CLIENTS

Profession is a vocation or an occupation based on an educational training. It also requires a degree in that professional field. For example, teaching is considered to be a profession because it has both an educational training and a degree. The word profession comes from the Latin word 'professio' which means a public declaration with the force of a promise. This means that the profession first presents itself to society as a social benefit and then society accepts the profession, expecting and trusting it to serve some important social goal. In fact, The Australian Council of Professions defines a profession as; 'a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to high ethical standards and uphold themselves to, and are accepted by, the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised, organised body of learning derived from education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others'.

The professional-client relationship, as Storr stated, is expected to be objective and detached. In fact, theories of the helping process that follows the medical paradigm have presented the ideal worker as an objective, clinical detached and knowledgeable professional. The relationship has to be objective and detached because a professional is someone whose efforts or actions are only intended to attain or accomplish a purpose or goal without any emotional involvement. For example, a doctor's efforts are to cure the patient's health without any personal feelings involved. In fact, if a worker expresses his real emotional feelings towards his clients, then he is considered to be unprofessional. The relationship between a professional and a client may be defined by boundaries. These boundaries make the relationship both professional and safe for the client. Paraphrasing Marilyn Peterson, from her book 'At Personal Risk', these boundaries are the limits that allow a safe connection between the professional and the client based on the client's needs. The client's needs should always come first. The workers' personal values or biases should be prevented from their ethical decision-making. This is because, if their values enter their decision-making process, their personal views or needs would begin to govern or shape the therapeutic intervention. Therefore, in this situation the needs of the workers will be placed above the needs of their clients and the decisions will not be beneficial for the clients.

Boundary can refer to the line that separates the self of the client and the self of the professional. Professionals should not touch or hug their clients because if this happens, the professional-client relationship would begin to diminish. Regardless of who initiates the touch or hug, the client or professional may then perceive the relationship as one between friends whether intended or not. Professionals should avoid becoming friends with clients and should not socialize with them. The need for professional boundaries is rooted in the power imbalance that exists between the professional and the client. This power imbalance exists because the professional has skills, expertise and knowledge that the clients do not posses and they need. This means that the client depends on and trusts the professional to do only good and not cause harm. In other words the client believes and has faith that the workers, while in their professional role, will fulfill their ethical obligations of beneficence and non-malfeasance. Also, this power arises due to the client's disclosure of personal information. However, despite all this, professionals are human beings working with other human beings. There are days when they are tired and stressed, and as a result, their ethical decision-making may not be good as it is when they are not stressed. They may cross boundaries inadvertently or their clients may innocently push the boundaries. Nevertheless, it is the professional responsibility to maintain or re-implement boundaries and they must take responsibility for their actions.