The codes of ethics of all major professional associations affirm that a therapist’s primary responsibility is to the client. Clients, not therapists, take first priority.
Embedded in any discussion of client welfare is the assumption that the therapist is competent to provide professional services. Also implied is that therapeutic relationships should be maintained only as long as clients are benefiting from them or until a referral is indicated. Finally, ethical attention to client welfare cannot be assured in instances in which a therapist’s ability is compromised or hindered.
A review of the various professional ethical codes in Table 3-4 reveals that the primacy of the clients’ welfare is unquestionably clear.
Corey, Corey, and Callanan (2007), however, raised several cogent questions that tend to cloud this simple assertion:
• What criteria should be used to determine whether a client is benefiting from the therapeutic relationship?
• What should be done if a client reports that he or she is benefiting from therapy but the therapist is unable to identify any signs of progress?
• What courses of action are available to the therapist who believes that a client is seeking only to purchase friendship and has no intention of pursuing therapeutic change?