Licensed mental health professionals are typically held to a code of ethics in their work. Ethical standards exist to protect vulnerable clients and to ensure that the public can place their trust in therapists, social workers, and psychologists. Of course, not every mental health professional lives up to the standards established for the field, and they should be held accountable for ethical violations. This is especially true when those violations rise to the level of medical malpractice.
Millions of Americans seek therapy each year. If you are one of them (or someone you love is), you should be aware of the most common ethical violations in therapy, and understand your rights if your therapist commits a violation of their professional ethics.
To be clear, the vast majority of licensed therapists and counselors are deeply committed to upholding the ethical standards of their profession. But those who breach those standards, whether intentionally or negligently, can do serious harm to the clients they are obligated to help. Some ethical violations, like sexual abuse by a therapist, are obvious and egregious. Others may seem less serious on their face, but can cause deep and lasting harm nonetheless. Here are some of the most frequent ethical violations committed by therapists.
Therapy doesn’t work unless a client feels free to be completely open and honest with the therapist. That freedom exists because therapists have a duty to maintain client confidentiality. There are, of course, some situations in which a therapist can reveal information shared with them in confidence, such as when there is a risk of harm to the client or others. When a therapist shares confidential client information without the client’s consent or to an unauthorized party, it may constitute an unethical breach of client confidentiality.
While the therapeutic relationship is usually a beneficial one, clients have a right to understand and affirmatively consent to any treatments they undergo. Informed consent means that the client has been told about the possible risks and benefits of a treatment and makes the decision to undergo the treatment with that knowledge. Failing to fully inform a client in therapy and get their consent to treatment robs the client of their agency over their own care and, in essence, victimizes them.
The therapeutic relationship is a unique one, and it requires the therapist to maintain objectivity regarding the things they learn from their client. That is not possible if the client and therapist have any other type of relationship in addition to the therapeutic one, such as that of family members, colleagues, friends, or even social acquaintances. It is the therapist’s duty not to take on any clients with whom they have a non-professional relationship, or to cultivate a non-professional relationship with an existing client.
It should go without saying that it is unethical for a therapist to have a sexual relationship with a client, even if the client attempts to initiate the relationship or believes that they want a sexual relationship with the therapist. There is an unequal power dynamic between counselor and client, making it all too easy for a therapist to take advantage of the client’s vulnerabilities. Needless to say, sexual contact between a therapist and client also makes it impossible for the therapist to provide the objectivity and safety a client needs. Even long after therapy has ended, it is usually best for a former therapist and client not to engage in a sexual relationship.
Sexual boundaries are not the only type of boundaries that it is unethical for a therapist to cross with a client. Therapists must also be mindful of, and enforce, physical, social, and emotional boundaries. For instance, therapists should not hug their clients at the end of a session (physical), interact with them on social media (social), or seek their advice regarding the therapist’s own problems (emotional). Some boundary violations can be subtle, but they can be a “slippery slope” leading to further abuse.
All therapeutic relationships must terminate at some point; in fact, that is the goal of successful therapy. That said, the way therapy ends is almost as important as the way it is conducted. A therapist may have little control over whether a client chooses to abruptly drop out of counseling. But the therapist must take all possible measures to ensure that if they need to end the relationship with the client, it is done in a way that leaves the client with the support and resources they need to move forward without the therapist. Otherwise, the therapist’s abandonment of the client may undo any benefit that the therapeutic relationship created—especially if abandonment was a theme in the client’s past, as it is for many clients.
If you believe that your therapist violated their code of ethics in treating you, you have options. You can file a report against your therapist if you believe that they were abusive to you or otherwise committed an ethical breach. If you were harmed by your therapist’s violation of ethical standards, you may also want to consider speaking to a medical malpractice attorney about your experience. You may be entitled to compensation as a result of their actions, and filing a malpractice action can also help to hold therapists accountable so that they don’t hurt other clients.
To learn more about ethical violations in therapy and what you can do if your therapist committed one, contact The Fraser Law Firm P.C. to schedule a consultation.
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