Even "The Good Wife," one of the best portrayals of the legal workplace to hit TV, took on the subject last year when Diane Lockhart of Lockhart & Gardner took as a client her flirty ballistics expert and then proceeded, between protestations about ethics, to take him as a lover as well.

So what in fact are the ethical rules about the matter?

One dual relationship that is always considered harmful is a sexual relationship with a client.

The 2005 revision of the ACA Code of Ethics reiterates and expands the ban on sexual relationships with clients.

Like a dual relationship that is sexual, a nonprofessional dual relationship has the potential to blur the boundaries between a counselor and a client, create a conflict of interest, enhance the potential for exploitation and abuse of power, and/or cause the counselor and client to have different expectations of therapy.