w3

Week 4

Due Nov. 4

Case Study Two Worksheet

Respond to the following questions in 1,250 to 1,500 words.

1. Why is this an ethical dilemma? Which APA Ethical Principles help frame the nature of the dilemma?

1. How might Irina’s age and parents’ involvement in the referral affect how Dr. Matthews can resolve the dilemma? How might the state law on treatment of minors and HIPAA rule on access of guardians to a minor’s health care record influence Dr. Matthews’ decision?

1. How are APA Ethical Standards 2.01a b, and c; 2.04; 3.04; 3.06; 4.01; 4.02; and 10.10a relevant to this case? Which other standards might apply?

1. What are Dr. Matthews’ ethical alternatives for resolving this dilemma? Which alternative best reflects the Ethics Code aspirational principle and enforceable standard, as well as legal standards and Dr. Matthews’ obligations to stakeholders?

1. What steps should Dr. Matthews take to ethically implement her decision and monitor its effects?

Reference

Fisher, C. B. (2013). Decoding the ethics code: A practical guide for psychologists. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

After the students have left his office, Dr. Vaji reviews his midyear evaluation and

supervision notes on Leo and the midyear on-site supervisor’s report. In his own

evaluation report Dr. Vaji had written, “Leo often articulates a strong sense of duty

to help his ethnic minority students overcome past discrimination but needs additional

growth and supervision in applying a multicultural perspective into his

clinical work.” The on-site supervisor’s evaluation states that

Leo has a wonderful attitude towards his student clients . . . Unfortunately

evaluation of his treatment skills is limited because Leo has had less cases to

discuss than some of his peers since a larger than usual number of students

have stopped coming to their sessions with him.

It is the middle of the Spring Semester, and Dr. Vaji still has approximately 6

weeks of supervision left with Leo. The students’ complaints about Leo, while more

extreme, are consistent with what Dr. Vaji has observed in Leo’s class papers and

role-playing exercises. However, these complaints are very different from his presentation

during on-site supervision. If Leo has been intentionally deceiving both

supervisors, then he may be more ineffective or harmful as a therapist to his current

clients than either supervisor realized. In addition, purposeful attempts to deceive

the supervisors might indicate a personality disorder or lack of integrity that if left

unaddressed might be harmful to adolescent clients in the future.

Ethical Dilemma

Dr. Vaji would like to meet with Leo at minimum to discuss ways to retain adolescent

clients and to improve his multicultural treatment skills. He does not know

to what extent his conversation with Leo and final supervisory report should be

influenced by the information provided by the graduate students.