How should the psychologist-client relationship occur?

Social media was shocked by the news of people claiming to be psychologists abusing their relationships with clients for personal gain. In fact, the relationship between the psychologist and the client has several rules that should not be violated, one of which is about friendship. What is the actual ethics of the relationship between client and psychologist?

The relationship between the psychologist and the client

The relationship between a psychologist and his client is one of the success factors of a person's therapy session. The quality of the relationship is not only seen based on the closeness between the therapist and the patient, but also based on several factors, such as:

• agreement on therapeutic goals
• relationship ties
• approval of the therapist's treatment duties

These three aspects are quite important to foster empathy in the psychologist-client relationship. It is intended that clients who are undergoing treatment can change to a more positive direction.

Reporting from the page Psychology Today, good psychologists usually have a serious interest in clients and see them as individuals. In addition, they will also “approach” the client sensitively, but according to the person's needs.

There is no one-size-fits-all treatment method because everyone has different characteristics. For this therapy to run smoothly, this relationship needs to be built on trust and mutual understanding.

Therefore, an important key of being a psychologist is to be a human being with sincere feelings and being in harmony with the client. However, it turns out that the psychologist's sincere intention to help others has been tarnished by some irresponsible parties.

There are quite a lot of cases of abuse in the relationship between the psychologist and the client. In fact, recently people in Indonesia were shocked by the "offer" of a man who claims to be a psychologist to his client to undergo therapy in his hotel room.

The offer clearly includes violating the ethics between the therapist and the patient. Why is that?

The reason psychologist and client should not have a special relationship

During the therapy process, you as a client may feel closer to the therapist. Sharing a very personal story in a room makes the client or psychologist feel very intimate at that moment.

However, the outpouring at that time turned out not to allow a psychologist's relationship to a therapist to tie a bond of friendship or more. Friendship between therapist and client is not allowed because it is considered to violate ethics and is referred to as a dual relationship or dual relationship .

Multiple relationships are bonds that occur when a person is in two very different types of relationships and occurs at the same time. For example, a therapist who treats clients as friends or has sexual relations. That's unethical.

Multiple relationships can also cause problems in the patient's healing process. If you as a client get angry with the psychologist for forgetting to notify you or other problems, it will be difficult to open yourself up during the therapy process.

In addition, when sexual intercourse is carried out between a psychologist and a client, it turns out that they can exploit emotions in therapy. This sexual intercourse can occur in a variety of ways, whether it is sexual harassment during therapy or dating.

Meanwhile, bonding of friends or more when treatment is over can occur although it is very uncommon. This condition rarely occurs because the relationship that is formed from therapy sessions never completely disappears and can affect the relationship.

Therefore, the relationship between the psychologist and the client is only allowed to be limited to therapy so as not to interfere with the whole process.

Tips for choosing a professional psychologist

Disturbance to clients, including sexual harassment, may come from the psychologist's unprofessional attitude. So that this does not happen to you, there are a number of things that need to be considered when choosing a psychologist:

• ask friends if they have a psychologist reference
• see the approach used by psychologists
• evidence that the psychologist already has a license to practice or certification from certain training
• how long has the chosen psychologist been working
• seek referrals from your regular doctor or insurance provider

Keep in mind that not all psychologists or therapists have an effective approach to the problem at hand. It's possible, then, to try several different psychologists to find the one that suits you.

In essence, psychologists and clients are not recommended to have more relationships because it can interfere with the treatment process. Therefore, choosing a therapist cannot be done carelessly considering this is related to your mental health.