Dual Roles Policy

Dual roles in The Bowlby Centre refers to any situation where multiple roles exist between members and students. This policy aims to be clear about which dual roles are permitted and which are not. It also aims to give information on best practice protocols when dual roles are unavoidable.

Ethical guidelines do not mandate a blanket avoidance of dual relationships but do prohibit exploitation and harm of clients.

Supervisory relationships inherently involve multiple roles, loyalties, responsibilities and functions. A supervisor has professional relationships and duty not only to the supervisee, but also to the supervisee’s clients, as well as to the training organisation and the public.

Dual roles of a training therapist

Training therapist and training supervisor. A training therapist cannot also be a training supervisor for their client (or for an ex-client) and where possible we recommend that they think carefully about supervising a trainee who is in the same training year as their client. Sometimes, particularly for the APL trainees, supervising a fellow trainee of a client is acceptable.

Care must be taken not to encroach upon supervision material in therapy sessions although we recognise that there is often an overlap, when exploring counter-transference for example. There are times when supervision issues might be brought to personal therapy, for example when the training supervisor is on a break, or a client evokes particularly difficult feelings that need extra support. However, care must be taken to respect and protect both professional relationships, therapeutic and supervisory.

Training therapist and teacher or course tutor. These dual roles are never allowed. When the organisation was very small the roles were very occasionally mixed, but we now have a clear protocol of keeping the roles separate.

Training therapist and CTC member. It is highly recommended that the Chair of the CTC abstains from being a training therapist. The only exception to this is if a client in their practice decides to apply for the training after having started with them, in which case the dual role is unavoidable. In these situations care must be taken to delegate to the Vice Chair all matters concerning the Chair’s student client’s process through the training, and in particular the assessment procedures. The Chair must however, remain in charge of overseeing student procedures and must only remove themselves where strictly necessary.

The CTC can decide on the protocol for course tutors and the vice Chair if they are also training therapists. One option is for training therapists to leave the meeting when the Intake of their client is being discussed. The other option is for them to stay and only leave if their client is being specifically discussed. Care must be taken to keep as many committee members as possible involved in discussions for the health of the CTC decision making.

Training therapists must be transparent with their client about their level of involvement onthe CTC.

For all other committees, training therapists can participate fully.

If a complaint is made about the training client, the training therapist cannot be involved in the disciplinary procedure in any way.

Dual roles of a training supervisor

Training supervisor and training therapist. A training supervisor cannot also be a training therapist for their client (or for an ex-client). Care must be taken not to encroach upon therapy material in supervision although we recognise that there is often an overlap, when exploring counter-transference for example.

There are times when personal material might be brought to supervision if a client evokes particularly difficult feelings that need extra support. The decision to explore this material must be the choice of the supervisee and in the service of the clinical work with the client who is evoking any countertransference. Care must be taken to respect and protect the integrity of both professional relationships, therapeutic and supervisory.

Training supervisor and teacher or course tutor. Supervising and teaching dual roles are permitted. Ideally supervision starts after the teacher/student relationship has finished, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Both roles are essentially about training the student.

Supervising and being a course tutor on the other hand is not permitted. The course tutor needs to be free to assess their students’ readiness without the complications of having another kind of relationship with them, and the student group needs to trust that they all have relationship with their course tutor that is on an equal footing with their peers.

Training supervisor and CTC member. It is highly recommended that the Chair of the CTC abstains from being a training supervisor. The reason for this is that the Chair of the CTC is responsible for line managing the course tutors who are responsible for both the pastoral care of the students and their readiness to progress in the training. They also oversee any complaints made towards the trainees. The relationship with the trainees needs to be as impartial as possible.

The CTC can decide on the protocol for course tutors and the vice Chair if they are also training supervisors. One option is for training supervisors to leave the meeting when the Intake of their supervisee is being discussed. The other option is for them to stay and only leave if their supervisee is being specifically discussed. Care must be taken to keep as many committee members as possible involved in discussions for the health of the CTC decision making.

Training supervisors must be transparent with their supervisee about their level of involvement on the CTC.

For all other committees, training supervisors can participate fully.

If a complaint is made about the supervisee, the training supervisor cannot be involved in the disciplinary procedure in any way.

Dual roles of a trustee

Trustee and Exec or CTC member. There is precedent for this now that we have member trustees, and members who become trustees tend to have significant
organisational experience so are often involved in committees. There is a good opportunity for more joined up thinking if the roles are combined, and for quicker channels of communication. However, it is important that member trustees remain aware of the power they hold in relation to their fellow committee members when they are participating on the Executive or the CTC. If the member trustee is on an assessors panel due to their role on the Executive or the CTC, they can also be involved in PiT or RAPP assessment.

Member trustees must exit a trustee meeting if there is a conflict of interest. An example of this might be the Executive proposing an increase in pay to the board of trustees that benefits the member trustee. The trustees are not involved in the day to day running of the centre and it is important that this boundary is held and that the member trustee doesn’t conduct day to day business with the board based on their knowledge of what the Executive or the CTC is managing. An example of this might be trying to involve fellow trustees in a training matter, like the suitability of a candidate for PiT or RAPP.

Trustee and teacher. There is already a protocol for this and much of what is outlined above, particularly around carrying an awareness of power, is relevant here too. The seminar space is for teaching and must not be used to discuss organisational or board issues. An example of this might be the need to recruit a new trustee. All communication about board issues must be disseminated to the students by the CEO or the Chair of the CTC. This policy is in place to avoid some students having more information about the organisation than others and to prevent rumours being spread. It is important that information is contained and only given out by members of committees and not directly by trustees. Member trustees who teach need to respect the role of course tutors and not have contact with individual students about extra curriculum activities without consulting with and informing the course tutor. There may be group dynamics of which they are not aware.

Trustee and training supervisor/training therapist. These dual roles are permitted because the board of trustees is not involved in the day to day running of the centre or the management of the training and the assessment of students. The member trustee must not share personal and specific material from therapy sessions or supervision even if the content might be pertinent to the issues being discussed by the board of trustees.

Dual roles of a course tutor

Course tutor and teacher. Sometimes a course tutor of an intake is also a teacher for the same intake. The teaching could cover just a term, a year, or two years as is the case for the Infant Observation seminar. This dual role is permitted, and the key guideline is that the seminar space is used only for teaching purposes and not for course tutoring, unless agreed by the CTC for a specific purpose. (An example of this might be to suspend teaching the seminar for part of the session to resolve conflict in the group or to communicate important and time sensitive organisational matters.)

Course tutor and PiT and RAPP assessor. This combination of roles is not permitted. The course tutor will be involved in assessment for the duration of the training via individual and group tutorials but will not be involved in the formal PiT or RAPP interviews on the grounds that these interviews need to be as impartial as they can be.

Course tutor and training supervisor. This is also not permitted. The training supervision needs to be kept separate from the tutoring aspect of the training. The course tutor and the training supervisor will be in fairly close contact to discuss the student’s progress through training and to think together about the student’s readiness to proceed towards PiT and RAPP but these two relationships need to be kept separate to protect the student from having too narrow a base of people involved in assessing them.

Course tutor and training therapist. This is also not permitted. To protect the therapeutic relationship, the course tutor will not also be a training therapist of one of their students under any circumstances. This is also important to safeguard against difficult group dynamics which would inevitably occur if the course tutor had one student in the group as a client. It is a UKCP requirement that a training therapist is not involved in assessment in any shape or form, and assessment is a key part of the course tutor’s role.

Course tutor and student sitting on a committee together. This can occasionally happen when a student has a particular skill to contribute to organisational life or is post. taught and has taken on another role for the organisation, like teaching. Thought must be given to the impact on the group dynamic and to the recruitment procedure which must offer opportunities to all students, and not just one.

Available committees for this dual role are the Conference planning group and promotional activities. Committees or groups that are not available to students are the Executive, the Clinical Training committee, referrals and the board of trustees.

Date written: May 2025