Ethical Dilemma: Therapist and Confidentiality

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Ethical Dilemma: Therapist and Confidentiality By Chrisnrue psych/545 May 6, 2013 Ethical Dilemma: Therapist and Confidentiality Confidentiality has been a cornerstone of psychological treatment and the relationship between the client and therapist. A client wants to know that there are boundaries and safety in confiding in their therapist. For the therapist this can become particularly difficult when dealing with adolescents. Teens are particularly concerned with confidentiality and can pose a particular difficulty for a therapist to maintain confidentiality with an adolescent who is not an adult or legal age within their state but is no longer a child and is moving towards a more independent life. In the state of Pennsylvania an adolescent has the right to health care, particularly health care concerning pregnancy, confidentiality, (ACLU, 2009). This means that according to the law in Pennsylvania a therapist would not be required to discuss a pregnancy of a minor with a parent or guardian. This could pose ethical issues depending on how the teen is handling the pregnancy and the safety of the minor. The scenario posed in this paper is of a teen in therapy that find out she is pregnant and thinking of getting an abortion. She confides in the therapist that she is pregnant and is trying to find a place for an abortion where she will not need to tell her parents that she had an abortion or that she is pregnant. The issue of confidentiality comes in because while Pennsylvania has a law that states that the minor would need parental consent for an abortion the minor is seeking an abortion that may be out of state. The 14 Steps in Ethical Decision Making The problem statement could be that the therapist is faced with an issue of confidentiality. While the teen is lawfully allowed to keep her pregnancy from her parents she cannot get an abortion in her

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