We know that our primary initial responsibility as a therapist is to listen intently to what the client says, giving them our undivided attention. But being only human, there are times when we get distracted and are no longer focused on what the client is telling us.

There’s a big difference between being a generally nice person with good intentions and an ethical professional. So how do we bridge that gap?

Long held under a shroud of formality for various ethical reasons, psychotherapy has had some growing pains in trying to adjust and adapt to the new laid-back way of life.

Of course, all good therapists want to bring their clients to a place where they've met their therapy goals and achieved the necessary growth to feel comfortable ending the therapy relationship. But therapists and clients may not always be operating on the same timetable.

As clinicians, we try to prepare ourselves as best we can for any ethical issues that could arise with clients. But while we know the answers to the obvious dilemmas, where does that leave us with the endless list of ethical issues that fall into the gray area of ethical ambiguity?