THERE SHOULD BE TWO REFERENCE FOR THIS PAPER
1. Summarize and share your response to the activity.
I felt a lot of interesting feelings as I completed the Boundary Issues Survey (Remley & Herlihy, 2023). I felt myself lingering between always never ethical or rarely ethical on most of the questions. As I read into the text, many of the explanations stated that there is not an actual law in most of these scenarios, so we as therapists must really rely on the Code of Ethics. I remember strictly reading in the Code of Ethics that we should not enter into friendships with clients even after therapy ends (American Counseling Association, 2014). I also remember reading that we should not barter our services with clients, but in the textbook it explains bartering is not prohibited, but also not encouraged. I find it interesting that the Code of Ethics doesn’t make things more matter of fact. This survey was definitely a reminder of all the ethical codes we read about just a week or two ago and I’m glad there were examples in our textbooks to go deeper.
2. Were there any questions that gave you pause?
Yes, question number ten, “would you share personal experiences as a member of a self-help group when a client is in attendance” gave me pause. In a self-help group, I would be there with my guard down initially, and seeing a client would probably throw me off. If it were a client I was actively working with, I probably would refrain from sharing that week and try to find a new self-help group for myself. If it was a client that I’d met with years previously and it had been a while and it felt okay, I might still share, but I’m still learning towards no. I’d love to hear insight from anyone reading my post on their thoughts.
3. Were there any that you marked as always ethical or always unethical?
There were zero that I marked as always ethical and quite a few that I marked as never ethical. 1, 2 ,3, 7, 8, and 11 always felt unethical to me. Maybe over time my outlook on ethics will change, but as for now, there are no instances when I can see myself finding it ethical to engage with clients in the way the questions asked that I listed above. For example, babysitting my children occasionally. I cannot foresee a time when that would ever be ethical to have a client do. Same with engaging in therapy with a friend. I might give my friend a listening ear, as a friend, but I would never invite them into a therapeutic setting with me as a client. I would offer them a recommendation to someone else if they wanted one.
4. How will this exercise help to guide your professional and ethical choices?
This exercise was great in getting me to decide on what some of my boundaries are ahead of time while gaining perspective from the textbook and my classmates on their thoughts and viewpoints. A boundary that came to mind for me going forward is that if I ever saw a client in public, outside of counseling, I would act like I didn’t know my client unless they engaged first. I would also inform them that this is the game plan should we ever see each other out in public. That way the client would know they would never have to explain to someone who I was, unless they engaged in public and felt comfortable. I was able to play through some scenarios in my mind because of this activity and actively plan ahead for how I will respond in some of these more questionable topics within my client relationships.
References
American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=55ab73d0_1
Remley, T. P., & Herlihy, B. (2024). Ethical, legal, and professional issues in counseling (6th ed.). Pearson.