Ethical Issues
Obinna Okwara
Southern New Hampshire University
Ethical Issues
INTRODUCTION
Ethical issues occur in different professionals and different occasions. In every occupation or organization, there is a code of ethics which is expected to be followed. Ethical behavior is vital. It helps to protect the image of an organization and also the image of a particular profession. It is therefore to examine the various ethical issues which surround the issue of therapy. The intervention plan which was developed was dealing with the therapy of a mental disorder which is depression. When treating depression, there are various issues which the therapist is supposed to address and also to ensure that he or she behaves in a manner that is not unethical (Koocher, Spiegel, 2008). It is, therefore, critical to discover the various ethical issues and how they have been addressed in the intervention plan.
ETHICAL ISSUES
Unethical behavior can lead to many consequences. Some of these repercussions are faced by the therapist, and others are encountered by the organization and the client. It is, therefore, important to ensure that the ethical issues have been addressed. One of the ways that unethical behavior can affect the individual therapist is where the doctor can be sued for unethical behavior in a court of law. The therapist can also be sucked from his job as a result of behaving unethically. On the other hand, the unethical behavior of the therapist can harm the client either his mentally or physically. Unethical behavior also leads to damaging the reputation of an institution. The public image is very vital. When the public image has been damaged, it means that the public has no trust ion the institution. This affects the institution in a very negative manner since it is no longer accepted by the community. Facing the ethical issues is, therefore, imperative. Some of the ethical issues are discussed below.
One of the main issues is the protection of the confidentiality of the client. The information that the client disseminates to the therapist is supposed to be held with the highest confidentiality. It would be unethical from the therapist or the institution to disseminate that information to a person who is not authorized. Another issue would be the therapist having a relationship with the client. This is not allowed in the code of ethical. It is believed that when the therapist and the client haves a close relationship, the work of the therapist will be jeopardized, and this might add more depression to the client.
HOW TO ADDRESS ETHICAL ISSUES
It is, therefore, important that the relationship between the client and the therapist remains professional (Pope, Vasquez, 2010). This will ensure that the therapist can deliver efficiently; hence the client will be assisted. The therapist can also act unethically by offering to give services to the client in areas which he or she does not have expertise on. This would be unethical since the therapist can cause more damage to the client. Lack of expertise is every critical and therapist are only supposed to work in an area of their expertise. Therapists are also not expected to abandon their clients in the name of termination of the treatment. Some therapist abandons their clients without completing the therapy. All these ethical issues should be covered in the intervention plan.
CONCLUSION
The intervention plan has ensured that for individual therapy, the client is given full confidentiality and privacy which is required. The therapist cannot perform a family therapy when it’s supposed to be individual therapy. To tackle the ethical issues, the therapist should ensure that there is accurate documentation and that they work within their expertise (Welfel, 2016). The therapists are also expected to dwell in the evidence to ensure that the recommendations they give are evidence based. They should also ensure that they have given the full client details before they make any decisions. The consent of the client is very essential. Above all, the therapists should follow their code of ethics.
References
Koocher, G. & Spiegel, P. (2008). Ethics in psychology and the mental health professions: standards and cases. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press.
Pope, K. & Vasquez, M. (2010). Ethics in Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Practical Guide. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Welfel, E. (2016). Ethics in counseling and psychotherapy standards, research, and emerging issues. Boston: Cengage Learning
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