Right Use of Power Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Core Concepts
    • Core Curriculum
    • Board of Directors
  • Training
  • Teachers
  • Books & E-Courses
  • Blog
    • Newsletter Archive
  • Store
  • Calendar
  • Contact
  • Friendly Connections
  • Appreciation
  • Annual Reports
  • Volunteer
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Untitled

How Could Having a Good Intention Cause Harm?

7/31/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Once, I invited someone to take my workshop and she replied, “Oh, I don’t need to take your right-use-of-power workshop. I won’t cause any harm because I have good intentions.” I want to talk about how good intentions are necessary but not nearly enough for ethical use of power.

The simplest reason is the profound fact that our impact doesn’t always match our intention. In the example described in this article, the therapist’s intention was to set good and ethical boundaries with her client. The impact on the client, as you will see, was that she felt hurt, abandoned, betrayed, confused, and wrong.

Other reasons include cultural differences, impact of the power differential, projection, shame, and trauma responses. These are subjects for another article.

In the paper the other day, I found a letter in the “Dear Abby” column that was a painful example of how good intentions plus lack of skill and awareness of impact can cause more harm.

Read the rest of the article on GoodTherapy.org

Please note: I am a regular contributor to GoodTherapy.org, an association of mental health professionals from over 30 countries worldwide who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy. GoodTherapy.org is ranked as one of the top therapist directories on the web.


0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Cedar Barstow, M.Ed.

    Archives

    March 2018
    May 2017
    January 2017
    April 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    July 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture