Boundary issues and multiple relationships: Counselors' attitudes and behaviors regarding the use of WeChat / 中国心理卫生杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: To discuss possible ethical and boundary issues when contacting clients through WeChat in different situations. Methods: Self-made questionnaires were utilized to investigate 194 counselors' (18 counselors gave clients their job WeChat ID, 64 counselors gave their private WeChat ID, and 115 counselors do not give WeChat toclients) attitudes and behaviors of encountering multiple relationship issues when using WeChat Results: For WeChat boundary, counselors who had job WeChat ID would post more private photos and videos on the post than counselors with no job ID and without ID(P <0.01). Although 41％ of counselors would use WeChat during the counseling and other related activities, only 10％ of the counselors had job ID. Counselors with no ID tended to accept clients breaking the boundaries through other ways (P <0.01). Conclusion: The study indicates that counselors have encountered ethic issues of multiple relationships when using WeChat Counselors who only have private WeChat ID should increase their sensitivity of the boundary issues in the use of WeChat.