Toula is a college counselor who is well known on campus for her skill and compassion in helping students cope with relationship problems. Currently, Andrew is one of her clients. He came to counseling because he is distraught that his girlfriend, Collette, ended their relationship. Andrew is making slow progress, but still hopes that the will be able to rekindle the relationship with Collette at some point. Louisa is another of Toula’s clients. One day Louisa enters counseling feeling happier than she has in months. She reports that she has met a new lover, Collette, with whom she is very happy. After hearing Louisa describe Collette, she is fairly certain that it is the same woman with whom Andrew was involved. Toula decides to continue counseling both Andrew and Louisa, determined to maintain the confidentiality of each person’s disclosures.
Answer 1(Peer) paragraph
Traci Williams
This situation if nothing else, it is a gross conflict of interest. When Toula discovered Collette had moved on with Louisa, she should have recommended Louisa to someone else. Louisa is in a better place than Andrew, so Toula could recommend she see someone else for the remainder of her sessions since she seems to be making progress. More than 1,300 psychologists identified dual relationships as the second most frequently reported ethical dilemma with harmful therapeutic effects that include erosion of the therapeutic relationship, conflict of interest, and limiting the benefits of therapy after termination to which the avoidance of dual relationships by counselors appears to be a logical course of action (Nigro, 2004, p. 53-54). Part of the complexity of dual-relationship issues is that the practitioner does not always consider them harmful (Nigro, 2004, p.54). This is the issue Toula is having. She does not seem the harm in counseling Louisa and Andrew, which, as I stated before, is a severe conflict. Accidentally disclosing to either of them about the other could do unnecessary harm and/or cause irreversible damage. As a counselor, “first do no harm” is a principal that Toula has forgotten.
