Complex but doable : multiple relationships from a professional perspective

Abstract

Multiple relationships in psychology practice involve taking on more than one role with the same person -typically, one of the roles is a professional one, such as providing therapy to an acquaintance. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experience of Maltese psychology professionals with regards to multiple relationships -a situation which may sometimes be inevitable in the Maltese context. Four in-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with three psychologists and one psychotherapist, all of whom have been practicing for close to or over ten years. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Four overall themes emerged from the data analysis: care and concern, necessity of boundaries, impact of the relationship and Maltese reality. The experiences described by participants were all positive, with the impact of the multiple relationships being largely beneficial. While these findings represent the experience of the professionals who participated in this study, they should not be generalised to all psychology professionals in Malta.