Ethical Decision-Making and Ethical Codes

The paper discusses the use of ethical norms and ethical decision-making frameworks in therapeutic practice. A 25-year-old female client attends counseling sessions with a 50-year-old married therapist in the case scenario. The customer had cheated on his girlfriend by having an affair when her husband was abroad on business. Notably, the husband has been away for quite some time, and she has been attending treatment sessions for 10 months. Her spouse has the potential to be physically and verbally violent, and the therapist has developed feelings for her throughout the treatment sessions, which he believes are mutual.In the recent sessions, the client developed the habit of drinking at daytime, and she seems not sober when picking her daughter from school. The reason behind her drinking is to suppress the suicidal thoughts that have been encroaching her mind. Consequently, the client is struggling to care for herself and the daughter. In the therapeutic practice, some ethical codes and principles need to be observed to ensure that both the client and the therapist have a healthy and a professional relationship. Once these moral laws and principles fail to materialize, the principal goal of therapy sessions is not achieved and in the end, may cause more harm than good. In the case scenario discussed, the client came to the therapist for help and she wanted an end to her worries and problems through having a long lasting solution. Instead, her condition worsened and thus leading to questioning the relevance and quality of the kind of therapy she was receiving. Also, the therapist’s relationship with the client went beyond the set standards since the professional was married and wished to have an affair with her client. Therefore, the ethical codes and principles should be followed to the letter to make the therapy sessions productive.

Some basic ethical codes and principles guide therapists in their duty to ensure that they are inspired to exhibit the very highest of the ideals of their profession. The aspect of beneficence and non-maleficence describes the ethical code and principle that enables the therapists to try their level best to take care of the clients and try everything within their power to not do any harm to them (Rave, Elizabeth J, and Carolyn C Larsen 14). Notably, as the psychologists, and the ones in charge of the therapy sessions, they safeguard the rights and the interests of the clients and all the affected persons by the cases they handle. However, if a conflict emerges between them and the client, they possess skills to ensure that they resolve the dispute in a way to retain a good rapport with the customers and maintain their dignity. Therefore, they solve the conflicts in a more responsible fashion and in a way that causes minimal harm. Remarkably, in most cases, the professional and scientific judgments they make, influence the lives of other people and thus they should try to consider the repercussions of their decision (Bailey, Diana M, and Sharan L Schwartzberg 18). Additionally, they should seek to protect and safeguard the political, organizational, social, financial, and personal interests of the client and the affected parties. Therapists need to depend on their mental and physical health to have the ability to help those who turn to them for help.

The aspect of fidelity and responsibility presents another ethical code and principle that therapist needs to possess. The engagement between the therapist and the client is that of trust, and thus, they are acutely aware of their duties and responsibilities in their work (Guido, Ginny Wacker 32). In return, the customers fully trust the professional to help them and keep their word to make the troubling problem bearable and even eradicate it. Therefore, the professional nature of their work forces to uphold professional standards of conduct and clarify their career obligations and roles and in the end, accept the fundamental responsibility for their behavior, and they avoid any conflict of interest in the process of doing their job (Houser, Rick A, and Stephen J Thoma 28). Therefore, they allow nothing to come in between the fundamental goal of helping the client achieve his or her therapeutic targets. Notably, if they feel incapacitated to perform their duty in any way, they are liberty to seek assistance from their colleagues in consultation with the client to make sure that they cooperate to the extent of serving the best interests of the customer (Sim, Julius 26). Remarkably, in the process of consultations, they ensure that their colleagues have complied with the ethical standards concerning their professional and scientific conduct. Therefore, therapists are known to contribute a portion of their professional time for no personal advantage or any other form of compensation.

Also, therapists as psychologists, seek to uphold the principle of integrity as they are supposed to promote honesty, truthfulness, and accuracy in their analysis of the client’s problems. Therefore, they are not expected to be in any cases of misappropriation of facts intentionally, engage in fraud, cheat, steal, or subterfuge (Birkett, William P, and Maria Barbera 32). However, some cases arise and the therapist is obliged to use deception to justify a solution to a problem. In such a case, the professional therapists must consider the pros and cons of using deception, and it must be that the lie will maximize benefits and minimize harm. Otherwise, they stand to lose the much-needed trust of the client and thus leading to causing more harm than good. Also, the aspect of justice must come into play where, the psychologists must exhibit proper judgments and take caution to ensure that their potential biases, the limitations of expertize, and the boundaries of their competitors do not give room for unjust practices. Finally, the psychologists must learn to possess respect for their client’s rights and responsibilities (Callahan, Joan C 21). Therefore, they must adhere to the dignity and the worth of the clients and the rights of individuals to self-determination, confidentiality, and privacy. Some of the clients they handle have vulnerabilities which impair their autonomous decision making. Also, they should be aware of and respect the role, cultural, and individual differences of their clients in addition to their roles based on gender identity, age, gender, culture, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, language, disability, national origin, religion, and social, economic status.

An ethical dilemma is usually a decision-making problem that presents an individual with two or more possible moral imperatives, of which both of them are preferable or are unambiguously acceptable. Notably, the person making the decision is presented with a situational conflict and the complexity of choosing the excellent choice and risks to transgress the other selection if he or she chooses one of the available alternatives (Danielson, Elena S 37). In most cases, ethical dilemmas are invoked to refute a moral code or an ethical system or seeks to improve it in the effort of solving a paradox. Remarkably, ethical dilemmas need to be addressed effectively and efficiently in any therapeutic practice since they affect the next action in the process of dealing with a client. Therefore, the therapists need to identify the key players in a dilemma and the persons who are likely to be affected by choice made out of the situation (Dehaene, Stanislas 34). Also, the proposed action must be ethical and all the relevant legal issues taken into consideration. Additionally, the consequences of each of the alternatives need to be addressed, and the choice with the least damage should be selected.

The ethical decision making framework aids therapist who is confronted with an ethical dilemma. Assessment is the first tool in the framework and requires the subject faced with the dilemma to gather all the relevant facts about the difficulty and consequently determine whether they abide by the law (Emerging Technologies And Ethical Issues In Sociology 28). Apparently, the decisions that need that need to be made must comply with the law and the factors to consider when making the decision must not render the decision maker at logger heads with the authorities. Also, the facts collected during the assessment of the dilemma must be in line with the ethical and career code of conduct managing the therapeutic activities. On the other hand, the information gathered about the problem or the decision to be made must obey the code of ethics and conduct of the client (Farrimond, Hannah 30). Finally, on matters relating to collection information of the ethical dilemma, the facts must be aligned with the moral values of the therapist and also with those of the surrounding culture. If the facts about the moral dilemma do not agree with the law, the therapist is recommended to seek legal counsel.

The second step in the ethical decision-making framework is the alternatives. The therapist must consider all the choices available by listing all the possible choices. The move ensures that the decisions made by the therapist are well informed and that they take care of all the possible options to deal with the ethical dilemma (Fennell, David A, and David Cruise Malloy 52). Also, all the pros and cons of each of the alternatives need to be identified to ensure that the choice made presents the best option there is to deal with the dilemma and an opportunity that has minimal drawbacks (Hill, Ivan). The alternatives should be well sought, and thus the person faced with the dilemma must be well informed and wise to consider all the options that may adequately and satisfactorily deal with the dilemma amicably.

After all the alternatives have been sought, the person faced with the dilemma have the liberty to go to the next step of analysis in the ethical decision-making framework. The choice made by the therapist should be tested its validity regarding the positive impact it has both to the client and to the therapist (Kleinig, John, and Yurong Zhang 37). Notably, every decision made in therapeutic practices has consequences, and thus a proper analysis needs to be done to prevent harm to the affected parties. Also, the study carried out should take care of the cultural differences between the therapist and the client and thus they need to be taken into account before making the final decision. Additionally, the person making the ethical decision from the dilemma should take the prospect of future into account. He or she must ensure that the decision made will seem right in the coming days. More importantly, the person making the decision must be free from any external influences, and thus he or she needs to be sober (Sia, Santiago 49). Finally, when carrying out the analysis of the decision to be made, the therapist must be free form stress and must be in the right state of mind and be calm. The surety is crucial in ensuring the decision made is free from any physical and emotional influence.

The fourth step in the ethical decision-making framework is the application of the moral principles in the decision making. The choice made out of the dilemma must, in the end, represent the greater good and proposes an overall solution to any one presented with such a situation in future. Also, the decision made out of the ethical dilemma must be beneficial to all the concerned parties (Keegan, Sheila 20). Finally, after analyzing all relevant data concerning the dilemma, a decision has to be made. The person making the decision must be ready to accept the responsibility of the decision. Besides, when the decision is presented in public, the therapist should feel good about it. Also, the therapist must be ready to act and implement the decision that has been concluded to deal amicably with the ethical dilemma. All the conflicts of interests must be identified that involve the client and the service providers. Markedly, regardless of the outcome of the decision made to deal with a given dilemma, the person who took the decision should evaluate the strengths and the weaknesses the actions bring (Keyton, Joann 26). Such consideration is helpful in making related ethical decisions in future. If the results of the solutions made to the moral dilemma are not pleasing or do not present the desired outcome, the therapist has the liberty to retrace the steps to discover a better solution.

In the case scenario discussed, various ethical issues and dilemmas are depicted. Firstly, the counseling sessions between the client and the therapist have taken too long. A period of ten months dealing with a thorny issue is a long time, and the therapist should have sought ways to expedite the process of finding the lasting solution to the problem (Martínez, Luis 62). The moral principle involved is that of beneficence since the therapist is supposed to take actions that should benefit the client. Notably, it is the wish of the customer to her case concluded within the shortest time possible and sought long lasting solution to her predicament. Also, the client is faced with the ethical dilemma of disclosing her alleged affair with another man to her husband. There are many possibilities to the outcome of her next move because her husband is capable of turning physically and verbally abusive (Mora, Manuel 29). Also, having been in a long term relationship with the father of her daughter for seventeen years, she should consider trying her level best to save her relationship. The principle involved is that of integrity since the client has to disclose all the relevant facts about her problem to enable the therapist to know the best approach to use to help her. On the other hand, the therapist has the duty to protect the disclosed information and desist from sharing it with irrelevant parties.

The husband to the client is a soldier who is out of the country to protect his nation. Therefore, deserved to be treated better by the partner but she betrayed him. The ethical issue is that the client failed to wait for the soldier who was due to report back home in three weeks’ time. The issue brings the dilemma whether the partner will welcome the husband home or will she decide to leave him. On the other hand, the partner proved to be physically and verbally abusive. There is every indication that the ill treatment of the client by her lover resulted to her having an affair behind the back of the husband (Robichaux, Catherine 49). The ethical issue presented in this cases is whether one should reward evil by doing evil. Notably, the moral principle involved in this instance is that of integrity. Especially, during the therapy sessions, the therapist became increasingly interested in the client, and he felt that the customer had mutual feelings. The principle involved in this case is that of beneficence and non-maleficence. The therapist was supposed to maintain a professional relationship with the client, and he could not have allowed developing romantic feelings for the customer. The feelings generated towards the customer are unprofessional, and they have the effect of interfering with the integrity of the counseling sessions (Rodgers, Shelly, and Esther Thorson 13). To make the matter worse, the therapist was a married man and harboring feelings for his client would cause him the same problem he was trying to solve with the customer. On the other hand, the client is seeking ways to deal with the infidelity to the father of her daughter and came to ask for help from the professional. On the contrary, instead of finding a solution to the problem at hand, the therapist causes her to undergo a similar experience to the one she was trying to seek help. The mutual feelings developed between the two parties could have resulted in the status of the client deteriorating to the extent of being drunk and failing to take care of herself and the daughter.

The client disclosed to the therapist that she had been having suppressing thoughts of suicide and she had developed the behavior of drinking and thus being unable to take care of herself and the daughter correctly. The ethical issue involved in this case is that of responsibility (Serna, Pedro, and José-Antonio Seoane 51). The therapist should have felt responsible for the well-being of the client, and having attended the therapy sessions for such a long time; they two could have witnessed progress in the life of the customer. Instead, he allowed personal feelings to crowd his professionalism and in the end sabotaged the whole therapeutic process.

The ethical issue of prolonged counseling sessions belonged to both parties, and it involved long counseling sessions that in the end did not yield results. Upholding the principle of beneficence, the therapist should have assessed the facts about the case and seek quicker ways to help the woman overcome her fears and found better ways to help her deal with her problem (Walker, Paul, and Terry Lovat 16). The course of action has the effect of enabling the woman to move with her life and embrace the status of affairs and gain confidence with the imminent arrival of her husband. The ethical dilemma of disclosing the relationship to the man belonged to the client. Upholding the principle of integrity, the woman should feel obliged to inform the affair to the husband and in return ask for forgiveness. Telling the husband about the whole issue has the effect of alleviating guilt from the mother and help her move on to seek reconciliation with her lover.

The other ethical issue is the aspect of infidelity, and it belonged to both parties. The therapist and the client were not supposed to develop feelings to each other since they were both engaged to different partners. The client should have learned from her first experience of infidelity and desist from future temptations. On the other hand, the therapist should have learned the adverse consequences of premarital affairs from the suffering client. The two needed review their code of conduct and carry out the therapy sessions with the utmost professionalism (Young, Richard A 41). Notably, upholding the ethical principle of integrity, the duo stood a chance to avoid the temptations of escalating the problem at hand. To find a solution to the problem facing the client, the therapist should have discouraged the woman from drinking and instead concentrate on raising the daughter as per the wish of the father. Therefore, for the counseling sessions to prove helpful to both the parties, the ethical codes, and principles should have been applied by the therapist and thus preventing him from taking advantage of the situation and thus worsening the condition of the mother. The life of the daughter was at stake, and both the client and the therapist should have labored together to ensure the safety of the child and put their interests aside. Notably, counselors should contribute to reconciliation in their therapeutic work and not contribute to worsening of the cases presented to them.

Work Cited

Rave, Elizabeth J, and Carolyn C Larsen. Ethical Decision Making In Therapy. New York, Guilford Press, 2015,.

Bailey, Diana M, and Sharan L Schwartzberg. Ethical And Legal Dilemmas In Occupational Therapy. Philadelphia, PA, F.A. Davis, 2013,.

Fennell, David A, and David Cruise Malloy. Codes Of Ethics In Therapy. Clevedon, UK, Channel View Publications, 2007,.

Guido, Ginny Wacker. Legal & Ethical Issues In Nursing. 2015,.

Houser, Rick A, and Stephen J Thoma. Ethics In Counseling & Therapy. Thousand Oaks, Calif, SAGE Publications, 2015,.

Sim, Julius. Ethical Decision-Making In Therapy Practice. Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2014,.

Birkett, William P, and Maria Barbera. Codifying Power And Control. New York, N.Y., International Federation Of Accountants, 2012,.

Callahan, Joan C. Ethical Issues In Professional Life. New York, Oxford University Press, 2016,.

Danielson, Elena S. The Ethical Archivist, 2015,.

Dehaene, Stanislas. Consciousness And The Brain, 2014,.

Emerging Technologies And Ethical Issues In Sosiology. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 2014,.

Farrimond, Hannah. Doing Ethical Research. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013,.

Hill, Ivan. The Ethical Basis Of Economic Freedom. Chapel Hill, NC, American Viewpoint, 2012,.

Kleinig, John, and Yurong Zhang. Professional Law Enforcement Codes. Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 2013,.

Sia, Santiago. Ethical Contexts And Theoretical Issues. Newcastle Upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publ., 2010,.

Keegan, Sheila. Decision-making Frameworks. London, Kogan Page, 2010,.

Keyton, Joann. Communicating In Therapy. New York, Oxford University Press, 2013,.

Martínez, Luis. Ethics Codes. Westport, Oxford University Press, 2012,.

Mora, Manuel. Ethics. Hershey, Pa., IGI Global, 2013,.

Robichaux, Catherine. Application Of Ethical Decision-Making To Nursing Practice. New York, Springer Publishing Company, 2016,.

Rodgers, Shelly, and Esther Therapeutic Theory. New York, NY, Routledge, 2012,.

Serna, Pedro, and José-Antonio Seoane. Ethical Decision Making And Argumentation. Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2016,.

Walker, Paul, and Terry Lovat. Life And Death Decisions In The Clinical Setting,2016,.

Young, Richard A. Applying Ethical Codes And Ethical Decision-making Frameworks In Therapeutic Practice. Cheltenham [U.A.], Elgar, 2015,.