Milestone Two

Dahlia Discord, MSW

Student’s Name

Institution

Case Study Vignette: Dahlia Discord, MSW

The identified case study is Dahlia Dicord, MSW. The case involves a psychotherapist, Ms. Discord, and her patient, Melissa Malfunction, who was involved in an automobile accident that left her with anxiety and mild depression. Ms. Malfunction wants Ms. Discord to testify for her before an administrative judge so that she can receive disability insurance payments.

Justification for Selecting the Case

The case is selected because the major theme is ethics in healthcare. Healthcare is one of the sectors that demands the highest ethical standards because of the services offered. In this case, there are ethical issues because the client wants the healthcare professional to testify for her, however, the healthcare professional feels like some of the client’s demands go against her professional ethical requirements. The case was selected because it presents a dilemma for Ms. Discord as she is torn between acting ethically or pleasing her friend.

Ethical Conflicts

Ms. Malfunction wants Ms. Discord to testify in her favor that she is disabled so the is justified to receive disability insurance payments. However, Ms. Discord is not convinced that Ms. Malfunction is completely unable to do any kind of job. This implies that if she completes the disability evaluation for Ms. Malfunction, she would be going against her conscience. Therapists are asked, from time to time, to write letters that show support for their clients, however, they need to make sure that their professional integrity is not compromised (Wasson & Kuczewski, 2022). This is the ethical conflict that Ms. Discord finds herself in. This is a major conflict because Ms. Discord is concerned about her relationship with her client. At the same time, she must uphold professional integrity.

References

Wasson, K. & Kuczewski, M. (2022). Thorny Issues in Clinical Ethics Consultation: North American and European Perspectives. Cham: Springer.