Importance of Ethics in Professional Setting

Importance of Ethics in Professional Setting Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Importance of Ethics in Professional Setting Psychologists count on the APA Code of Ethics to guide their professional commitments. During their work, psychologists must solve ethical problems that need expert handling. Under APA standards psychologists can also go beyond the rules to find better ways to help their clients such as through inter-professional collaboration. This research uses Marybeth's case to show real ethical conflicts psychologists experience in everyday practice. The analysis combines the APA Code of Ethics with examples of different paths psychologists can follow to address ethics challenges. The Scenario During her internship at the mental health clinic, Marybeth experiences an ethical problem after learning that her 18-year-old female patient continues to think about killing herself. The woman client tells Marybeth she that wants to end her life right away. Given these details, the client asks Marybeth not to share the information. The client added that Marybeth functions as her only hope. In this case, a dilemma arises because of conflicting ethical principles. Principally, psychologists and mental health care providers have twin responsibilities to safeguard client secrecy and to prevent patient injury including self-injury. Why this is a Dilemma APA ethics guidelines show two opposing ethical principles in play when handling this situation. As a priority, the situation matches Standard 4.01 which mandates psychologists to keep their clients' information private (Parsonson, 2021). Client autonomy remains a vital principle in psychologists’ code of ethics. Secondly, under Standard 3.04 the case requires the psychologist to take actions that protect clients from self-harm. Under Standard 3.04 psychologist is responsible for protecting the client from all forms of harm, including self-harm (Parsonson, 2021). Also, under Principle E Marybeth must respect her client's right to make treatment choices because the standards protect patients' independence to make healthcare choices. Overall, the dilemma stems from the understanding that keeping the client's information private risks her life but compromising trust with her reduces therapy efficiency. Method 1: Employing Supervisors to Deal with the Issue and Starting Emergency Response Procedures To protect her client Marybeth can include her supervisors and begin emergency actions. At all stages of the decision procedure, a psychologist needs to follow pre-established steps. As such, when the client expresses suicidal thoughts, Marybeth must tell her clinical supervisor and follow the clinic emergency strategies for clients at risk interventions. Further, Marybeth should expand the support team which helps the client. Under department rules and organization guidelines for dependent clients, the parents or other close social contacts can receive notification. At this stage, suitable crisis teams or hospital admissions would be set up to protect the client's safe...