I also read parts of the bulletin board, it is too lengthy for me to be able to stick with. On the forum in question, you know me as Molly or Sk8rgrl. Personally, I think the discussion in question was too in-depth to be appropriate, especially between an identified professional and an apparent minor. It doesn't matter that the therapist in question eventually defined it as a personal interaction; to the "client" who is a minor, apparently one with impaired judgement, it was a therapeutic relationship. given the intensity of the interaction of the two,and that the focus and benefit was for the "client," that alone qualifies it as a therapeutic relationship. One was clearly seeking assistance from the other. Even in online therapy, there is some sort of contract before entering into such a relationship, for all the aforementioned issues of liability and possible harm to the client, etc. A contract engenders an obligation on the part of the therapist and an understanding on part of the client as to the nature of the relationship. Granted this youth was "opening up" to the therapist, although subsequent findings found the whole thing to be a sham, the benefits of this youth finding someone to connect to are outweighed by the potential harm of the therapist deciding to leave the forum at any time. What if this had been a real situation, with the client in question being entirely sincere, and there being no formal agreement on therapy, the therapist had left with no explanation? How would that client have dealt with the abandonment? THe fact is, personal or professional, the therapist in question presumably has a license and is obligated to act in a professional manner. One can lose their license over a variety of actions taken outside of one's practice, such as drug dealing, abusing a child, ect.
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