What's wrong with a psychologist dateing a former patient?

Question

When I was a Tech, I was canned for going out with a former patient; but the Director of the Mental Health Dept (MD) married a former patient and was unscathed. They even had a big party/reception that was attended by staff, friends, former patients, and **current in-patients**. But I get fired for a pizza and a movie.?

Some people are saying it's an unfair relationship b/c the providor knows so much about the patient. but, the patient gets to see how various providors react to standardized elements of the dr/pt relationship, and learns much about the providor that way. ie; how is he different from the others?

Answer 1

Well, the bottom line is that the patients are psycho - so that makes the difference.

Answer 2

The code of ethics in pennsylvania states you must wait 2 years after termination of therapy to date a patient. Why would you want to do that anyway?

The reason this is the case is that if a patient dates a therapist later, they start seeing them as a human with flaws. That will cause problems in any work they have done to help the patient because the patient no longer views them as a clinician, but as a friend or lover. In order for therapy to be effective the patient cannot see the therapist as anything but a therapist.

If your director did that he/she has poor ethics. but if it had been two years since treatment then it would be considered legal. Any less than that (in PA at least) it is reason to yank your license. It is the most common reason psychologists lose their licenses.

Answer 3

Was the former patient yours, specifically? Was the new spouse a direct patient of the director (i.e., did he provide individual therapy to the patient?)

Tadastar hits the nail on the head: The role of psychologist/patient is like that of parent/child. The patient allows himself to regress to trusting and being vulnerable with the shrink; the shrink provides a safe ground and guides/nourishes the patient.

To allow romantic intimacy is a complete violation of that "sacred" relationship -- it's similar to psychological incest / abuse. The shrink cannot play the parental role if he is a lover; the patient should not be playing the lover if he is the child in need of nurturing.

The doctor automatically has power over the patient, has access to innermost secrets; the patient has no knowledge of the doctor's inner life/secrets and is necessarily submissive. It's a gross imbalance of power that causes psychological damage.

Scott Peck mentions in "People of the Lie" how a patient tried to come onto him in therapy and explains this form of abuse in even more detail (to show why he would not become involved with her).

Freud himself took a lot of flak just because he insisted on analyzing his own daughter Anna (just not a good thing, due to conflicting roles of real father/daughter vs doctor/patient). It gave him power over her in ways he should not have had.

I can't speculate on why you got fired, nor do I have specific details of what happened. If the patient was not in therapy with the director ever, then the relationship might be kosher; I don't know the legal stipulations in your state.

(Yes, the "pizza and movie" excuse seems a little far-fetched to fire someone, though.)

Answer 4

That is B.S. that you were fired but the slight was overlooked when a higher-up did the same thing. The reason a psychologist is not supposed to date a former patient is because it violates the doctor/patient relationship. The Dr. knows intimate and personal things about the patient and should maintain professionalism. It is not unlike a parent/child relationship. It is up to the professional to maintain the boudaries while also maintaining the trust of the patient.

Answer 5

It all depends on how long ago the patient terminated treatment with you or him and the nature of the current relationship. Here's the APA code.

"Psychologists do not engage in sexual intimacies with former clients/patients even after a two-year interval except in the most unusual circumstances. Psychologists who engage in such activity after the two years following cessation or termination of therapy and of having no sexual contact with the former client/patient bear the burden of demonstrating that there has been no exploitation, in light of all relevant factors, including (1) the amount of time that has passed since therapy terminated; (2) the nature, duration, and intensity of the therapy; (3) the circumstances of termination; (4) the client's/patient's personal history; (5) the client's/patient's current mental status; (6) the likelihood of adverse impact on the client/patient; and (7) any statements or actions made by the therapist during the course of therapy suggesting or inviting the possibility of a posttermination sexual or romantic relationship with the client/patient."

Maybe his treatment termination was different or his wife is more stable than your patient. All kinds of factors. But as you can tell, they frown upon dating patients, former patients, and/or their family members anyway, so its best if you just stay away.

Answer 6

Simply put, it's unethical for anyone in a helping profession to date a client. For several reasons, number one it lists it right in every code of ethics ever printed.

When a psycholgist sees a client there is automatically a power diferential in the relationship. The psychologist is viewed as being on a higher level than that of the client. The psychologist has the answers. The psychologist elicits the client to share their deepest secrets, yet that is not returned to the client (meaning the client has very little insight into the psychologists world).

Sometimes the clients develop a dependancy on the psychologist so if the psychologist dates that client they can easily take advantage of said client.

It's grossly unfair to put the client in that type of situation, you as a professional should seek to uphold the ethcial standards and the first of those is "Above all else do no harm to the client".

Answer 7

If a psychologist is keen to have a love courting with a former customer i'd question their psychological nicely-being themselves. there is too a lot means differential between therapist and customer and that i trust that does no longer thoroughly fade even after 3 years of termination. besides the very undeniable actuality that through the criteria a psychologist could have a courting with their customer after treatment is terminated- i trust it continues to be unethical. the courting will never be thoroughly balanced.

Answer 8

Patients are not psyho, and if they really like each other and they decide to date I think that is just fine as long as he sees someone else to release his stress on instead of her. Because that would end up making the relationship not work in the long run.

Answer 9

Well, that is a double standard, but you have to look at the ethics code of your state and the APA, cause your breaking the ethics code.