Small Town in the Big City: The Ethics of Managing Dual Relationships When Working Within the Queer Community

The queer community is diverse and complex, and at the same time, it can also feel like a small town where everyone is connected in some way. How then do queer clinicians ethically work within their own communities while managing boundaries and minimizing harm? In this training, we will review professional codes of ethics and models for ethical decision making. We will primarily use case examples to explore strategies for mitigating harm from dual relationships, and each clinician will develop their own personal code of ethics for their unique practice. We ask that all participants bring to the training an ethical dilemma or concern they have when working with queer folx. We will work together to build our own ethical guidelines through a mix of lecture, discussion and values exercises.