Sexual Dual Relationships in Counselling

Sexual Dual Relationships in Counselling Name Institution Abstract Counseling is a very beneficial process that helps clients get back to their normal functioning and thus making it possible to enjoy their lives. It is a process required for people who have lost interest in activities they were initially interested in, are depressed and anxious, or are unable to control their emotions among others. The aim is to make their lives worth living and restore hope to those who have lost it. However, this practice is challenged when dual relationships are developed since this changes the focus of the counseling. Instead of meeting and discussing more on how to address the identified issues, the focus is on how to continue with their sexual intimacy. In cases in which the encounter happens once, the relationship loses trust since the client sees the therapist from a negative perspective. It also becomes a great challenge to the therapist once he is reported in court. This essay will highlight further on the issue of sexual dual relationships in counseling. Sexual Dual Relationships in Counseling Each day, counselors/ mental health professionals interact with their clients in different therapy settings. In each of the closed context, the aim is to form a therapeutic alliance in order to help clients address their mental health concerns. Establishment of the primary relationship is very important because it determines how the recovery process would be. However, it is possible for different other relationships (apart from the therapeutic alliance) to emerge during the treatment process or immediately after termination. This can be considered in the case of clients and therapists, who share a church, have a common friend, live in the same neighborhood, or meet often at the shopping mall. These regular encounters outside the primary relationship lead to non-primary relationships that challenge daily practice of professionals ethically. The emerging relationships might make it impossible ensure confidentiality or even maintain professional distance. Definition of Dual Relationships According to Kitson and Serlinger (2017), dual relationships occur whenever therapists and/or the clients initiate relationships different from the preconditioned relationships within therapy settings. It is worth noting that dual relationships can occur during, prior, or after the therapy process begins. As explained by Pope, Sonne and Greene (2006) dual relationships have all along been associated with negative consequences such as sexual transgressions and client exploitation. However, currently, relationships outside the therapeutic relationships are wide. They include non-professional relationships such as having children in the same school to more serious issues such as having private relationships with patients, taking gifts, socializing with clients in their daily practices, and engaging in physical contact. With these types of relationships, mental health professionals cross the boundary thus adversely affecting clients’ rights and leading to unjust sexual contacts. Even with view as immoral and linked with harm and abuse of clients, dual relationships continue to exist in the counseling practice. This means that therapists who engage in such practice do ...