Statement on Multiple Relationships of Students within the Counseling Center

The Loyola University Maryland Counseling Center values the importance of the full development and  growth of students and supports them in achieving educational, professional, and personal goals. Counselors within the Center often hold multiple roles in addition to providing therapeutic services, including research, teaching, programming, training, and outreach, and students may find themselves interacting with them in a variety of settings. It is important to be aware of the ethical and working implications of these multiple roles.

Multiple relationships occur when a counselor is in, or plans to be in, a clinical role with a student (or
someone closely related to that person) while at the same time in another professional role with that same person or someone closely related to that person. These multiple roles have the potential to change the nature of one or more of the relationships, particularly when evaluation is a factor.

Although multiple relationships may be unavoidable, we provide the following course of actions with guidance from the APA, NASW, and ACA ethics codes:

• Counselors may refrain from entering into any multiple relationship with students if they feel that it may be expected to impair their objectivity, effectiveness, or increase risks of exploitation in any manner.
• Students who participate in Counseling Center training programs, or are considering doing so in the future, should consider the impact of multiple relationships prior to seeking counseling in the Counseling Center.
  • Students are invited to schedule an initial assessment or consultation meeting with a
    counseling staff member to discuss their needs and treatment options at Loyola or in the
    community.
• Graduate students cannot receive counseling services to fulfill a program requirement.
• Former clients of the Loyola Counseling Center are welcome to apply for training positions at
  the Center.
  o If a former client is accepted as a trainee and discloses they were a client, the former
  counselor will have limited involvement in the selection process of the student and will
  not provide clinical supervision.
  • Prospective trainees that have previously sought services at the Counseling Center are
    advised to inform the Training Director to ensure steps can be taken to protect your
    confidentiality and foster communication about the impact of these multiple roles.
  • Current trainees have limited access to student files who are not their assigned clients in
    order to protect records.
• Graduate students who work at the Center as Graduate Assistants or facilitate
  psychoeducational programs as a Psychoeducation Group Facilitator will not have access to
  client records.
• Trainees cannot concurrently receive Counseling Center services while serving as a trainee at
  the Counseling Center.