Limits of the professional counselling relationship

BACKGROUND: One of your clients, Emma, is a young, struggling mother with two small children. In counselling, she reveals to you the difficulties she has had since leaving her abusive partner. Since leaving him, she has been left with a small apartment, no mode of transport and very little money each week for food although by holding a part time job she manages to provide the bare minimum for herself and her children. She has been referred to you through her GP as a result of her high stress levels and debilitating anxiety about what the future might hold. Since beginning therapy with you, she has begun to blossom into a capable mother who is able to balance most aspects of her life. She has disclosed to you that she looks forward to seeing you more than anything else in the week despite having to travel with her children on a bus for over an hour. At one point, she reveals to you that no one has ever listened or cared for her in the same way that you do.

DILEMMA: After seeing Emma for a few months and building up a level of professional rapport with her, winter hits the town you are living in. Each week, on your way to work, you see Emma and her two children waiting at a bus stop so they can travel by bus to see you. For the last couple of weeks you have noticed the family of three standing in the same bus stop despite the rain and cold of winter. Emma is stuck with no shelter balancing her youngest on her hip whilst trying to hold an old umbrella in the other hand to shelter the other child. A sense of guilt hits you as you realize they are going to the same place as you and you are travelling in a warm, dry car with plenty of spare room...