Verified Document

Professional Psychology Counseling Ethics Essay

¶ … Jane and Benny, most professional organizations expressly forbid sexual relationships between psychologists and former clients for at least two years after the termination of the therapeutic relationship. According to the American Psychological Association, developing sexual intimacy with former therapy patients or clients are "frequently harmful to the patient or client," (APA, 2010, Standard 10.08). Jane and Benny might not realize it now, but the harm may be subtle, in the form of the development of unhealthy dependency. Moreover, the APA (2010) notes that intimacies between psychologists and former clients often "undermine public confidence in the psychology profession and thereby deter the public's use of needed services," (Standard 10.08). Given the imperative to providing effective psychological services to former inmates to help them become strong, functional, and independent, it is important that psychologists refrain from engaging in sexual or romantic intimacy with former clients. Only in "the most unusual circumstances" would an intimate relationship be condoned, and it is doubtful that Jane and Benny could call their situation "most unusual." Granted, they may both claim that Benny's need for a place to stay and a friend will prove to be ultimately beneficial for him, especially given his history with social...

Jane and Benny may argue that their relationship was unusual in some way. Yet the Australian Counselling Association (2014) does not offer any leeway in the development of relationships between former clients and their psychologists. In fact, the Australian Counselling Association (2014) claims that it is unethical for any relationship -- sexual or not -- to develop between psychologists and their former clients within a two-year period following termination of therapy. The Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (2014) claims that even after two years have elapsed, the psychologist should refrain from intimacy with former clients.
Likewise, the American Psychological Association offers a period of two years, after which the psychologist is still discouraged from pursuing the relationship. Some professional organizations request even longer periods of time to elapse before the commencement of a romantic relationship between a psychologist and former client. For example, the Code of Ethics for the Association for Addiction Professionals (n.d.) states that the addiction professional "will not, under any circumstances, engage in sexual behavior with current or former clients" (Statement 4). Given that Jane had been treating Benny in part for substance abuse issues, the Association for Addiction Professionals applies to this case. Section a.5.c…

Sources used in this document:
References

American Counseling Association (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Retrieved online: http://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

American Psychological Association (APA, 2010). Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Retrieved online: http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/principles.pdf

Association for Addiction Professionals (n.d.). Code of ethics. Retrieved online: http://www.naadac.org/code-of-ethics

Australian Counselling Association (2014). Code of ethics and practice. Retrieved online: http://www.theaca.net.au/documents/ACA%20Code%20of%20Ethics%20v8.pdf
Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (2014). Code of ethics. Retrieved online: http://www.pacfa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/PACFA-Code-of-Ethics.pdf
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Counseling Ethics Indiana Counseling Ethics the State
Words: 738 Length: 2 Document Type: Research Paper

Counseling Ethics Indiana Counseling Ethics The state of Indiana, like all other states, regulates the professionals within their state to ensure that they comply with state law. Ethical requirements are maintained by the state's individual counseling agency; in this case the Indiana Counseling Association. Guidance for licensure is controlled by the state's licensing agency the Indiana Professional Licensing Administration. Through the efforts of these three agencies, professional counselors understand the constraints and

Psychology Counseling
Words: 1479 Length: 4 Document Type: Thesis

However, they should also know what aspects of they reveal are confidential. An adolescent should know if he or she says that he 'hates his parents' that the therapist does not have a responsibility to 'tattle' to the client's parent, even if the parent is paying for the session 2b. Discuss 2 counseling situations where duty to warn would be necessary. What would be the ethical issues involved: If the

Psychology Counseling One Thing That
Words: 1306 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

This handbook was compiled as a remedy in the form of a sourcebook or guide to current work on free will and related subjects for those who wish to keep up with the latest research. (p. 3) What is often called "the free will issue" or "the problem of free will," when viewed in historical perspective, is related to a cluster of philosophical issues -- all of them to be

School Counseling Ethics Has Been
Words: 7187 Length: 25 Document Type: Term Paper

other values Moral character, that is, having courage, being persistent, dismissing distractions and so on in pursuit of the goal. These are attempts to define ethics by describing actions, and fairly specific constellations of actions at that. Frederich Paulson, a 19th century philosopher of ethics, defined ethics as a science of moral duty (1899). Almost 100 years later, Swenson also used the concept of study in defining ethics, saying that it included

Ethical Issues in Family and Marital Therapy
Words: 3218 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

Ethical Issues in Family and Marital Therapy It has been mentioned that insufficiencies of the APA ethical standards for marriage and family therapy have not been appreciated fully. Guidelines that are in regards to the therapist accountability, confidentiality, and informed consent can really just sometimes turn out to be unclear with individual clients, nevertheless they are even more complex when multiple family associates are observed together when they are in therapy.

Ethical Decision-Making Process
Words: 2050 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

Ethical Decision Making Process The case study at hand involves a number of issues. The first and foremost is that of the treatment and counseling of an addict that refuses to admit that he has a problem that needs to be dealt with in order for him to not only lead a normal healthy life but also might have implications for his family life. Additionally, the patient involved refuses to keep

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now