Sally is 15 years old and has been seeing you in individual therapy for several months. You had difficulty establishing rapport with Sally but she is finally beginning to open up during sessions. She informs you that she went to a party a couple weeks ago where she experimented with ecstasy for the first time.
Since then, she has snuck out of her house on several occasions to attend "raves" where she has experimented with other drugs. She plans on attending more raves and argues that she knows her "limits" and is very "cautious" about her drug use. She does not want her parents to know.
Sally's mother calls you and tells you she feels Sally has been acting suspicious and withdrawn at home. Her mother is very concerned and wants to know what you and Sally have been discussing in therapy and she wants copies of Sally's therapy records.
a. Describe the ethical dilemma the therapist is confronted with in terms of issues related to confidentiality breaching. This answer should reflect your reading. Don't answer it off the top of your head (read the book and summarize).
b. How can a therapist prepare minors for these issues at the very beginning of therapy?
c. What would you do as the therapist in this scenario? Would you tell the parent?
d. Describe two examples and reasons a therapist must breach confidentiality when working with minors (hint: see Chapter 4 ;-)).
2. Please use DSM-V in your response to the following case vignette:
Billy is a 9 year old Caucasian boy. His parents bring him to therapy and he is demonstrating the following symptoms:
-deficits in social communication and social interaction at school, home, and daycare.
-poor eye contact
-deficits in understanding and use of facial gestures and expressions
-difficulty in making friends or keeping friends
-extreme distress and difficulty adjusting to small changes and transitions
-repetitive patterns of behaviors and interests
-hyper-reactivity to sensations of sounds and people touching him
-The case records indicate that some of these symptoms were evident in early development
a. Please give a potential diagnosis for this case (name the diagnosis and the code from DSM-V)
b. Find two community resources for these parents. You can use google. List the names, address, and phone number and the services offered by the two resources you listed for these parents.
Please note that these referrals must be specific to the diagnosis you listed (no general referral).
c. How can a referral to the "Regional Center" be helpful for this family? Please google regional center services and explain why this is a useful resource for this client.