LASA: Ethical Decision Making: Case Study Paper

Many counselors are competent in their knowledge and understanding of ethical standards and relevant laws. However, real-world situations often do not lend themselves to straightforward solutions. Therefore, counselors must rely on ethical decision-making models to clearly explore ethical dilemmas and to identify appropriate courses of action for different dilemmas. This assignment will help you not only apply an ethical decision-making model but also clearly identify a conceptual model for risk management that can be used throughout one's clinical practice.

Directions:

For this assignment, you will review the following case study and incorporate the materials learned throughout the course to answer the set of requirements that follow in a paper approximately between 8-10 pages.

Case Study:

Zander is doing his master's in clinical mental health counseling and has become friends with Tasha, one of his peers in the program. Tasha has shared that she had a substance abuse problem in the past but did not attend an addiction counseling program; rather, she chose to self-monitor and attend AA meetings as needed. Tasha also confided that she has been involved in a sexual relationship for several weeks with Dr. Supervisor, a new supervisor at the agency where they are both interning. Dr. Supervisor has just recently started to provide on-site internship supervision to Zander and Tasha as well as two other students at the internship site.

Tasha reveals she began spending time with Dr. Supervisor 3 months ago, when he asked for her assistance in setting up a personal Facebook page, so he could better communicate with clients he sees at the site. Being well-versed in social media, Tasha helped him set one up and taught him how to use it. Over the next few weeks, they spent more time together, initially working on Dr. Supervisor's Facebook profile and trying to "friend" old clients he used to work with at another agency. Tasha was thrilled they had convinced at least five clients to leave Dr. Supervisor's old agency.

Dr. Supervisor and Tasha began to eventually go out to dinner. After 2 months, their interactions evolved into a sexual relationship. Tasha tells Zander that she's not concerned about any conflict of interest and that she and Dr. Supervisor will likely get engaged once she graduates from the program at the end of the year. Zander is becoming increasingly concerned, however, as he has seen Tasha and Dr. Supervisor meeting at an off-campus bar multiple times in recent weeks, and Tasha has begun to miss classes and other regularly scheduled meetings with clients. Zander reports a significant increase in his caseload because Tasha is missing meetings with clients.