Tangled Relationships

by Reamer, Frederic G.

• ISBN13: 9780231121170
• ISBN10: 0231121172
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

Should a therapist counsel a former lover or accept a client's gift? If so, has a boundary been crossed? Some boundary issues, like beginning a sexual relationship with a client, are obvious pitfalls to avoid, but what about more subtle issues, like hugging a client or disclosing personal information to a client? What are the boundaries of maintaining a friendship with a former client or the relative of a client? When do conflicts of interest overburden the client-practitioner relationship?Frederic Reamer, a leading authority on professional ethics, offers a definitive and up-to-date analysis of boundary issues, a rapidly emerging topic in the field of human services. One of the only works in the field to provide a conceptual framework for the dual relationship between practitioner and client, this book provides an in-depth look at the complex forms these relationships take. It also gives practical risk-management models to aid human service professionals in the prevention of problematic situations and the managing of dual relationships. Reamer examines the ethics involving intimate and sexual relationships with clients and former clients, practitioners' self-disclosure, giving and receiving favors and gifts, bartering for services, and unavoidable and unanticipated circumstances such as social encounters and geographical proximity. Case vignettes that help illustrate important points are also included in each chapter.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships: Key Concepts	1	(54)
Boundary Issues in the Human Services	2	(6)
A Typology of Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships	8	(9)
Managing Dual Relationships	17	(3)
Sound Decision Making	20	(27)
The Role of Practitioner Impairment	47	(8)
Intimate Relationships	55	(44)
Sexual Relationships with Clients	55	(26)
Sexual Relationships with Former Clients	81	(4)
Counseling Former Sexual Partners	85	(2)
Sexual Relationships with Client's Relatives or Acquaintances	87	(3)
Sexual Relationships with Supervisees, Trainees, Students, and Colleagues	90	(2)
Physical Contact	92	(7)
Emotional and Dependency Needs	99	(23)
Friendships with Clients	101	(3)
Unconventional Interventions	104	(4)
Self-disclosure	108	(4)
Affectionate Communications	112	(3)
Community-based Contact with Clients	115	(7)
Personal Benefit	122	(26)
Barter for Services	122	(6)
Business and Financial Relationships	128	(5)
Advice and Services	133	(2)
Favors and Gifts	135	(8)
Conflicts of Interest	143	(5)
Altruism	148	(25)
Giving Gifts to Clients	148	(3)
Meeting Clients in Social or Community Settings	151	(5)
Offering Clients Favors	156	(4)
Accommodating Clients	160	(6)
Self-disclosing to Clients	166	(7)
Unavoidable and Unanticipated Circumstances	173	(21)
Geographic Proximity	173	(8)
Conflicts of Interest	181	(8)
Professional Encounters	189	(1)
Social Encounters	190	(4)
Epilogue	194	(5)
References	199	(12)
Index	211