This discussion of ethics reminds me of a story I heard from a woman who was a therapist and counselor. A man came to her, saying he wanted some help to make his business more successful. She thought that sounded positive--then she asked what his business was, and he said he was a drug dealer.
She asked for a couple of days to think this over, then met with him again and told him she could not support his drug business, but she would be willing to work with him to make his life more satisfying. He agreed, and said that one thing he wanted was to have a better relationship with his son, who lived with his ex-wife. Working with the therapist, he began going to his son's Little League games. In time, the team needed another coach, and the man volunteered. He enjoyed working with the boys, and soon began to feel that it was not right to go on using drugs while coaching Little League, and over time was able to stop his drug use. With his new sense of confidence and the new contacts he now had in the community, he eventually found a legitimate job, and stopped dealing drugs. I was particularly impressed, not only by this success story, but also by the therapist's ability to be conscious of her own values and feelings, and set clear boundaries for what work she would do. Joelle * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
