In response to your peers, provide feedback on a viewpoint that differs from yours.
1# I’m in total agreements with not blending friendships with clients. It is important to not mix the professional relationship with friendships as stated in APA codes of ethic for healthcare professionals. Though some counselors will develop special relationships with clients in which the have great compassion for, the overall importance of protecting your personal life from clients, to ensure that the Code Of Ethics are not crossed. When a client engage in a friendship with a counselor, the treatment serious, and not receive the benefit of counseling, and therapist may misuse their power, exploiting clients for self benefit. Therefore, a therapist must maintain proper work decorum, keeping the relationship with clients professional. In addition, the success of treatment greatly depends on creating these boundaries to maximize the effectiveness for therapeutic approaches for treatment. In spite of the fact, blending friendships is not illegal, but seen as unethical, which may create a lot of problems for a counselor both professionally and personally, and affect the outcome for improvement in the client treatment. Becoming friends with clients can also result in disciplinary action by the organization in which you are employed, be seen as an ethical lapse, and a possible disservice for a clients success rate in session. In addition, losing your credentials isn’t worth all the time and effort your put into your studies for the friendship with a client. Although, opening up to clients and given them a sense of comfortability, give client the courage to open up more to counselors, and view their counselor as a confidant, mixing business with pleasure is never good, and at some point cross the line of ethics and boundaries.
What are your boundaries for clients and creating relationships?
2# Counselors should not be friends with their clients. Once this line is crossed the counselor/client relationship can never be the same. Your client should only be sharing their issues and concerns, and once a counselor becomes a friend they also start sharing their own problems. A client can no longer focus on themselves exclusively. “Psychotherapy is by necessity an imbalanced relationship (Holmes L. Phd 2022) Being friends with a client creates a dual relationship and therefore does not allow the client to feel that the counselor is safe, and caring and wants to help you figure out your problems not their own.
Question for class: What would you do if a client wanted to know about your personal life?