Posted by pinkeye on May 3, 2005, at 22:06:29
In reply to Re: Is it really harmful to be friends with T ? » happyflower, posted by Dinah on May 3, 2005, at 21:56:33
Dinah,
If a rule is a rule, then it should be applicable everywhere - whether small town or large town etc.The very fact that therapists and ethics think it is ok in a small town and not ok in a large town indicates how arbitrary this rule is. People are people. Period. Their needs and desires don't change in a small town and a large town. Why would I and my T feel differently just because we are in a small town or in a large town?
According to me, the only forbidden thing in a therapy client relationship is having sexual or friendly or business transactions during the course of therapy. Because that really conflicts with the purpose of thearpy. After termination, they are two adults, and what they do is purely their buisiness. To be on the safe side, maybe ethics commitee can put a time limit - say 2 year for any sexual relationship to occur. But beyond that, ethics committee really has no business directing how a former patient should relate to a former T. And especially in this modern world, therapeutic relationship is becoming more and more common. I might decide to go to therapy for a brief issue, and if just the fact that I went to therapy has to be the deciding factor in my future relationship with my T forever, I think that is totally wrong.
Just my 2 cents. People feel differently about this one.
poster:pinkeye
thread:493094
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050428/msgs/493386.html