Ethical_Decision_Making

Running head: ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING Ethical Decision-Making: The Process of Making Ethical Decisions in Psychology Heather Van Den Arend University of Phoenix Ethical Decision-Making: The Process of Making Ethical Decisions in Psychology A psychologist must face many ethical decisions in the course of providing therapy to a wide range of patients. Some of these ethical decisions may be easy, and some of them may be a lot more difficult. It is up to the psychologist to make the most ethical decision for all people that may be affected by the situation. This paper will evaluate a possible ethical dilemma that could face a psychologist in the midst of providing therapy to patients. This paper will then go through the first 14 steps of the ethical decision process in order to come up with a decision. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the importance of ethical decision making in professional psychology. Ethical Dilemma The ethical dilemma that will be discussed in this paper involves a therapist who is providing therapy to a young boy. The boy comes from a home with a single father. The father often joins some of the therapy sessions. The boy had a lot of trouble being able to talk to the therapist and trust her when the therapy first started. Now, the therapist has gained the boy’s trust and he has opened up to her about many things that bother him. His grades have gone up and he even decided to join the soccer team at school; he was very anxious and shy before and would not have been able to play a team sport. The boy has been in therapy with this therapist for the past two years and over that time the therapist and the boy’s father have developed a mutual attraction for each other. The therapist knows that this is wrong, but she really wants to explore a relationship with this man. She doesn’t know if she should try it out first and see how things go or if she should refer them to another therapist. Identify the Situation The situation that needs ethical consideration here is whether or not the patient will be harmed by the relationship of his father with his therapist. The young boy is the focal point of this ethical decision because he is the patient and all ethical decisions must revolve around his best interests. The therapist needs to decide if she is able to provide the best treatment to this child because she is preoccupied with her attraction to the boy’s father. She needs to examine the possible dual relationships that would be involved in this situation and what boundaries are being crossed by entertaining the possibility of having a relationship with the father of one of her patients. Who Will Be Affected Anticipating who will be affected by the decision is an important step in the ethical decision making process. This step can help define how one will go about deciding on the best course of action regarding an ethical dilemma. This situation has the potential to affect a number of people. The therapist and the father will be most definitely affected by the decision. The young boy would also be affected by the decision because he would have to get used to his therapist being his father’s girlfriend or get used to another therapist. Other people in the lives of the boy, his father, and the therapist may also be affected. For instance, the boy’s mother may be affected by the fact that her ex-husband is dating her son’s therapist. The Client The client is the young boy. However, the father is the one who is paying for the therapist’s services. If the therapist decides to refuse the advances of the father, she may lose a client anyway. This is something that will most definitely affect the decision of the therapist, especially if she is in a position where she needs to keep clients. It can be a case of divided loyalty when the patient is not the one who is paying the bill. Areas of Competence This therapist may not know what she is getting herself into; this situation is one that could very well go very wrong for all parties involved. When a therapist crosses boundaries and introduces dual relationships into the picture, it is possible that things can turn ugly. The therapist is qualified to treat children and does not know as much about providing therapy to adults. It is possible that this father may need some kind of therapy of his own after his divorce from the boy’s mother and he has yet to face his own problems. It is possible that it would be best to refer both the boy and his father to another therapist. It may even be a good idea to recommend a male therapist, so that the attraction issues do not come up again in the future. Review Relevant Ethical Standards The American Psychological Association has a standard of ethical codes and standards that are set forth for psychologists to follow. The ethical codes and standards say that, “Psychologists do not engage in sexual intimacies with close relatives, guardians, or significant others of therapy patients. Psychologists do not terminate treatment to circumvent this standard” (American Psychological Association, 2002). This means that the ethical codes and standards require that the therapist does not start a relationship with this boy’s father and that she also does not discontinue therapy so that she may have a relationship with this boy’s father. Review Relevant Research and Theory