Ethics of Multiple and Overlapping Relationships

Challenges and benefits of ethical small-community practice.

“…The field of rural psychology has done much to expand our ideas of what constitutes ethical practice in small communities. Dilemmas regarding professional boundaries, limited resources and limits of competence, community expectations and values differences, issues with other professionals, working with peer and other community helpers, and burnout are among the ethical issues that have been identified by psychologists who live and practice in rural and frontier communities (Schank, 1998; Schank & Skovholt, 1997, 2006; Schank, Slater, Banerjee-Stevens, & Skovholt, 2003).…”

Proposed Standard for Multiple Relationships in the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and the Code of Conduct

“…The civil courts could also use the current multiple relationships standard in an inconsistent manner for malpractice cases. Some boards continue to operate from the 1992 Standard for multiple relationships, stating that the 2002 change is at odds with the 1992 Standard (Bersoff, 2003;Schank, Slater, Banerjee-Stevens, & Skovholt, 2003). These applications and interpretations present risk management concerns for the profession of psychology.…”

“…The professional is responsible for judging conduct in relationships outside of therapy and how such conduct could potentially result in harm to the client (Schank et al, 2003). If the psychologist who is responsible for examining the multiple relationship for potential harm to the client has impaired objectivity, then there is definitely a problem according to the current APA (2002) Ethics Code (Schank et al, 2003). Due to the complex and often ambiguous nature of multiple relationships, Schank and colleagues (2003) caution the professional to stay away from developing multiple relationships at all.…”

“…First, the psychologist needs to gain a clear awareness of how much power he or she has in the relationship (Smith, 2003a), as this will help determine the likelihood for harm. In making an informed decision, the psychologist must also be aware of the vulnerability the client may experience (Schank et al, 2003). "This power continues even after the therapy relationship ends" (Schank et al, 2003, p. 183).…”

Ethical Reasoning and Mental Health Services with Deaf Clients

“…It is true that some types of multiple relationships are considered to be benign and would not be expected to compromise a client's services (Faulkner & Faulkner, 1997;Gutheil & Gabbard, 1993;Guthmann & Sandberg, 2002). However, there are ethical risks involved, specifically, the risk of the overlapping relationships causing harm to the client by reducing the clinician's objectivity, exploiting the client, compromising confidentiality, creating a conflict of interest, or decreasing the effectiveness of treatment (Kitchener, 2000;Schank, Slater, Banerjee-Stevens, & Skovholt, 2003).…”