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Dual Relationships: The Rubiks Cube of Social Work Ethics
February 20, 2009: 1:00 to 4:15pm

Relationships that develop with clients that are other than professional are more common in the social work field than many other helping professions. Use of self, authenticity and egalitarianism in social work approaches increase the risk for boundary concerns. The relationships can include non-sexual and legitimate interactions, many of which are unplanned and inadvertent, yet still have ethical ramifications. Participants will have the opportunity to seek collegial support regarding questionable relationships in their practice through this 3 hour workshop. The overall goal through lecture and discussion format is to encourage and help participants develop a better understanding and management of ethical issues and dilemmas encountered in social work practice.

Objectives:

  • Learn the extent of boundary violations in social work practice
  • Differentiate boundary blurring, boundary crossings and boundary violations
  • Identify five contributing factors to boundary violations• Identify protective factors against boundary crossing
  • Select and support a course of action for resolving a complex social work practice dilemma related to dual relationships

Presenter: Claudia Dewane, LCSW, D.Ed

Claudia Dewane received a Doctorate in Adult Education & Health Psychology from Penn State University, and Masters in Social Work from Columbia University. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and maintains Board Certified Diplomat status in Clinical Social Work. She is the founder of Clinical Support Associates, providing supervision, consultation and training to professional social workers. She has presented numerous workshops on clinical, supervisory, and ethical issues in social work. Her present research focuses on skills-set crossover of professionally trained socialworkers who have left the traditional human services field. She worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs for several years in various clinical, supervisory, and policy capacities. Dr. Dewane has been faculty at Temple University Graduate School of Social Administration, Harrisburg since 1991.