Counselling Dilemma: Two Separate Clients Crossing Paths

Counselling Dilemma: Two Separate Clients Crossing Paths ... In this case, the potential conflict facing a counsellor seeing both clients is ... Home StudentSupportCentres TollFree 1800657667 LimitedTimeOnly$149. Normally$495(70%off) LearnMore 14-daymoneybackguarantee CounsellingConnection>CounsellingDilemmas>CounsellingDilemma:TwoSeparateClientsCrossingPaths CounsellingDilemma:TwoSeparateClientsCrossingPaths Tweet Share 0 Reddit Pocket LinkedIn 0 Email Youhavebeenretainedbyacompanytocounselamemberofstaffwhoiscurrentlyonstressleavefromherjob.Duringthefirstsessionwiththispersonyoudiscoverthatherimmediatesupervisorisaprivateclientwhohasbeencomingtoyouforcounsellingforsometime.Thestaffmembertellsyouthatthissupervisoristhemaincauseoftheproblemswhichhaveledtoherbeingonstressleave. Asthecounsellor,whatwouldyoudonext? AIPC August26,2009 9608 3 CounsellingDilemma,Relationships CounsellingDilemmas AIPC AustralianInstituteofProfessionalCounsellors Comments:3 Recognisingthissituationasonewhichhasimplicationsforthewell-beingofeachclientinvolvesaprocessknownasmoralsensitivity(Welfel,1998). Inweighinguptheneedformoralactioninthiscase,acounsellorwillneedtoconsiderthepossibleconsequencesarisingfromthesituationandisalsolikelytoseekguidanceonthematterfromasupervisororformalethicalguidelines. OnesuchavenueistheCodeofEthicsprovidedbytheAustralianPsychologicalSociety,aguidetoapplyingtheprinciplesofprofessionalconduct. Althoughhavingnoguidelineswhichrelatedirectlytothissituation,generalprinciplesindicatethatwemustbecognisantofthereasonablyforeseeableconsequencesofouractions(1a)andthatthewelfareofclientsshalltakeprecedenceovertheinterestsoftheorganisationemployingus(III). Thereisapotentialforharmtooneorbothclientsinthissituation.Thismaytaketheformofabreachofconfidentiality,forexampleifthecounsellorinadvertentlymentionsinformationtooneclientthathasbeenrevealedtohim/herbytheother.Thereisalsothepossibilityforlossoftrustshouldoneorbothclientsdiscovertheyareseeingthesamecounsellor. Acounselloracceptingthismoralresponsibilitywillneedtoconsiderandevaluateallthepossibleresponsestothedilemmaposed,apracticereferredtoasmoralreasoning(Welfel,1998). Therearetwoprimarycoursesofactionacounsellorinthissituationcouldconsider: Continueseeingbothclients Informthenewclientshewillneedtobereferredelsewhere. Howdowechoosewhichcourseofactiontotake?Thereisnolegalmandateinthissituationhencethisbecomesaquestionofethics.Indecidingonasuitablecourseofaction,severalpointsneedtobetakenintoconsideration. Ifcontinuingtoseebothclients: CanIguaranteetheconfidentialityofeachparty? HowwillIdealwithanyadversereactionsshouldtheyinadvertentlydiscovertheysharethesamecounsellor? Ifdecidingnottoseethenewclient: HowdoImaintaintheoriginalclient?sconfidentialitywhenexplainingthesituationtothenewclient? HowdoIexplainthesituationtothecompanythatcontractedmewithoutbreachingtheoriginalclient?sconfidentiality? Inansweringthesepoints,bothpracticalandethicalissuesarise.Oneareawhichwillinfluencethecourseofactiontakenisthecounsellor?slevelofexperience.Abeginningcounsellormaydecide,afterassessingtheclientandconferringwithasupervisor,torefertheclienttoacolleagueonthebasisofnotbeingthemostsuitableorqualifiedpersontomeettheclient?sneeds. Thiswouldallowthecounselloranalternativetobreachingtheoriginalclient?srighttoprivacywhenexplainingthesituationtothenewclient. Amoreexperiencedcounsellormaydecidetheyareabletomaintainprofessionalboundarieswhileseeingbothclients,believinghe/shecanrefrainfromrevealinginformationtooneclientgiventothecounsellorbytheother. Thiswouldnecessitateregularsupportviasupervisiontokeepaclearviewofthesituation,alongwiththeneedfortactfulschedulingofappointments. Thishoweverdoesnotaddressthepotentialnegativeconsequencesshouldoneorbothclientsdiscovertheyareconfidinginthesameperson.Thisbringsustoanotherareainfluencingtheeventualcourseofaction,thepotentialreactionfromtheclient(s). Thecounsellorandsupervisormaymakeaprimafacieassessmentofthepotentialforharmbasedoneachclient?stemperamentasnotedbythecounsellortodate.Aclientshowingatendencytowardssuspicionoranger,oronewithtrustissues,willbemorevulnerableinthissituationthanamorelaid-backclient. Onelastpointforthecounsellortoconsideristheactualissuementionedbythenewclient.Isherassertionthathersupervisoristhemaincauseofherstressacluetoamoregeneralinterpersonalproblem(i.e.blamingothers)thanaspecificdifficultybetweenthetwo? Thismayormaynotbethecase,butitwouldmeanthefocusofcounsellingwouldbemoreonaddressingirrationalthoughtsandskilldeficitsthandealingspecificallywiththesituationatwork.Inthiscase,thepotentialconflictfacingacounsellorseeingbothclientsisminimised. Reply Thiscasewouldcreateproblemswithconfidentiality.TheCounsellorwouldbeawareofinformationabouttheclient?ssituationduetopreviousdiscussionswiththeclient?ssupervisor.Ifeitherclientbecameawareofthecounsellorseeingbothofthem,thentheclientswouldcorrectlyassumethatthecounsellorhadbeendiscussingtheircasewiththepersontheyareinconflictwith. Thiscouldresultinalossoftrustandabreakdowninrapport.Theaggrievedclientmayseeklegalredressforthesuspectedbreachinconfidentiality.TheCounsellorwouldneedtoadvisetheclientthattheyareunabletoprovidecounsellingandrefertheclient. Theclientwouldneedanexplanationthatdidnotuncoverthenameoftheirco-workerwhoisalreadyattendingcounselling. Reply Thisdilemmaisquitecomplicated. Possibilitiesuponpossibilities,scenariosuponscenarioscamestormingintomyheadinordertofindthebestsolutioninordertoavoidanyproblemsfortheclient?counselorrelationship. ThisiswhentheEthicalDecisionMakingFlowchart(onpg.6ofTHEPROFESSIONALCOUNSELLOR,Issue01,2011),wasveryhelpful.WhenIreachedtothe(3)teststotheactiondecidedupon,itbecamecleartomethattheactionthatIwouldtakewouldbetoreferthenewclienttoanothercounselor. ThisactionIwould: a)recommendtoanothercounselor(Universsality) b)behappytohavethisactionreportedbythemedia(Publicity) c)treatothersthesameinasimilarsituation(Justice) Thisaction: 1)isforthebestinterestofthenewclient 2)istosafeguardthetherapeuticrelationshipwiththeprivateclient 3)willpreventthecounselorfromunnecessarystressandanxiety Reply LeaveaReplyCancelreplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*CommentName* Email* Website We'llkeepyourinformationprivateandneversell,rent,trade,orshareitwithanyotherorganisation!Andyoucancancelanytime. 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