Ethics in Psychology Case Study

Joe immediately responded to Jill with wide eyes and a shocked look. He told Jill that he was a traditional Catholic, who felt that this type of feeling was immoral and wrong. He informed her that she should avoid thinking about this and pray for forgiveness. He also told her that he felt uncomfortable talking about the issue any further.

Jill continued to talk to Joe about dealing with her family issues. Joe had recently read about a new technique and immediately became excited about trying it in therapy.

He explained to her that he read an article in a magazine about a new technique called rebutting. The new technique was being used In Europe to help people change their views about their legislations with their family. “It Is supposed to be really effective In almost wiping out your memory of your family; It Is Like hypnosis” Joe said.

“l would really Like to try It on you today, what do you think? ” Jill declined his offer and continued to talk about her family. Joe thought to himself that even though Jill said no, he was still going to try to hypnotize her as they talked.

He thought she could benefit from hypnosis. Jill disclosed that she was raised in a traditional Asian-American home with many cultural influences and culture-specific rules and behavior. Jill was struggling with lancing her individualism and her cultural heritage.

Joe explained to her that because he was living and working in a rural community, mostly consisting of people of East European descent, he could not relate to Sill’s culture and the issues with which she was struggling.

He apologized and explained that he was not required to study these cultural Issues because of his geographical location. Jill moved on to talk about her depression. She began talking about feeling lonely and how It contributed to her depression. During a counseling session, she revealed that she was attracted o Joe and would like a closer, intimate relationship with him.

Joe, aware that he was also attracted to Jill, talked about his feelings toward her but explained that engaging in a relationship outside the established counseling relationship was unethical.

He informed her that because of the mutual feelings of attraction, the counseling relationship would be ineffective and that he would refer her to another counselor for continued services. Jill agreed and they terminated the counseling relationship. Jill asked for time to think it over and left the office. Later, she contacted him to intention counseling and to discuss the referral. Joe agreed to meet her that evening at a restaurant and bring her the referral information.

That night they began an intimate sexual relationship.

Page 1 of 2 PSYCHE Ethics In Psychology 2011 Argosy university Online Programs Joe never got around to providing the referral for Jill even though he was aware of near ongoing state AT oppression anon anxiety. Joe stopped seeing Jill rater a Mont AT intimate sexual encounters. Joe enjoyed the relationship but felt guilty due to the unethical nature of the relationship. Because of his continued concern about Sill’s oppression, Joe considered going to his current clinical supervisor to discuss the case.

However, he decided against it and never contacted her.

This was because he and his supervisor had recently started a sexual relationship, and he knew it would hurt the supervisor’s feelings if she knew of his sexual relations with Jill. Joe decided to call Sill’s boss at the bank to check on her and see how she was doing. He called her boss and explained that he had been counseling her for anxiety and depression and wanted to check if she was feeling fine. Her boss informed Joe that Jill had quit ere Job and was in the county hospital undergoing treatment for severe depression.