Dr. Underwood's Case Study

Dr. Underwood works with adolescents and their families in a rural town. While treating one adolescent male, the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hawk, expressed frustration with their son Tony’s lack of involvement with sports. The Hawks detailed how Tony enjoyed team sports in the past, but has not enjoyed participating due to anxiety and constantly comparing himself to others. To bond and connect with the family, Dr. Underwood explains that from his experience with teens, some male teens function better with individual sports. The therapist then begins to disclose that he grew up skateboarding and taught lessons for several years and a few of the children and adolescents he taught fit the description of Tony. Dr. Underwood also revealed that he worked …show more content…
These ethical codes are violated within this scenario because the therapist should be committed to do no harm, not only did he break confidentiality with his one patient, he gets into two multiple relationships. By Dr. Underwood entering an agreement with Mrs. Hawk to watch his children while he coaches her son in skateboarding, he enters a multiple relationship with both Tony and Mrs. Hawk. This issue not only violates the multiple relationship code but also conflict of interest. When Dr. Underwood discloses that Tony’s best friend George was a former client, he breaks confidentiality. Which in return could cause harm to George or his family. Because Tony’s therapy is with both him and his parents, Dr. Underwood should have made it clear that Tony was the only patient and he has confidentiality responsibility to keep that. When Mrs. Hawk called to ask Dr. Underwood if he would provide her son with skateboard lessons, he entered a business relationship with Mrs. Hawk. By doing this, it has created a conflict of interest. What happens if Mrs. Hawk does not see the results she was looking for and wants to be paid for her babysitting. Overall Dr. Underwood broke confidentiality, did not protect his clients from harm, created a conflict of interest, entered into two multiple relationships, and did not provide clear rules on what is to happen in family