Case Studies in Ethics - Essay Example

? Case Studies in Ethics Case Studies in Ethics Chapter 10: The Case of Jamie How would you respond to Jamie’s father’s accusation and refusal to pay your fees? This is a delicate situation because the father is upset, and he has a legal background. This implies that he understands the law well, which leads me to believe he feels that the psychologist was truly negligent in my duties. The psychologist should respectfully respond to him and say that he understands the frustration he feels with the SAT board denial of the request for more time. At the same time, he did the very best he could and is confident that he well documented Jamie’s case and that, unfortunately, the final decision is left to the SAT board. As a professional, he feels that his time should be compensated as agreed upon and he should respectfully ask him to reconsider his decision not to pay. What legal and ethical actions can you take to collect your fees? It is implied from the case study that no written contract was signed stating that there was not a guarantee that the written documentation provided would convince the SAT committee to allow Jamie additional time on the exam. A verbal contract in this case would not be binding because both parties would likely disagree on what was agreed upon. Legally, it does not appear that anything can be done. Can you send the account to a collection agency? Why or why not? FERPA rules guarantee a student’s right to educational privacy. In this case, sending the issue to a collection agency would require a statement of the case, which would most certainly involve the child’s name, or a variation thereof. As such, this would be considered a breach of confidentiality and could actually land the psychologist in trouble. Are the parents or Jamie responsible for the fees? Explain. In this case, the parents would be responsible for the fees. The parents approached the psychologist for the testing; it really had nothing to do with Jamie. To expect Jamie to be responsible for his parents refusal to pay would be ethically wrong. In addition, Jamie is a minor and there was no contract signed where he agreed to pay any fees. For these reasons alone, the parents should be held responsible for 100% of the fees owed to the psychologist. Chapter 11: The Case of Ludwig Do you agree with Ludwig’s clinical decision? Do you agree with his rationale? I do not agree with Ludwig’s clinical decision primarily because it does not appear that he explored all viable options. For one, we do not see where he has discussed the issue with Ella at all. If they have a strong working relationship, as mentioned in the case study, then she would likely be open to hearing his suggestion. At that time, if she completely rejected the idea, then they could formulate other more viable treatment options. One suggestion is that he could advise Ella to go with her family and attend family therapy sessions, while he continued to see her in individual sessions. In this manner, they could continue their strong counseling relationship together. Oddly enough, I do agree with Ludwig’s rationale simply because it makes sense in the context of the decision he made. In his mind, he was watching out for Ella’s best interest, but in doing so, he lost sight of his responsibility to the patient. From your perspective, would it have made a difference if he had consulted with Ella? Would it have made a difference if he had consulted with or obtained supervision from a colleague? In my opinion, it would have made a difference if he had consulted with Ella. It has been established that they have a good counselor-patent relationship already established. As such, it would be likely that Ella would seriously consider his opinion. At the very least, they would have had an open dialogue where Ella could decide to reject or accept Ludwig’s opinion. Had Ludwig consulted with a colleague, he would surely have been counseled that he had an ethical responsibility to refer Ella for family therapy. This would certainly have had an impact on Ludwig’s final decision and would have given him more options to consider. What if Ludwig had decided to see the entire family and attempted to do family therapy for the benefit of his client, even though he was not trained as a family therapist? Ludwig would be shirking his ethical responsibilities as a counselor was he to accept a family for therapy and counseling, and he were not trained to do so. A counselor is to provide the best level of care for their patient. If they cannot do that, primarily because of either a conflict of interest or, in this case, a lack of training, then they are supposed to refer the patient to outside counseling. What if Ludwig had been trained in family systems, but when he suggested family session to Ella, she refused? What would you do if faced with such a dilemma? My first responsibility is to Ella. If she rejected the presented idea of having a family counseling session, I would simply continue to gently encourage her to consider the recommendation, while still seeing her for individual sessions. Perhaps over time she would change her mind. Chapter 12: The Case of Pierre How do you evaluate the ethical appropriateness of Pierre’s approach to discussing confidentiality in his group? I think Pierre did his clients a gross disservice in his oversimplification of matters relating to confidentiality. While confidentiality is guaranteed, with minor exceptions, in an individual session, group sessions are different by their very nature. One cannot hold members of the group responsible legally if they divulge private information. Furthermore, some group members may inadvertently leak privileged information in the course of a normal conversation, without blatantly intending to do so. For Pierre to simply say that ‘anything that happens, stays here’, group members may come with the wrong assumption that their thoughts truly will never be discussed outside of the group setting, which unfortunately simply is not the case. I think Pierre should be much more clear and concise with his description of what confidentiality entails in a group setting. What specific aspects of confidentiality would you most want to inform member of in your group? I would stress members in my group the importance of respecting each other’s privacy. We want everyone in the group to feel free to share openly what is on their mind, but they cannot do that if they fear others in the group will violate the trust that comes with being a part of a group session. I would encourage them to open up to one another and earn each other’s trust, but at the same time to remember what a sacred privilege it is to have someone open up to them in this way. Just as they do not want their own words discussed outside of the group setting, neither do others in the group. What potential problems, if any, do you see in the way Pierre explained confidentiality to group members? There are certainly some potential ethical and licensing problems with the way Pierre explained confidentiality to his group members. Because he simply glossed over the issue, and did so quickly, some in the group may feel he implicitly implied that their confidentiality was guaranteed. If someone in the group then went out and violated that trust and shared private thoughts with others, it could do long lasting harm to the counselor-client relationship. That particular person may never be able to trust a counselor, or such a setting, again. In extreme cases, the person could threaten or do harm to themselves. It is important to carefully consider issues of confidentiality before such matters are shared in an open group counseling session. Read More