Ethics Is About Money, Sex, and Power, and. . . . Spiritual Longings Too!

Ethical issues pertain to longings, feelings, and motivations which resonate at our very core. Our drives toward (and away from) money, sexuality, power, love, truth, inspiration, and oneness are the most powerful forces in our lives. How can we expect that these drives will not intrude in one way or another into our relationships with clients?

Author Kylea Taylor

The Ethics of Caring by Kylea Taylor is written for psychotherapists, bodyworkers, medical practitioners, clergy and spiritual teachers, hypnotherapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, medical support personnel, and teachers who want to become more conscious in their relationships with clients. Kylea Taylor sees ethics as the practice of moving toward wholeness as human beings, rather than feeling constricted by the imposition of external rules. The Ethics of Caring provides a new model with some tools for navigating the deep and often confusing relationship between client and caregiver and for preventing the harmful consequences of ethical misconduct.

Powerful, shared experiences in the context of the therapeutic relationship can bring to the surface compelling fears, needs, and longings in both the client and the caregiver. There are many therapeutic moments of consciousness expansion during traditional therapy; for example, when a client's belief system suddenly changes, or when there is a deepening of intimacy and spiritual connection within the therapeutic relationship. The use of current methods such as hypnosis, breathwork, meditation, massage, EMDR, acupuncture, and shamanic techniques can increase the likelihood of profound and intense client/caregiver interactions. These may bring surprisingly subtle and powerful challenges to caregivers. Therapists, ministers, and other caregivers often feel that they will have no difficulty maintaining ethical conduct. Yet, the nonordinary states of consciousness occurring in these profound therapeutic moments can change easily avoidable pitfalls into invisible, deep quagmires.

In ethical helping relationships, caregivers support their clients, but are careful not to let their own fears, desires, or spiritual longings distort their clients' process. Only by understanding their own vulnerabilities and by deeply considering the ways in which these affect their interactions with others, can caregivers hope to enter more fully into truly healing relationships with their clients.

The Ethics of Caring is published in German (Bauer Verlag, 1997) under the title Hilfe für die Helfer.