'Til Death Do Us Part: Does a Client Ever Stop Being a Client?

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Thinking about things other than romantic entanglements

I was a bit disappointed by this article. It started by raising some very interesting hypothetical scenarios involving former clients, but then devolved into the standard "don't have sex, I'm so serious" type warning. It would have been really interesting to explore some of those non-romantic scenarios. I can think of some interesting ones:

Suppose a former client decides to run for political office in the jurisdiction in which the social worker lives. Must the social worker refrain from voting if they were otherwise eligible? Must the social worker vote for the former client in order to assist, or at least not interfere with, his goal of achieving political office? If the former client is elected, and, via their office, gains some sort of regulatory or personnel authority over the social worker, must the social worker resign or quit practicing?

Suppose a social worker adopts an abandoned child. Ten years later, the social worker discovers that the child's birth mother is the long-lost sister of a former client. Must the social worker turn the child over to social services as an unfit (conflict of interest) parent?

Robert Columbia more than 4 years ago

Mental health workers who develope mental illness

I don't believe there has been any standards set for for workers who may develope a mental illness themselves and suddenly find themselves on the other side of the fence. In this case the dynamics have changed severely and these people this person once worked with are now their peers. Where do these former health care workers look to for comfort or even support if a relationship is never acceptable. I believe in these cases it would be almost inevitable.

Preston D. Speicher more than 5 years ago

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