Chapter 2 – The Therapeutic Relationship: Ethics, Boundaries, and Cultural Competencies

Question 1

Which approach promotes trust in the therapeutic relationship?
A. Being professional only during the session
B. Saying yes to all client requests
C. Maintaining clear boundaries
D. Becoming close, personal friends with all clients

Answer 1

Maintaining clear boundaries

Question 2

A client approaches a massage practitioner at a social function and asks about another clients progress. If the practitioner complies, which code of ethics principle is breeched?

Answer 2

Confidentiality

Question 3

A practitioners next client is also his paternal grandmother. During the session, she begins to make derogatory remarks about her daughter-in-law (the practitioner’s mother). What is the best course of action?
A. Agree with his grandmother’s remarks
B. Disagree with his grandmother’s remarks
C. State the remarks are inappropriate in this setting
D. Refer his grandmother to a different practitioner for future sessions

Answer 3

Refer his grandmother to a different practitioner for future sessions

Question 4

Which term describes the therapist transfer of past feelings, conflicts, attitudes into professional relationships, situations, and circumstances?
A. Psychotransference
B. Transference
C. Countertransference
D. Metatransference

Answer 4

Countertransference

Question 5

A massage practitioner should avoid dating clients because it:
A. violates the practitioner’s scope of practice.
B. leads to malpractice claims.
C. blurs client-practitioner boundaries.
D. is illegal in most states

Answer 5

blurs client-practitioner boundaries.

Question 6

Which guideline should be followed when terminating a massage while in session due to client misconduct?
A. Answering client questions while in the massage room
B. Leaving the room without telling the client
C. Withdrawing hands from the client and stepping toward the door
D. Waiting in the massage room while the client gets dressed

Answer 6

Withdrawing hands from the client and stepping toward the door

Question 7

Revealing thoughts, feelings, and personal history to clients is called:

Answer 7

self-disclosure.

Question 8

Code of ethics is best described as a:
A. Federal rules and regulations
B. Set of guiding moral principles
C. Common business practices
D. State licensing laws

Answer 8

Set of guiding moral principles

Question 9

Which activity violates the Standards of Practice published by the National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodyworkers?
A. Accepting tips
B. Becoming politically active
C. Leasing space from a chiropractor
D. Dating a current client

Answer 9

Dating a current client

Question 10

What behavior is the most unethical?
A. Playing music the massage practitioner likes during a session
B. Mistaking a cyst for a trigger point and applying pressure
C. Ignoring a frail client’s request for deeper pressure
D. Talking about a client’s problems with another client

Answer 10

Talking about a clients problems with another client

Question 11

A male client comes to a massage clinic and insists on having a female practitioner. What is an appropriate course of action?
A. Ask his reasons and then make a decision
B. Tell him gender requests are unallowed
C. Comply with his request
D. Be sure he is given a male practitioner

Answer 11

Comply with his request

Question 12

After the practitioner gives a client a massage, the client wants to give the practitioner a hug. If the practitioner feels uncomfortable, it is because this is an example of:
A. boundaries violation.
B. scope of practice.
C. dual relationships.
D. self-disclosure.

Answer 12

boundaries violation.

Question 13

A client begins to moan and caress the practitioners leg during the massage. What is the most appropriate action(s) for the massage practitioner to take?
A. Ignore the gestures and continue the massage
B. Tell him or her this behaviour is inappropriate and you will leave the room the action continues or is repeated
C. Reduce the temperature of the room and use essential oils that promote sedation
D. Pick up his or her hand and slap its dorsal surface

Answer 13

Tell him or her this behaviour is inappropriate and you will leave the room the action continues or is repeated

Question 14

If a male client lying supine has an erection and seems unaware of it, what is the massage practitioner’s most appropriate course of action?
A. Acknowledge the erection and ask to continue with the massage
B. Tell the client the erection is unacceptable and terminate the massage
C. Acknowledge the erection and tell the client to turn to prone position
D. Ignore the erection and continue with the massage

Answer 14

Ignore the erection and continue with the massage

Question 15

If a client and two of the client’s friends approach the client’s massage practitioner in a local mall, the appropriate response of the massage practitioner is to:
A. Ask the client if there is a reduction of symptoms since the last session
B. Say hello while passing out business cards to all of them
C. Avoid looking at them and quickly walk the other away
D. Say hello while avoiding conversation regarding the therapeutic relationship

Answer 15

Say hello while avoiding conversation regarding the therapeutic relationship

Question 16

A massage practitioner having lunch with a client is an example of a:
A. Dual relationship
B. Transference
C. Disclosure
D. Therapeutic relationship

Answer 16

Dual relationship

Question 17

What is the most appropriate response if a massage client presents with bruises you suspect are related to domestic abuse?
A. Postpone the massage because it may trigger a flashback of past domestic violence
B. Proceed with the massage while avoiding them, and file a report with a protection agency
C. Proceed with massage while avoiding them, and ask the client to talk about the abuse incident
D. Proceed with the massage while avoiding them, and note the bruises in the client record

Answer 17

Proceed with the massage while avoiding them, and note the bruises in the client record

Question 18

What is the term for the imbalance of authority in the professional relationship with clients in the vulnerable position?
A. Empathy
B. Transference
C. Countertransference
D. Fidelity

Answer 18

Power differential

Question 19

What term describes the unconscious transfer of past feelings, conflicts, and attitudes into present relationships, situations, and circumstances onto someone else such as the practitioner?

Answer 19

Transference