Legal and Moral Issues in Therapy

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We trust our therapists with the most private details of our lives. We share our hopes, and confide our fears and struggles.  We trust that our therapists will help us in every way that they can. The progress of therapy is greatly influenced by the trust we have in our therapists. Needing this trust is only natural. After all, therapists are experts in helping people overcome their personal roadblocks to live healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Therapists hold impressive credentials, doctorates, and specialized Masters degrees, while also being licensed after rigorous exams by their home states to practice therapy. A good therapist can radiate a strong aura of confidence and compassion so strong, we immediately feel reassured. We know that when we’re vulnerable and need support, our therapist holds us in good hands.

But life isn’t perfect, and we can’t expect that just holding the credentials to perform therapy guarantees that a therapist will conduct himself or herself without making mistakes or lapses of judgment. It’s important for someone seeking therapy to be aware of the ethical and legal standards to which therapists are held. Knowing that your therapist is performing up to his or her professional standards can only help build the therapeutic bond between you and your therapist, and by the same token, knowing when your therapist may be falling short. This knowledge could protect you from upsetting, or even dangerous problems.

Since therapists are licensed to practice by their home states, the precise rules will differ depending on where your therapist is located. But all professional therapists are bound by the same set of broad standards.

Confidentiality

For many people looking into therapy for the first time, the first question on their mind is, will everything I tell my therapist be kept confidential? And the answer is a confirmed “Yes!” A therapist cannot disclose anything you tell him or her to anyone else without first having your explicit permission. The therapist’s duty to keep your private information private extends to other clients, your family members, your employer, and any other doctors or medical providers that you may see.

There is one exception: in many states, if a client tells a therapist that he or she is planning to commit a violent crime or commit suicide, the therapist may be legally obligated to notify the authorities for the purpose of preventing the client from harming other people or himself. But this is usually no cause for concern, since this exception only applies to the most extreme emergency situations.

Insider Info

Many people looking into therapy also want to know if the therapist can make private use of the personal details that a client reveals during a therapy session. For example, if a client tells her therapist that she is trying to sell a valuable piece of jewelry, can the therapist use the therapeutic relationship to buy the jewelry at a better price than the client would sell it to other people? Or if a client tells a therapist non-public information about the company he works for, can the therapist tell those secrets to a friend who works for a rival company, to give that friend an advantage at his job?

And here, the answer is a resounding “No!” A therapist can only use the information a client shares during a therapy session to help the client achieve his or her goals for therapy. The therapist cannot use the therapy for his or her personal gain, or to unfairly help other people who have no connection to the therapeutic relationship.

Dangerous Liaisons

Lastly, we should know where the boundary line falls in the relationship between therapist and client. Simply put, the relationship between the therapist and the client must always stay strictly professional on a personal level. It’s for everyone’s benefit. The very nature of therapy encourages a client to build a deep emotional and intellectual bond with his or her therapist. We trust our therapists, we like them as people, and we share everything important about our lives with them. But that bond can go too far, and cross into dangerous territory, if either the client or the therapist starts to see the therapeutic relationship as an opportunity for a romantic or intimate relationship. Professional standards do not allow therapists to go on dates with clients or have intimate relationships with clients.

But where, exactly, does the boundary line fall between acceptable and unacceptable interaction between therapist and client? As a rule of thumb, if a neutral observer could see the therapist and client together, and if that observer would think something inappropriate was happening, there might be real cause for concern.

Generally, a handshake, a comforting hug or pat on the shoulder, or exchanging greeting cards or inexpensive gifts at holidays or for birthdays would most likely be perfectly fine. If you’d like to give your therapist a holiday card, but aren’t sure if it would be okay, don’t feel embarrassed to ask! If both client and therapist happen by accident to see each other socially, for example, at the grocery store or at a coffee shop, there’s nothing wrong with having a pleasant chat or sharing a cup of coffee. And some therapy groups may choose to host group dinners, or plan a small social event as part of the group’s therapy work, which the therapist would naturally attend.

The lines become blurred if:

1.    one person wants to take the other to dinner at an expensive restaurant, or
2.    take the other on a vacation, or
3.    invites the other person to his or her home - and the purpose of seeing each other outside of a therapy session has no real connection to the client’s therapy goals.

If you feel like your therapist may be inviting you to do something inappropriate, or if you are tempted to ask your therapist to see you socially, it is probably a good idea to voice your feelings to your therapist. As a side note, though, it is accepted practice for a therapist to request and see home videos, photo albums, and other personal items, if those things help the therapist plan a course of therapy more effectively.

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that most therapists are highly-trained professionals and compassionate, caring people who want to help their clients in any way they can. It’s good to be aware of the professional standards of therapy, but the most important thing to do is to enter each therapy session trusting our therapists and doing our best to work with them to achieve our personal and life goals.

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