Ethical Case Study Review

In the case of Martha, there are several important issues to address.  On the surface, it would appear that she is becoming emotionally attached to her therapist, in this scenario myself, because the environment created between the patient and therapist is one that promotes positive thought and behavior through dialectical behavior therapy.  Judging from the past relationship trouble that Martha has elaborated upon with her own family and her lack of organizational skill and ability to maintain a scheduled lifestyle, she has somehow associated the sessions with the ability to overcome her own problems through working with the therapist.  This would appear to be a positive behavior as she is stating that she is feeling and acting better than before the therapy, however, the fact that she is making a serious effort to look into the therapist’s personal life is problematic.  

The therapist should be wary of Martha becoming obsessed with and create an unhealthy need to be part of the therapist’s personal life.  If her behavior continues where she is actively searching for and relating information about the therapist’s personal life during sessions, there may be a need for the therapist to inform others about Martha’s actions.  Whenever a therapist must reveal information about a patient that is from sessions, special considerations must be analyzed so that the ACA ethical guidelines are not violated and no legal repercussions can be leveled upon anyone.  According to the ACA ethics, a member cannot accept any sort of gifts or favors that go beyond the objective nature of the treatment, whereas Martha makes statements suggesting she wants so relationship that goes beyond the therapy.  Therapy in a film may show contradictory evidence of this. Additionally, the ethics say that a member will only reveal information that is necessary to be told and nothing more, implying that if Martha’s behavior must be reported to keep it to only the necessary details (ACA, 1994).  For this case, it may be important to tell either Martha’s family of her growing fondness towards her therapist to prevent her from becoming a danger to either them or herself because the therapist must inform her that there can be no relationship beyond the professional one that they exhibit.  As noted from the Tarasoff cases, a therapist must be aware o the state’s legislation on revealing sensitive information while still protecting third parties and the confidentiality of the patient (Simone & Fulero, 2005).  In this particular case, it is the opinion of the therapist that Martha’s family be alerted to the situation because of the nature of their strained relationship with the patient.  When she is informed that the nature of the relationship with her therapist must be only professional, she could potentially become a danger to herself or her parents.

References

ACA. (1994). Aca code of ethics. American Correctional Association, Retrieved from http://www.aca.org/pastpresentfuture/ethics.asp

Simone, S., & Fulero, S. (2005). Tarasoff and the duty to protect. Ethical and Legal Issues for Mental Health Professionals, doi: 10.1300/J146v11n01_12