The ethical and clinical hazards of dual relationships.
Dual relationships ➡️ morphing therapy into not therapy ➡️ blurred boundaries ➡️ leading to boundary crossings ⬆️ (inadvertent outside of treatment contact) and/or boundary violations ⬇️ ( harmful uncontrolled, unanalyzed subjective countertransference) ➡️ blind spots ➡️ abuses of power ➡️ the 8 dangers of a compromised treatment environment ➡️ iatrogenic treatment reactions.
At best dual relationships dilute the negative transference. Group leaders practicing dual relationships in group therapy bear the extra burden of assuming that not all negative treatment reactions are transferential in nature; but rather may be objective responses to blurred boundary treatment environment.
