THE THERAPIST IN A MISSIONS CONTEXT - AVOIDING DUAL ROLE CONFLICTS

Recent involvement of mental health workers in the task of world missi ons has led to greater awareness of the ethical challenges faced in th is context. The challenge of avoiding dual role conflicts is addressed here. Dual role conflicts occur when the therapist's involvement with the client in a role other than that of therapist jeopardizes the cli ent's well-being by interfering with the therapy or harming the client . The characteristics of the missions context that contribute to dual role conflicts are explored, followed by an examination of the ways in which dual roles can become problematic from a social psychology pers pective. It is suggested that problems can occur when expectations bet ween two roles are in conflict, when obligations from two roles are in compatible, or when the power inherent in the therapist role leads to ethical violations. finally, five suggestions are offered for minimizi ng the adverse effects of dual roles on the missionary client and on t he therapist.