Abstract
This presentation aim to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of ethical practices in trauma therapy, enhancing their ability to navigate complex therapeutic situations responsibly and effectively. We will examine our own countertransference, including both positive (e.g., admiration) and negative (e.g., frustration), and explore the ethical management of enactments that have the potential to derail therapy.  Additionally, we will address treating traumatized clients who have personality disorders or traits, focusing on ethically managing dangerous or aggressive behaviors, and how to make ethical decisions about when and how to flex or maintain therapy boundaries. We will explore the ethics of the therapeutic relationship and attachment, including how to conceptualize the relationship so that it becomes a steppingstone to improve the agency of the client, rather than fostering dependence.  We are told to create a secure attachment with clients, but what does this actually look like in concrete terms of emotional connection, care, and boundaries? When is it important to work with a single part of self versus the whole self and what ethical dilemmas may occur when working with dissociative parts? The ethical dilemmas of both short- and long-term trauma therapies will be considered. We will discuss ethical considerations of whether to end treatment with non-progressing clients in favor of helping those who might benefit more, and whether or not the “attachment relationship” should be the most important aspect of treatment for those who do not progress. Lastly, we will explore the ethical dilemmas inherent in trauma approaches themselves. For example, do some approaches focus too much on content? Is trauma always the most important factor contributing to the client’s distress? What are the ethics of supporting a client in viewing themselves as a victim and when might this be counterproductive? These and other issues will be open for discussion.