Identify Types of and Risks Associated with Multiple Relationships and Mitigation Strategies

If you work in ABA, you’ve likely faced a moment where professional and personal lines blur. Maybe a client’s parent is also your neighbor. Or a colleague mentions they’re dating someone connected to your caseload. These situations are called multiple relationships, and knowing how to navigate them ethically—without unnecessary fear or rigidity—is essential to protecting your clients and your career.

This article is written for practicing BCBAs, clinic owners, supervisors, and senior RBTs who need clear, practical guidance on what multiple relationships are, when they pose real risks, and what concrete steps to take when they arise.

One-Paragraph Summary

A multiple relationship occurs when a professional holds more than one role with the same person or with someone closely connected to them. Common types include concurrent roles (overlapping at the same time), sequential roles (occurring one after another), and indirect relationships (connections through family, employers, or social ties). The main risks are impaired objectivity, boundary confusion, potential exploitation, and harm to the client. You can mitigate these risks by avoiding multiple relationships when possible, disclosing any unavoidable overlaps early and clearly, obtaining informed consent, and documenting your decisions and reasoning. When objectivity or client welfare cannot be protected, referral to another provider is the ethical choice. When in doubt, consult your supervisor or ethics committee.

Clear Explanation of the Topic

What Is a Multiple Relationship?

A multiple relationship happens when you hold a professional role with someone and simultaneously (or sequentially) hold another role with that same person—or with someone closely connected to them. The key word is overlap: two or more distinct roles that could influence each other or create competing obligations.

This differs from ordinary professional contacts. If you consult with a school on a behavior plan for one of your clients, that’s professional collaboration. If you consult with the school and your client’s older sibling works there as a teacher, you now have an indirect relationship that could affect your objectivity or confidentiality.

Types of Multiple Relationships

Concurrent relationships happen at the same time. A therapist provides ABA services to a child and is also hired to train the child’s babysitter. Both roles are active simultaneously.

Sequential relationships unfold one after another. You finish treatment with a family, and months later, they ask you to provide paid tutoring or childcare. The professional relationship has ended, but a new personal or business one is beginning.

Indirect relationships involve a third party. You treat a client but also have a close friendship with that client’s parent. Or a colleague is dating your client’s family member. These sideways connections can still affect your ability to remain objective or keep information confidential.

Financial ties add another layer. You accept payment from a client for non-clinical services, or you have a business interest that overlaps with a client’s needs.

Supervisory or consulting overlaps occur when someone you supervise is also your client, or when you consult for an organization that employs a current client’s family member.

When Does Overlap Become a Risk?

Not every overlap is unethical. The critical question is whether the multiple relationship could impair your judgment, create a conflict of interest, harm the client, or breach confidentiality.

A clinician who bumps into a client at the grocery store and exchanges pleasantries is not necessarily in an unethical multiple relationship. But if that same clinician is also the client’s neighbor and regularly socializes with them, the relationship has taken on a different character.

Power imbalance and vulnerability matter most. Clients depend on you for care and information. That imbalance means you must protect them even if they say they’re comfortable with the overlap. A client might agree to a boundary crossing out of fear of losing services, not genuine consent.

Intentional overlaps are those you knowingly create or accept. Unintentional ones catch you by surprise—a client turns out to be related to your coworker, or you discover a social connection you didn’t know about at intake.

Why This Matters

Protection and Trust

Multiple relationships create real risks to your client’s welfare. An unclear boundary might cause you to unconsciously favor one client over another. It might prevent you from having a hard conversation about progress. It might make you hesitate to report a concern because of a personal tie. These risks undermine the integrity of treatment.

Clear professional boundaries also protect your reputation and legal standing. Disciplinary complaints, loss of certification, and litigation often trace back to boundary violations that seemed harmless at the time. Conversely, documented, thoughtful management of unavoidable overlaps demonstrates professionalism and reduces legal risk.

Clinical and Ethical Impact

When you’re unclear about your role or when personal feelings cloud your clinical judgment, informed consent becomes impossible. You may not fully disclose your reasoning, alternate treatment options, or your own conflicts of interest. You may unconsciously shape assessments to favor one outcome over another. Over time, the client loses trust, and services become less effective.

In community-based ABA, small towns, and organizations with limited staff, some overlaps are nearly unavoidable. That’s not an excuse to ignore them—it’s a reason to manage them more carefully with extra documentation and supervision.

Key Features and Defining Characteristics

Multiple relationships share several core features that distinguish them from ordinary professional interactions.

Two or more roles is the baseline. You are not in one role, but in two or more, and they interact.

Overlap can be professional and personal (you treat someone and also socialize with them), financial (you receive payment for services beyond your normal role), supervisory (you oversee someone and also serve them), or social (community ties, family connections, digital interactions).

Power differentials increase risk significantly. The more your client depends on you or the more vulnerable they are, the more carefully you must guard boundaries.

Potential for impaired objectivity is central. Can you assess this client fairly if you have a personal stake in the outcome? Can you document a negative finding if the client is also your friend?

Confidentiality is also at risk. If you know someone in two roles, information from one role may leak into the other.

However, not every non-work interaction is unethical. Shaking a client’s hand, responding politely to a greeting, or attending a community event where a client is present are not automatic boundary violations. What matters is whether the interaction introduces actual risk and whether it’s managed transparently.

Some multiple relationships can be managed; others require termination or referral. A sequential relationship with clear boundaries, written agreements, and supervision might be ethical. A concurrent relationship where objectivity is fundamentally compromised is not.

Cultural and community context also matter. In tight-knit communities, some overlap is culturally normative and may be low-risk if managed openly. That does not mean anything goes—you still assess, disclose, consent, and document.

When You Would Use This in Practice

Decision Points in Your Day

At intake, screen for existing relationships. Ask whether the client, parent, or anyone closely connected to them has any prior relationship with you or your staff. Many overlaps are discoverable early if you ask.

Before accepting a new case, evaluate whether any conflicts exist. A colleague or supervisor should review this with you if there’s any question.

When a role change occurs, act immediately. If a former client is hired by your organization, or a family member of a current client joins your team, assess and document.

When invited to social or community events with clients or caregivers, pause. Not every invitation requires you to decline, but it requires you to think. Discuss with a supervisor before attending or declining.

When asked to consult for an organization that employs a current client’s family, or to provide additional services beyond your existing role, assess the conflict.

In community-based services and small towns, staff often know families socially. A therapist might live in the same neighborhood as three clients. These overlaps are not automatically unethical, but they require transparent management and clear documentation.

In school-based ABA, clinicians often supervise teachers while also providing direct services to students in the same school. The teaching staff might include someone you know personally. These layered roles demand careful boundary-setting and ongoing supervision.

In telehealth and online communities, professional and personal boundaries blur easily. A client might see your social media posts, send you messages outside of session, or interact with you in an online group. These digital overlaps need the same management as in-person ones.

In research or program evaluation, you might be asked to evaluate outcomes for clients you’re also treating. That conflict of interest requires disclosure, oversight, and often recusal.

Examples in ABA

Example: The Babysitter Neighbor

A BCBA provides in-home ABA therapy to a child on Maple Street. The family’s babysitter lives two houses down. The babysitter asks the BCBA to provide behavior management training so she can reinforce skills during non-therapy hours. The BCBA and babysitter are already neighbors and see each other socially.

This shows concurrent professional roles (therapy plus babysitter training) and a pre-existing social tie that could affect confidentiality and objectivity. The BCBA might unconsciously share clinical details with the babysitter in casual conversation. The babysitter might expect favorable rates because of the neighborhood connection. The BCBA might hesitate to give direct feedback if the training isn’t working, knowing they’ll see the babysitter at community events.

The right move is to assess the conflict, disclose all roles and boundaries to both the family and the babysitter, obtain informed consent, document the decision, and consider whether the overlap can be managed with clear role separation—or whether the babysitter should receive training from a different staff member.

Example: The Sequential Relationship with Financial Ties

A therapist finishes an 18-month ABA treatment with a family. Three months later, the parents offer the therapist paid work as a part-time nanny, separate from clinical services.

This shows a sequential role change with financial ties that create potential for boundary confusion and exploitation. The family knows the therapist well and trusts them. The therapist might feel pressure to accept to maintain the relationship or income. Once in the home in a non-clinical role, it becomes harder to decline informal requests (“Can you just quickly check on my child’s behavior?”). The family might later claim they didn’t consent to the role change or feel hurt if the therapist sets boundaries.

The right approach is to evaluate whether accepting poses a real conflict, consult with a supervisor, document the decision, obtain written informed consent that clearly separates the roles, and possibly refer the family to a different therapist if you proceed. If objectivity or exploitation risk is too high, decline or refer.

Examples Outside of ABA

Example: The School Counselor and Athletic Coach

A school counselor is asked to coach the school’s volleyball team. The counselor would coach several students they also counsel.

This creates overlap between professional care (counseling) and extracurricular authority (coaching). The counselor might have knowledge from counseling sessions that influences coaching decisions. Students might fear that something they said in counseling could affect their playing time, making genuine disclosures harder.

A therapist accepts a holiday gift from a client and is repeatedly invited to the client’s family gatherings. The therapist attends several events.

Small gifts can seem harmless, but they create a sense of personal obligation and blur the professional line. The client may feel the therapist is now more invested or more likely to bend the rules. The therapist may start to self-censor professional concerns to preserve the friendship. The gift-giving can escalate, and before long, the boundaries have eroded significantly.

Common Mistakes and Misconceptions

Assuming Friendliness Equals Ethical Permissibility

Being warm and personable with clients is good practice. It is not the same as being their friend. A clinician who laughs at a client’s jokes and remembers details about their life is providing good relational care—not entering a multiple relationship.

The problem emerges when the relationship takes on the characteristics of genuine friendship: reciprocal self-disclosure, socializing outside of work, favors, and expectations of loyalty. These shift the power dynamic and cloud your role.

Believing Small Gifts or Favors Are Always Harmless

A client brings cookies to a session. A family invites you to dinner. A client offers you a discount on their business. These gestures feel kind, and declining them feels cold.

Yet each one is a small step toward boundary erosion. The issue is not the gift itself but the pattern and the power dynamic. A one-time gift is low-risk if you acknowledge it warmly and document it. Repeated gifts, favors, or social invitations shift the relationship and require you to address it directly and kindly.

Thinking Disclosure Alone Eliminates Risk

You tell the client about another role or relationship. That’s good. It’s not enough.

Disclosure is just the first step. You must also obtain genuine informed consent (not just agreement under pressure), set clear boundaries, document everything, and monitor the relationship ongoing. The client might say yes because they fear losing services, not because they genuinely consent. Your job is to assess whether the risk is actually manageable, not just to inform and proceed.

Failing to Consider Indirect Relationships

You don’t have a direct relationship with a client, but you do with their parent’s partner, their employer, or a family friend. You follow a client on social media or they follow you.

These indirect connections are real and can influence your judgment or create confidentiality risks. When assessing multiple relationships, cast a wide net.

Confusing Professional Collaboration with Dual Roles

You work with a school teacher on a behavior plan for a shared student. That’s collaboration. If you also supervise the teacher or have a personal friendship with them, the nature of the relationship has changed.

Collaboration is documented, boundaried, and usually time-limited. A dual role is ongoing and involves competing obligations. Know the difference.

Conflating Cultural Norms with Ethical Permission

In some cultures and communities, social ties between professionals and those they serve are normative and valued. That context matters and should inform your risk assessment. It does not exempt you from the responsibility to assess risk and seek informed consent.

In a tight-knit community where relationships are inevitable, you have an extra obligation to be transparent and to document your management plan.

Ethical Considerations

Your Primary Obligation

Your first duty is to your client’s welfare. When a multiple relationship exists, ask: Can I still provide objective, competent care? Can I keep this person’s information confidential? Can I make decisions based solely on their best interest?

If the honest answer is no, you must refer or recuse yourself.

Avoidance as the Default

Treat avoiding multiple relationships as your starting point. Don’t accept social invitations from clients. Don’t treat people you’re close to socially. Don’t hire clients or family members.

This default protects everyone. When unavoidable factors exist (small community, limited staffing, prior relationships discovered at intake), then you implement safeguards. But the assumption is always: Can I avoid this? If yes, do.

When an overlap is unavoidable, disclose it early and clearly. Explain the roles, the boundaries you will maintain, the limits of confidentiality, and the potential risks. Don’t hide it or downplay it, and don’t assume the person understands just because you mentioned it once.

Document that the conversation happened, what you said, and what the client’s response was.

Informed consent is not a one-time event. It’s an ongoing conversation. Check in periodically. Ask whether the person feels comfortable with the arrangement or whether concerns have emerged. Be ready to change course if problems develop.

Documentation Standards

When you manage a multiple relationship, your records should reflect your thought process. Document:

Why the overlap exists and why you concluded it could be managed (or why you decided to refer)
The exact nature of the relationship and how each role will be kept separate
What informed consent was obtained and when
Any supervision or consultation you sought
Clear boundaries and limits on confidentiality in each role
A plan for monitoring the relationship and for referral if risk escalates

This documentation protects the client, demonstrates your professionalism to any ethics committee that might review your work, and creates a clear trail if the relationship later causes problems.

Supervision and Consultation

Use your supervisor as a sounding board. If a client relationship starts to feel personal or if an overlap emerges, bring it to supervision. Don’t make solo judgments about whether a multiple relationship is ethically manageable. A supervisor can spot blind spots you might miss.

When Referral Is Required

If you determine that your objectivity is impaired or that client welfare cannot be protected, refer to another qualified provider. This is not a failure; it’s ethical and often required.

A clear referral plan—introducing the new provider, transferring records, ensuring continuity of care—protects the client and maintains professionalism.

Some situations almost always require referral: ongoing sexual or romantic relationships with clients, ongoing exploitation or harm, situations where you cannot keep the client’s information confidential, or cases where the client relationship and another role are in direct conflict.

Risk Assessment and Decision Framework

When you face a potential multiple relationship, here’s a structured way to think through it:

First, name what’s happening. Is this a concurrent role? Sequential? Indirect? Financial? Supervisory? Clarity matters.

Second, assess the risk. How much power or vulnerability is involved? How much could the overlap impair your objectivity? How likely is a confidentiality breach? What’s the harm potential if things go wrong?

Third, consider necessity. Is this overlap unavoidable? Could you refer the person to someone else instead?

Fourth, think through safeguards. If you proceed, what boundaries will you set? How will you document? What supervision will you seek? What’s your exit plan if risk escalates?

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Fifth, obtain informed consent. Be honest with the client about the overlap, the risks, and your plan to manage them.

Finally, document and monitor. Record your decision, the consent, and the plan. Check in periodically. Be ready to transfer if needed.

If at any step you realize the risk is too high or the overlap is not truly unavoidable, refer.

Practice Questions and Scenarios

Scenario 1: The Birthday Party Invitation

A parent invites you to their child’s birthday party. You’re the child’s BCBA. What should you do?

Consider the risk level, your relationship with the family, and whether attending could affect confidentiality or objectivity. Discuss with your supervisor. If low-risk and the family understands your role, you might attend briefly and document your decision. If you’re concerned about boundary blurring, politely decline. Either way, don’t attend without thinking it through.

Scenario 2: The Former Client Now Hiring You

A family you discharged six months ago asks you to do private tutoring for their child (not ABA). Should you accept?

Evaluate whether this creates a conflict of interest, whether a power imbalance remains despite ending treatment, and what supervision says. A written agreement clarifying roles and boundaries, explicit informed consent, and ongoing monitoring might make this manageable. Or you might refer them to another tutor. There’s no universal answer, but there’s a process.

Scenario 3: Staff Member Dating a Client’s Parent

You discover that an RBT on your team is dating a client’s parent. What’s your responsibility?

This is not the RBT’s private matter to manage alone. Investigate whether it affects the quality of care, whether there are confidentiality risks, and whether the client family is comfortable. You might reassign the RBT to a different client, require supervision, or facilitate a conversation. Document everything. If there’s evidence of exploitation or harm, you may need to report.

A client requests to follow you on Instagram. Your account includes photos from your personal life. What’s the right call?

Many professional codes recommend separate professional and personal social media accounts. Consider whether the content could affect the clinical relationship or violate confidentiality. You might politely decline and explain that you maintain professional boundaries online. Or you might restrict the client’s access. Document your policy and your decision.

Scenario 5: The Consulting Conflict

A BCBA is asked to consult for an agency that employs a current client’s parent. Should they take the job?

Disclose the relationship to both the agency and the client family. Assess whether the consulting work could bias your decisions about the client or whether the client’s parent could pressure you in the consulting role. Document how you’ll keep the roles separate. Consult your supervisor. It might be manageable, or you might need to decline or refer the client to another BCBA.

Professional boundaries are the framework that protects clients. Multiple relationships are a specific threat to boundaries.

Conflict of interest often overlaps with multiple relationships. When you have competing obligations or personal stakes in an outcome, your judgment is compromised.

Informed consent is the ethical cornerstone of managing unavoidable overlaps. You cannot ethically proceed without a genuine, ongoing conversation with the client about the risks and boundaries involved.

Documentation standards turn good intentions into defensible practice. Your records should show that you thought carefully about a multiple relationship, consulted, obtained consent, and set boundaries.

Supervision best practices mean that supervisors model boundary-setting and train staff to recognize and manage overlaps.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly counts as a multiple relationship?

Any situation in which you hold two or more roles with the same person, or in which a future role with that person is anticipated. Roles can be professional, personal, financial, supervisory, or social. The key is overlap and the potential for conflicting interests or impaired judgment.

Are all multiple relationships unethical?

Not automatically. A multiple relationship is unethical when it impairs your objectivity, competence, or judgment, or when it risks exploitation, harm, or a breach of confidentiality. Some overlaps can be managed ethically with disclosure, informed consent, clear boundaries, documentation, and supervision.

How should I document a decision to continue in a multiple relationship?

Your note should include the nature of the overlap, your risk assessment, the informed consent discussion (including the client’s response), any supervision or consultation you sought, the boundaries you will maintain, the limits on confidentiality, and your plan for monitoring and referral if risk escalates. Date the note and update it as the relationship evolves.

What should I do if I suspect a colleague is in an inappropriate multiple relationship?

Follow your agency’s policy for raising concerns. If there’s no clear policy, speak with your supervisor or the ethics committee. Document what you’ve observed. The goal is to protect the client and give your colleague a chance to address the issue with guidance. If you suspect harm or exploitation, you have a reporting obligation.

Can cultural norms justify a multiple relationship?

Cultural context matters and should inform your risk assessment. In some communities, overlapping relationships are normative. This does not remove your responsibility to assess risk and seek informed consent—it may increase your obligation to be transparent and document how you’re managing the overlap ethically.

When is referral required instead of mitigation?

Refer when you cannot maintain objectivity, when the client’s welfare is at risk, when confidentiality cannot be protected, or when the two roles are in direct conflict. Also refer if the client experiences the overlap as coercive, even if you didn’t intend it that way. A referral is not a failure—it’s an ethical choice that prioritizes the client’s best interest.

Key Takeaways

A multiple relationship is any situation in which you hold more than one role with a client or with someone closely connected to them. These overlaps are not automatically unethical, but they introduce real risks: impaired objectivity, boundary confusion, exploitation, and harm. The ethical default is to avoid them when possible.

When an overlap is unavoidable, assess the risk, disclose it clearly, obtain informed consent, set boundaries, document your decisions, consult supervision, and monitor the relationship. Be ready to refer if objectivity is compromised or if the client’s welfare is at risk.

Your job is not to be cold or distant. It is to be clear about your role, transparent about any conflicts, and unwavering in your commitment to your client’s best interest. Clients trust you because they know your decisions are based on their needs, not on personal feelings or competing interests. When multiple relationships threaten that trust, address them directly and professionally.