Counselor Ethical Boundaries and Practices
PCN-505

Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships Dual relationships and the ethical behavior that revolves around boundaries with clients present a multitude of very complicated situations to counselors where a clearly defined course of action is not always evident. Aside from no accord amongst mental health professionals and boundary issues being unavoidable at times, recognition and prediction of potential benefits or pitfalls correlated with dual relationships can prove to be troublesome as well (Remley & Herlihy, 2010). For most cases, it is best if an outline is used to discern when it is appropriate for a counselor to breach the client-counselor boundary. Apart from the …show more content…

There would be no reason to ignore one another during games where both the counselor and client were both attending, but stepping up the relationship any further would seem to not really provide the client with any real benefit. This is a situation, however, that perhaps five or more years after the professional relationship had ceased could be a fair opportunity for a friendship if that was the natural course. If their children were on the same sports team for that entire duration and there were no outside factors that could bring potential harm to the well-being of the client, then I would see no problem with pursuing a friendship at point. Especially since continued contact would be inevitable as long as both children were members of the same team.
Development of Your Thinking about Ethics Upon nearing the conclusion of this class, it is easy for me to see that I have learned an incredible amount about myself and ethical behavior as it pertains to counseling. To be quite honest, I feel I have learned more about myself and the subject of the class than I ever expected at the onset. On our first day of class, the extent of my knowledge within the realm of counseling and ethics could be largely summed up as knowing that I shouldn’t have a romantic relationship with any clients and that their information about therapy should remain confidential. Not only have I clarified views and gained different insights to boundary