Issues With Bernard

Appleby, G A., & Anastas, J.W. (1998). Not just a passing phase: Social work with gay, lesbian and bisexual people (pp. 3–43, 44-75). New York: Columbia University Press.

Certain modalities of therapeutic treatments are linked to ethical dilemmas as well; these modalities affect treatment outcomes as well. Dyadic therapists may misuse the intimate nature of the sessions by pushing their values on the client or clients, or by allowing therapy to extend beyond its efficiency. Confidentiality can be broken much easier with the group setting; therapists need to be highly guarded on this topic. (Amato, 2000)

An individual with low back pain who identifies himself as belonging to the LGBT community comes in to see you as a physical therapist. How could the patient’s health behaviors be affected by inaccurate assumptions on the part of the physical therapist that lead to non-intentional clinician behaviors that are perceived by the patient as homophobic?

Ms. Ward refused to service a client while enrolled in a practicum and referred him on the basis that his intake information disclosed that he wished to speak about a homosexual relationship. Ms. Ward then attempted to refer him to another counselor because she had conflicting religious views. Ms. Ward was then notified that referring a client because of their sexual preference was against the code of ethics and was offered remediation training to better help those who differ from her personal beliefs. Ms. Ward refused the training, explaining that she would not put her religion second to her profession.

After an individual fails to meet the normal expectations, they find themselves seeking other spheres where they can be accepted with their unique and non-conventional identities. Andrew Solomon, for example, struggles to meet the expectation of his mother and the society concerning his sexual orientation. At 19 years of age, he tries a therapy that was expected to change his sexual orientation. He “exercises” with various women to meet these expectations. However, in his adulthood, the rejection of Solomon’s sexual orientation and his failure to meet what the society and his mother expected of him led him to find other spheres where his identity could be accepted. He states that in his adulthood; “being gay is an identity; the tragic narrative my parents feared for me is no longer inevitable. The happy life I now lead was unimaginable…” (Solomon 381). In essence, Solomon found his true identity, and this also allowed him to seek for relationships with other people who accepted his true identity. He finds it easy to associate and identify with other disabled people who he considers as minorities and whose identities run parallel to his such as those with autism and

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), psychologists provide services with populations and in areas only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, consultation study, or professional experience, together with safeguarding my understanding of factors associated with age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc. (APA, 2017, 2.01a, 2.01b). Along the same lines, psychologists do not engage in unfair discrimination or harassment based on age, gender, gender identify, sexual orientation, etc. (APA, 2017, 3.01, 3.03). Thus, although in this case I would be treating Matthew’s parents or family, they were deeply affected by the outcome of a gruesome anti-gay hate crime, therefore I would need to ensure that I would not be inclined to discriminate in any way. Furthermore, even though at the time of Matthew’s assault there was not any legislation regarding hate crimes that referred to anti-gay acts and same-sex marriage was not yet legalized, as an ethical psychologist it is important to remain cognizant that regardless of any conflicts between ethics and the law or regulations, under no circumstances should psychologists use said law or regulations to justify or defend the

It seems to me that people have not taken the time to educate themselves on the issue, which is why I cringed, both internally and externally, when Asif made the statement regarding homosexuality as a choice. So much research has been done and will continue to be done on this topic, that it is important as future clinicians, as well as human beings, that we stay up to date with it, in order to better understand our clients and the issues that they are faced with, which will ultimately help us be more respectful when treating them. Of course this is not the only subject where this can be applied, it can be used in the context of any issues being faced by our clients. For example, women’s right to equality, is another issue being discussed a lot recently that may come up while working with

Due to the stigma and complexities often faced in individual uniqueness of LGB, many times there needs to be a place where they can fully be understood through awareness and competency of counselors, and the differences they experience with revealing their sexuality years ago, and how they present themselves today (Pachankis, & Goldfried, p. 242, 2004). Therefore, these guidelines are utilized for that purpose, similar to the standards to the code of ethics, to aid in a level of structure and organized

This paper focuses on counseling clients a part of the “sexual minority” (Yarhouse, Kays, and Jones, 2013). The information regarding sexual minorities and the techniques to counsel these clients are summarized from Yarhouse et al.’s “The Sexual Minority Client” (2013). The basis for counseling the sexual minority is competence. This shift to competence is primarily from the “multicultural movement” (Yarhouse, et. al., 2013). Two supporting therapies of this movement are and “affirmative approach” and “sexual identity therapy” (Yarhouse, et. al., 2013). Counselors’ beliefs and values are inevitable in therapy. Practicing in an area with similar beliefs and values minimizes ethical issues. Personal reflection shows acceptance of information provided in the chapter except statements from the ACA and APA in which Christian counselors seem discouraged to provide therapy for the sexual minority. Interest exists in the areas of percentages concerning sexual minority, as well as, these individuals claiming an identity. The primary form of therapy to be administered for a sexual minority client is sexual identity therapy. This therapy provides the least risk in regards to ethics. The client chooses the goal and the counselor acts as a support for the client to obtain the goal. Though beliefs differ, the client will be supported even if the homosexual

Once I have become aware of and accepted my morals, next I need to identify if they are coming into play with this client in a negative way. If my morals are coming into play there are several ways this impact the therapy I am doing with this client. The ways in which impact can occur is through building rapport, maintaining a therapeutic alliance, through my approach including treatment planning and goals, through transference or countertransference, and by limiting my ability to help this client with their issue. Before 1973 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders viewed homosexuality as a psychological disorder. This resulted in treatment plans that involved reorienting the individual to be heterosexual (Fontaine & Hammond, 1996). Although this practice is no longer common and has been debunked many times a metaphorical wedge between

Sexual orientation is an enduring emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction that a person feels toward men, women, or toward both. Furthermore, sexual orientation is not the same as sexual activities. The grueling lifelong process of coming out involves recognizing, accepting, expressing, and sharing one’s sexual orientation with oneself and others. Moreover, research suggests that coming out of the gay ethnic minority person may be especially difficult because the individual may have to face two sources of prejudice and oppression. Furthermore, the client should consider the following before coming out. First the client has to understand own feelings about being gay, be well informed about homosexuality, and that the decision should be his/hers.

Principle A generally states that in regards to their patients psychologists must “strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to do no harm” (APA, 2010). It has been suggested that psychotherapists may avoid addressing their feelings of sexual attraction out of fear of the consequences they may face or the way in which they may be viewed (Pope, Sonne, & Greene, 2006; as cited in Barnett, 2013). However, it is when psychologists cross the boundary of sexual attraction into sexual intimacy that a wider array of ethics codes are violated and the therapist and patient are put in serious jeopardy. Several research studies have indicated that rather than discussing feelings of sexual attraction toward a client with a colleague the most common reaction an introspective processing of thoughts and feelings (see Blanchard & Lichtenberg, 1997; Ladany et al., 1997; Giovazolias & Davis, 2001; as cited in Sonne & Jochai,

There are many ethical dilemmas in the field of social work. Dual relationships are an extremely common issue that can be defined as when a therapist and client have multiple relationships. These relationships could be a friendship, a family member, a romantic relationship, an online relationship, and/or a sexual relationship. It can be debated whether some of these relationships can be acceptable to maintain while in a therapist-patient relationship due to ethical principles, and guidelines that may be broken to participate in the relationships.

In Chapter 10 of Rudolph K. Sanders’ book, Christian Counseling Ethics: A Handbook for Psychologists, Therapists and Pastors, Mark Yarhouse, Jill Kays and Stanton Jones discuss the “sexual minority” as it pertains to the field of professional counseling. This group is defined as “individuals with same sex attractions or behavior, regardless of self-identification” (Sanders, et. al., 2013, p. 252). By looking at counseling the homosexual community through its etiology, standards by which a counselor should proceed with treatment, and the options a client has on deciding treatment options, we can be better prepared as Christian counselors to be better prepared in serving the needs of others.

Another ethical issue that I may face while treating Gary is that we are culturally different. He is a gay man who has spent many years caring for a partner that had AIDS, a situation that I, as a straight, unmarried woman, have never experienced. Similarly, Gary may feel that our cultural differences will cause me to misunderstand him. If he asks, I will be honest about the fact that I have no personal experience caring for a terminally ill partner or navigating the issues faced by the LGBTQIA community. In order to address these issues, my goal is to be warm and empathetic towards Gary and to strive for a phenomenological understanding of his world. This will help us build a rapport as we work towards his growth. Additionally, I plan to seek out research that may help me understand his situation more thoroughly and enable me to provide competent care.