Navigating Dual Relationships in Counseling: Maintaining Professional Boundaries

Mental health clinicians strive to create a safe, objective therapeutic space governed by ethical guidelines. However, dual relationships – where a therapist knows a client outside of therapy – can complicate this dynamic. This article explores the risks of dual relationships and strategies for maintaining professional boundaries.

Understanding the Ethical Landscape: What is a Dual Relationship?

A dual relationship occurs when a counselor and client are involved in more than one relationship simultaneously whether it be professional, financial, social, etc.

Typical scenarios involve offering therapy to a friend, colleague, relative, or anyone in your community or social circle.

It’s important to know that dual relationships ‘are not always unethical but are inherently complicated’ (Counselling Tutor).

The Core Risks of Dual Relationships in Therapy

There’s way too much potential for damage, which is why ethical guidelines so stridently warn against dual relationships. In situations of boundary ambiguity, there are several potential risks to the therapeutic enterprise. Some of these risks are:

• Loss of Objectivity: Pre-conceived relationships can muddy clarity and diminish effectiveness in therapy. A therapist with existing knowledge or ties may also find it difficult to remain objective and formulate non-biased interpretations or question the person about unsettling themes.
• Power Imbalance and Exploitation: As therapy by nature involves a power differential, that imbalance is often multiplied in a dual relationship. This increases the chance that the therapist may exploit the client, even accidentally. The blurring of roles adds ambiguity and potential for misuse that would not be present in a strictly therapeutic relationship.
• Confidentiality Breaches: What’s said in therapy should stay in therapy. If you also see the person in other contexts, the boundaries around what is shared in sessions can become blurred, risking accidental disclosures of confidential information.
• Confused Boundaries: Individuals can find it difficult to distinguish between the therapist responding as a therapist, or as a friend or colleague, which reduces the safety and clarity necessary for good therapy work.
• Damage to the Therapeutic Alliance: Inevitably, if trust is lost or the relationship feels fractured, it can undermine the therapeutic alliance, which is widely considered as the single most important factor for success within therapy.

Guidance From American Ethical Codes

There is no shortage of established scaffolding for ethical practice from major US professional organizations. Their ethical codes recognize the complexity of multiple relationships and emphasize protecting the client.

• American Counselling Association (ACA): The ACA Code of Ethics (Standard. A.6.) addresses managing and maintaining boundaries. It directly warns the counselor against non-professional relationships with clients and suggests a process by which to think about the extension of boundaries.
• American Psychological Association (APA): With the APA, their Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Standard 3.05) describe what a multiple relationship is, and how they are not ipso facto unethical. It states that psychologists must consider the implications of such relationships because they can create complex issues, and that therapists should not engage in multiple relationships that could reasonably be expected to impair their objectivity, competence or effectiveness.
• National Association of Social Workers (NASW): According to NASW Code of Ethics – 1.06 (c), social workers are prevented from engaging in dual or multiple relationships when such relationships may be harmful to the client. Where unavoidable, the code requires social workers to establish ‘clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries’.

Practical Strategies for Maintaining Professional Boundaries

Although not becoming involved with a client in other areas of life is the best course, separation within our professional relationship is an ongoing work.

• Set Clear Expectations: From the beginning, define what kind of relationship is being established, including agreed behavior and mutual respect.
• Be Clear About Your Role: Know and express what you can and cannot do within your professional role.
• Be Assertive: It is your duty as a professional to be assertive and let clients know if they are overstepping.
• Keep Your Relationship Professional: It can be very difficult to keep therapy neutral and safe if you form a relationship outside of the therapeutic relationship.
• Avoid Disclosing Personal Information: Disclosure of personal information about your life can soften the boundaries between you and your client and detract from the therapy.
• Don’t Seek Unnecessary Information: Gather only information that is relevant to the therapeutic process. You should not intrude into anything in their life outside of what affects them reaching the goal they want.
• Maintain Your Objectivity: You want to be able to see things as they are, unhampered by personal feelings and previous knowledge.
• Recognize and Manage Your Triggers: Know how you tend to react, especially from a place of emotion, and recognize the situations that might cause this on-the-job.
• Maintain Privacy and Confidentiality: This is the cornerstone of ethical care and should be fiercely guarded.
• Engage in Regular Clinical Reflection: Look over what you’re doing, the decisions that you’ve made, and how things have been operating. Supervision is not optional when there is a dual relationship.

Digital Boundaries and Unavoidable Roles

In the modern world, people get dual relationships coming out of nowhere. Social media, for example, is an ‘underestimated dual relationship’ platform according to Counselling Tutor. Keep a separate and private personal profile from which to operate and take steps to establish clear guidelines for interfacing on the internet.

Additionally, dual relationships are sometimes inevitable in rural or small communities. In such instances, the moral responsibility of the therapist is heightened. Detailed documentation of your ethical reasoning, close supervision and a clear management plan is required. Remote therapy emerges as a pragmatic response.

A Commitment to Ethical Vigilance

The dual relationship is a complex and nuanced space. Our adherence to ethical conduct, regular supervision, and strong boundaries ensures we protect the therapeutic alliance. And this is not just in order to avoid complaints and protect our reputation; it is because at the heart of all we are and do, we want our work to continue to be something that heals, grows, and truly looks after others.

Maintaining these ethics is essential for the safe, efficient, and life changing therapeutic services that you provide your clients. For a more in-depth understanding of ethical dilemmas and for developing your skills, browse our extensive catalogue of ethics and boundary courses.