Dear SWstudent,

You ask about the ethics of doing your social work field placement at the same facility as your personal psychiatrist.

This would be clearly in violation of ethical principles if she has any supervisory responsibility for you. Since there may be a senior social worker who would perform that role, it is not clear whether this is tru in this case.

Another way that this situation would clearly violate ethical guidelines is if you and the psychiatrist share a caseload, (e.g., if she treats a client as an individual and you counsel that same client in group therapy). The blurred boundaries between your professional and personal roles would potentially prevent you both from performing at your best.

Regardless of the circumstances, however, I would strongly advise against doing your field placement at the same facility as your personal psychiatrist if there are other options. Even if you have little or no professional contact with your psychiatrist during the placement, you would see her in social and collegial settings outside of your normal therapeutic setting. You tag on at the end that you already have a strong emotional attachment with this person, one that could make out-of-session contacts problematic. You will accomplish your goal to develop as a professional much more easily at a different field placement, one without this distraction.

Best wishes for success.

Don H. Morris, Ed.D.
Licensed Professional Counselor
Little Rock, Arkansas