The therapist knew based on his sessions with the client, that she was an alcoholic struggling with her addiction. Even after knowing this fact he would condone her drinking by consuming alcohol with her. Drinking with the client that clearly has an addiction is not avoiding foreseeable harm. Additionally the therapist vilolated ethical code 3.08 Exploitive Relationships, Psychologist do not exploit clients whom they have authority over (APA, 2003). The therapist role is superior and portrays power, more than likely the therapist had knowledge of the client’s addiction and he took advantage of her troubled state for his own gain. There is a possibility that he titled the drinking as, “building rapport.” This false belief cause’s harm to the client; the client probably already used alcohol to socialize and “build rapport” with others. The therapist reinforced the bad behavior, and belief …show more content…
The client should also be informed that a formal report will be made. If a sexual relationship occurred and the client was a minor, the following organizations must be informed: the board of psychology, the police and the department of children’s services. The department of children’s services can also be contacted by the therapist for consultation before actually reporting the incident. In addition the client must be given a pamphlet titled ,“Professional Therapy Never Includes Sex," this information includes an explanation of the standards of professional conduct expected - and required by a therapist (Brown, 2015). If the therapist engaged in a sexual relationship with the client he would be violating ethics code 10.05 Sexual Intimacies with Current therapy Clients/Patients. The ethical standard specifies that a psychologist is not to have sexual intimacies with current therapy clients. Ethical Standard10.08 states, a psychologist does not engage in sexual intimacies with former clients even after two years of termination of services except under very special circumstances. The above ethical codes confirm that the therapist cannot have sexual relations with