Should a therapist counsel a former lover or accept a client's gift? If so, has a boundary been crossed? Some boundary issues, like beginning a sexual relationship with a client, are obvious pitfalls to avoid, but what about more subtle issues, like hugging a client or disclosing personal information to a client? What are the boundaries of maintaining a friendship with a former client or the relative of a client? When do conflicts of interest overburden the client-practitioner relationship?Frederic Reamer, a leading authority on professional ethics, offers a definitive and up-to-date analysis of boundary issues, a rapidly emerging topic in the field of human services. One of the only works in the field to provide a conceptual framework for the dual relationship between practitioner and client, this book provides an in-depth look at the complex forms these relationships take. It also gives practical risk-management models to aid human service professionals in the prevention of problematic situations and the managing of dual relationships. Reamer examines the ethics involving intimate and sexual relationships with clients and former clients, practitioners' self-disclosure, giving and receiving favors and gifts, bartering for services, and unavoidable and unanticipated circumstances such as social encounters and geographical proximity. Case vignettes that help illustrate important points are also included in each chapter.

Preface1. Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships: Key ConceptsBoundary Issues in the Human ServicesA Typology of Boundary Issues and Dual RelationshipsManaging Dual RelationshipsSound Decision MakingThe Role of Practitioner Impairment2. Intimate RelationshipsSexual Relationships with ClientsSexual Relationships with Former ClientsCounseling Former Sexual PartnersSexual Relationships with Clients' Relatives or AcquaintancesSexual Relationships with Supervisees, Trainees, Students, and ColleaguesPhysical Contact3. Emotional and Dependency NeedsFriendships with ClientsUnconventional InterventionsSelf-disclosureAffectionate CommunicationsCommunity-based Contact with Clients4. Personal BenefitBarter for ServicesBusiness and Financial RelationshipsAdvice and ServicesFavors and GiftsConflicts of Interest5. AltruismGiving Gifts to ClientsMeeting Clients in Social or Community SettingsOffering Clients FavorsAccommodating ClientsSelf-disclosing to Clients6. Unavoidable and Unanticipated CircumstancesGeographic ProximityConflicts of InterestProfessional EncountersSocial EncountersEpilogue