Case Study: Ethical Decision-Making Theory

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This vignette focuses on a male adolescent who was already in therapy for behavioral issues, peer relations problems and suffering from a mild form of mental retardation. The issue at hand was about payment after the patient 's mom was laid off and subsequently lose her insurance. Dad steps in to offer goods in exchange for service so his son can continue therapy. As a therapist, what should you do when someone 's mental health depends on your services? The best thing to do will be the follow the APA ethical guidelines to help in making the appropriate decision and to use the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologist known as the Ethical Decision Making Process.

Bartering in therapy can be polarizing because some frown upon it while others embrace …show more content…

An example will be my compassion towards the patient and his parents and I may end up violating an ethics standard. I feel compassion towards parents who will do anything for the well-being of their children. The bullying and the stigmatizing of this young patient will also definitely pull at my heart string. My decision may be clouded because of how I feel especially on something that will impact someone 's mental health. The ethical issue that arose was Standard 2.06 on personal problems and conflict because my emotions will interfere with my decisions and in this case I may end up harming the client unintentionally. Standard 3.04 on avoiding harm especially when it foreseeable and I will like to avoid harming if I can. My fourth decision-making process will be to develop alternatives to help solve the problem. My alternative will be to discuss with my supervisor about the issue I am having with the client. I can also confer with my colleagues about how to handle a situation like this especially if one of them had experienced this issue

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