Dual And Multiple Relationships Case Study

A dual or multiple relationship is a blend of professional and personal relationships (Gerald Corey, 2011). One might also say that dual or multiple relationships is the crossing of boundary lines. The writer of this paper would like to think of relationships as circles as opposed to straight lines. For example, a therapist’s role in therapy is simple a therapist, one circle with no end. However, that same therapist is a member of a community in which he or she has friendships. So the therapist has another circle as a friend, it too is a circle with no end. These two circle cannot connect or be broken. They will always stay intact. However, the two circles, therapist and friend, can overlap. It should also be noted that the same person can have many different circles, such as a wife, husband, mother, father, sister, brother or cousin, etc., these relationships could also be circles within the therapist’s life. However, for the purpose of this paper only the overlapping circles of therapist and friend will be viewed. It is this …show more content…
As a therapist, he or she, has guidelines built within the Code of Ethics under the subheading of Standard of Multiple Relationships (Gerald Corey, 2011). These codes provide a cautionary awareness of relationships that have the potential to disrupt the client/therapist relationship (Gerald Corey, 2011). While it is quite obvious that sexual relationships are unethical the overlapping circles become blurry in other dual or multiple relationships. Each therapist should be aware of his or her actions to make certain that those actions do not exploit or harm, his or her clients or are unethical (Gerald Corey, 2011). Perhaps the lens that can clear the blurriness is within the therapists review of his or her actions. It is important the therapist regularly review his or her motives and actions when involved in a dual or multiple