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Ethical Issues In Counseling Case Study

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As counselor it is important to evaluate ethical and cultural issues in order to act morally and in accordance to the law, as well as provide your clients with the best possible treatment and council. However this can be challenging at times. A case study depicts the scenario of James, a recent graduate, who now works as a school counselor. His new client Lisa, who shows signs of depression, disclosed to James that the depressions started when her step-father began to abuse her. She also mentioned that she has a half sister that is currently living with the abusive step-father. The following case study provides a realistic situation in which both, ethical and cultural issues have to be evaluated.
Ethical Issue Presented in Case Study The …show more content…
This should be done since a reasonable suspicion is present and it would serve to protect Lisa and her half sister from further harm. This would not only be the morally right thing to do, but it is also required by law. Another factor in James’ decision making could be considering the different outcomes that would follow his decision. When doing so it becomes apparent that breaking confidentiality and informing a third party of the potential abuse would cause less harm than not reporting it and potentially having the abuse continue. However, before making this decision James could consult another colleague and document their collaboration within his client 's records. Considering that James is a recent graduate he might be assigned a supervisor. James therefore could consult his supervisor on the issue, in order to gain a different perspective and have more support behind his decision. James could also decide to inform Lisa of the fact that he decided to report the abuse, if he found it to be appropriate in this situation. This could potentially help Lisa to open up about the abuse and get her to talk about the issue. This could also help James to gain more information on the abuse and the families situation which could help him make a more informed report (Corey, …show more content…
When following the suggested steps to take when making an ethical decision as presented by Corey (2013), James should decide to report the abuse in order to prevent his client and her younger half sister from getting harm further. James also needs to consider cultural differences when working with Lisa, since these cultural differences might affect his decision on the diagnosis and treatment appropriate for Lisa.James should also evaluate any possible unintentional biases he might have that could influence his treatment of

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