ABSTRACT
This chapter will explore the ethical and relational challenges that can emerge when working with our clients, so-called, ‘sexual transgressions’. When our clients disclose their sexual fantasies or reveal the sexual acts that they engage in with other consenting adult(s), we need to be vigilant and non-defensive as to how these issues might impinge upon our own values and ethical principles. We need, therefore, to be aware our own sexual preferences that ultimately involve ‘permissions’ and ‘taboos’ and hold fast to our ethical obligations to be a cause for good (beneficence) and avoid harm (maleficence) as we wrestle with such complex and delicate material. Consequently, due care and attention is called for as we sensitively explore these challenges within the relational frame between therapist and client; and in the parallel process between client, therapist, and supervisor.
Two case examples are used to illustrate the importance of fostering a humane stance to manage the ethical, professional, and relational challenges that relate to working with ‘sexual transgression’.
