Social dual-role relationships during internship: A decision-making model.

Abstract

During the predoctoral internship year, training staff and interns are often faced with the prospect of entering into social multiple-role relationships with each other. Such relationships can initially appear benign, and at times be beneficial but may pose some risk of harm both to interns and training staff.Building on the previous work of P. A. O'Connor Slimp and B. K. Burian (1994), a decision-making model is offered regarding social multiple-role relationships between interns and their trainers. It is designed to raise awareness of the issues involved in these relationships and provide structure in assessing their potential for harm.You, a staff member, and a predoctoral intern at your center have just completed an evening therapy group. You decide to stop at a restaurant for dinner before heading home. Do you invite the intern to join you? Do you make the same invitation next week? Every week? Despite more than 2 decades of focus and debate, social dual-or multiple-role relationships continue to pose many ethical dilemmas for psychologists. The literature has had little to say about the impact of developing familiarity and closeness that often comes with social relationships between instructors and students, let alone between training staff and predoctoral interns.In this article, we briefly discuss the impact of social multiple-role relationships between trainers and predoctoral interns and offer some specific suggestions about how to determine potential for harm and how to proceed should such relationships begin to develop.It is difficult to determine at what point a series of social activities have become a social relationship. In truth, whether or not a social relationship exists between an intern and staff member BARBARA K. BURIAN received her PhD in 1990 from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. When this article was written, she was an assistant professor in the Division of Applied Psychology and Quantitative Methods at the University of Baltimore. She is currently a Senior Research

Ethical supervision in teaching, research, practice, and administration.

“…Although social encounters can increase enjoyment in the work environment, there is potential for harmful social, nonsexual relationships (e.g., Burian & Slimp, 2000). The supervisor's objectivity may be compromised by friendship, and the social relationship may not be entirely voluntary on the supervisee's part.…”

Reflections on Three Neophyte Sport and Exercise Psychologists’ Developing Philosophies for Practice

“…It was here that I realized that the professional boundaries had been blurred. In ethical terms it would have been right to reply to the individual reinstating my role as a psychologist, not a friend, but I struggled with a dilemma: While activities which remain focused on consultation or professional projects reduce the potential for emotional harm for the client (Burian & Slimp, 2000) I also sensed that this client would not respond well to the rejection (something he was getting from the rest of the group) and that it was likely to have a negative effect on his wellbeing. I decided that more harm could be done by a failure to maintain boundaries that it would by reestablishing them.…”

Students' Ethical Decision‐Making When Considering Boundary Crossings With Counselor Educators

“…Ethical informational resources were defined in this study as resources a counselor education student could use to make ethical decisions about boundary crossings. This study, following the outline of the study by Burns and Cruikshanks (in press), used the same ethical informational resources: the ACA Code of Ethics (ACA, ), Gottlieb's () decision‐making model, and Burian and Slimp's () social dual‐role relationship model. In the ACA Code of Ethics , Section F, “Supervision, Training, and Teaching,” includes Standard F.10., “Roles and Relationships Between Counselor Educators and Students.” This standard outlines counselor educators' professional responsibilities regarding students.…”