DUAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THERAPIST AND CLIENT

Course overview

Course Description: This course is based upon material published in the Professional Psychology: Research and Practice by the American Psychological Association and is available as an open access article via the web link: http://kspope.com/dual/research2.php 4,800 psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers were surveyed (return rate = 49%) to examine attitudes and practices regarding dual professional roles, social involvements, financial involvements, and incidental involvements. Half of the participants rated the degree to which each behavior was ethical; the other half reported how often they engaged in each behavior. A majority believed dual role behaviors to be unethical under most conditions; most reported that they had rarely or never engaged in the behaviors. 10 factors (therapist gender, profession, age, experience, marital status, region of residence, client gender, practice setting, theoretical orientation, and practice locale) were examined for their relation to beliefs and behaviors. A higher proportion of male than of female therapists engaged in sexual and nonsexual dual relationships. The professions did not differ among themselves in terms of: (a) sexual involvements with clients before or after termination, (b) nonsexual dual professional roles, (c) social involvements, or (d) financial involvements with patients. 10 specific training implications are discussed in light of the potentially exploitive and clinically harmful nature of some dual relationships. This course on dual relationships between therapists and client is designed for social workers, professional counselors, and psychologists, who do clinical work. This course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop their understanding of attitudes and practices related to dual professional roles and relationships. The course material includes a brief literature review. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require clinical continuing education courses for license renewal. The course is based on a journal article which includes research. It contains statistical analysis and data that some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not. A major benefit of reading research based articles for continuing education is they provide practitioners with the latest findings in their field.