concern with the individual pointing out the potential risks that our relationship may present to the outcome of the therapeutic process. We will then agree on the best way to address the issue. I will be keen to steer the process to achieve the objectives of the counseling process.
The other dual relationship issue is handling business relationship concurrently with a client. I may need to purchase a car from our locality, and it happens that my client is the owner of the car yard in the locality. The choice of whether to buy the car from my client or elsewhere will be hard to make given the situation. Buying the car from the client will deter me from negotiating for the price of the car as it will be deemed as exploitative. Buying a car elsewhere will injure our counseling relationship with the client because of the lost opportunity for business. As such, there will be a need to exercise caution on my part by discussing the issue with the client until we come to an agreement regarding the issue.
Attending a performance done by one of my shy clients may be viewed as a boundary crossing issue. In essence, it is important for me to attend the performance because the observations I will carry out will contribute to my effectiveness as a counselor. This means therefore that I will cross the boundaries and condone dual relationships as much as they will not impair the effectiveness of my services.
Ethical Issues and Dimensions
The primary role of a counselor is to promote the wellbeing and social welfare of individuals in the society. The counselors should uphold applicable boundaries even in the face of seemingly uncontrollable circumstances (Simon et al., 2007). However, various dimensions change regarding the dual relationship issues between counselors and their clients. The length of time after the termination of the therapy is a significant determinant as to when a dual relationship can be initiated.
Initiating a dual relationship immediately after the therapy may create a potential ethical issue as it is considered that the client is still undergoing an emotional transition (Brown et al., 2000). As such, a dual relationship may constitute a breach of the professional values of the counseling profession. Moreover, the move might be considered as exploitative on the part of the client. Sexual and dual business relationships should, therefore, be avoided during such a time when the therapy was recently terminated.
Any dual relationship, however, initiates long after the therapy has been terminated appropriately as the counselor has no professional attachment to the client. The relationship, therefore, will not be overly associated with the former therapeutic relationship. Therefore the aspect of exploitation and power-play between the counselor and the client will be a forgotten issue.
For instance, a dual sexual relationship with a current client is considered a boundary violation. However, it will be appropriate when initiated long after the therapy has been terminated. It will be viewed as a mutual consent between the two parties outside the constraints of a counselor-client relationship.
Professional Collaboration in Counseling
Working with a Multidisciplinary Team
A multidisciplinary team refers to a group of people with complementary skills committed to a common purpose for which they hold themselves mutually accountable (Byrn, 2004). Collaboration facilitates the division of labor hence efficiency in service delivery. This ensures that counselors perform duties specific to their roles and leave other duties to be handled by the respective professionals. The collaboration initiatives also contribute to appropriate decision making because of enhanced information sharing platform.
As a counselor, I would commit to discharge my duties based on informed decisions. I would seek relevant information from respective team members regarding every aspect that relates to a specific discipline. This will ensure that we work with the members towards a common objective in relation to the mental health of the patient. I would ensure that as a counselor, I discharge my therapeutic services diligently.
Collaboration is an effective model for dealing with a wide array of mental illnesses in the society. The relative advantages of the model make it ideal to be incorporated in the social frameworks regarding mentally related illnesses or disorders.
Relationship with Supervisors
Dual relationships also exist between the supervisors and counselors. The supervisor may be involved in a dual sexual relationship with the counselor (Lazarus et al., 2004). Like in the case of a counselor-client relationship, such a dual relationship may impair the effectiveness of the both the supervisor and the counselor achieving their objective. However, the dual relationships between the supervisor and the counselor are hard to handle due the dilemmas and complexities involved. Another ethical issue may arise in relation to the apparent mistakes made by the counselor. The supervisor may be held responsible based on direct and vicarious liability on the part of the supervisor
In the case of unethical conduct among my fellow counselors, I would discuss the details of the issue and the associated risks to establish a solution. It is, however, important to point out that the counselors should uphold the values of the profession at all costs to ensure that the credibility of the profession is sustained.
Development of My Thinking about Ethics
It is demonstrable how ethics shapes the practices in the profession of counseling. The expectations of the society regarding how practicing counselors should conduct themselves are critical in determining what should be done by the counselors (Carrier et al., 1995). It is clear that dual relationships and boundary violation contribute to serious ethical issues relating to the counseling profession. Therefore it is important to consider all the risks associated with crossing boundaries as well as allowing dual relationships in counseling. I understand that as a counselor, I will face various ethical dilemmas in the field that will require critical analysis to ensure that I meet the standards of the profession. I also learned that there are situations that inevitably necessitate crossing boundaries as well as allowing the dual relationship to make my services effective.
References
Brown, B., Crawford, P. & Darongkamas, J. 2000. Blurred roles and permeable boundaries: The experience of multidisciplinary working in community mental health. Health and Social Care in the Community .
Burns, T. 2004. Community Mental Health Teams: A guide to current practices .Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Byrne, M. 2005. Community mental health team functioning: A review of the literature. The Irish Psychologist .
Owens, P., Carrier, J., Horder, J. 1998 . Interprofessional Issues in Community and Primary Health Care. Macmillan, London.
Simon, R,. 1989. Sexual Exploitation of Patients: How it Happens Before it Happens. Psychiatric Annals
Lazarus, A., Zur, O., 2004. Dual Relationships and Psychotherapy. New York. Springer.
