Concerns

The ethical principles and code of conduct of the American Psychological Association are clear: psychologists are to avoid sexual relationships with former clients. But guidelines offer scant guidance on nonromantic and nonsexual relationships with former clients; the ethical risks of such relationships are explored in this paper. The information is presented in three parts. An overview of research findings that describe the. types of nonromantic/nonsexual relationships that occur between psychologists and former clients, psychologists ' perspectives of the ethical nature of these relationships, and their justifications for their perspective are covered first. Next, a conceptual framework that will help psychologists and psychologists-in-training assess the ethical risk of a post-therapy relationship with a former client is discussed. The last section suggests guidelines for psychologists-in-training to consider when nonsexual interactions or relationships with former clients are unavoidable. It i