Ethical Dilemma Paper

692 Words2 Pages

School counselors are faced with tough situation on a daily basis. Issues faced can range from Child Abuse, Student Safety, Suicide, Criminal Activity and Harassment on multiple levels. A recent issue that I was faced with was in regards to my student Rachel who is in her 8th grade year. I have seen Rachel for three sessions so far and she is involved in a social group to help with friendship issues. In the past she has cut herself and my understanding is that this behavior has subsided. Recently she told me that she has started back up with cutting herself to relieve the pain and pressures she feels from her parent’s divorce and the war zone that her home has become. Rachel begs me not to call her parents and promises to implement the stress-relieving exercise that I have taught her. In this scenario I am faced with more than one dilemma. The first dilemma that I am faced with is the fact that Rachel is cutting herself and that she may cause harm to herself with the potential of it resulting in death if it continues. I am also faced …show more content…

I will need to consider both the parental rights and the minors’ rights in my decisions. Confidentiality is an ethical standard set forth by a profession, whereas privileged communication is granted by law (Ledyard, 1998). Hendrix (1991) stated that the law supersedes ethics in three mental health situations for minors: reports of being abused, reports of harm to self, or reports of a plan to do harm to another person. As part of the ASCA Ethical Standards school counselors are to inform parents/guardians and/or the appropriate authorities when a student poses a serious and foreseeable risk to self or others. So, it is my duty as a school counselor to report that Rachel is cutting herself to the appropriate individuals and to her

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