Author Archives: admin

Conversion Therapy: A Violation of Informed Consent

Posted on March 11, 2013 by admin

Much has been written in recent months about the California law enacted to place a ban on the use of “conversion therapy” as a pseudo-treatment to “change” the sexual orientation of gay people. The basis of the California law is … Continue reading →

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Is substance abuse by a parent proof positive of child abuse or neglect?

Posted on February 1, 2013 by admin

This dilemma is inspired by a recent episode of the wonderful dramatic show “In Plain Sight”: In the show, divorcing parents with two school-aged children each accuse the other of abusing and neglecting their children. The husband, who is a … Continue reading →

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Can misleading advertising violate informed consent?

Posted on January 5, 2013 by admin

Happy new year everyone! During a trip to Albuquerque recently as I was driving along the highway I noticed a billboard promoting a law office. The sign said, among other things, that the firm was “powerful.” If one considers the … Continue reading →

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How far “to go” about a colleague’s unethical/unlawful behavior.

Posted on September 4, 2012 by admin

A well-known and standard ethics text offers the following scenario: A clinical social worker at a community mental health center has a caseload that includes clients who have been diagnosed with symptoms of schizophrenia and affective disorders. The social worker’s … Continue reading →

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Managing a potential conflict of interest in mental health services

Posted on June 18, 2012 by admin

Consider this scenario: you are a direct service provider offering mental health counseling to individuals and families. A young woman and her mother visit your office seeking assistance with their personal relationship. You elect to assess them together during their … Continue reading →

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Freedom of speech in school settings: A fundamental right

Posted on April 4, 2012 by admin

A story from today’s headlines reveals that a 16-year-old student has been banned by his Ohio school district from wearing a shirt with the insignia of a fish and the slogan “Jesus is Not a Homophobe.” The student’s explanation for wearing the … Continue reading →

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Revisiting the duty to report suspected child abuse: another case scenario

Posted on March 7, 2012 by admin

It is truly remarkable how many standard ethics textbooks present fictional factual scenarios in which the reader is urged to read each scenario and make a decision about whether the facts are enough to warrant a report to a child protective service … Continue reading →

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Legal issues in clinical supervision

Posted on February 7, 2012 by admin

As readers of this blog have noticed, I have presented a series of professional dilemmas derived from similar case scenarios in well-known ethics treatises. As with the other dilemmas I have presented, I wish to make the case that many … Continue reading →

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Revisiting the duty to report sexual abuse

Posted on January 19, 2012 by admin

On 12/9/11 I posted a dilemma entitled “the duty to report sexual abuse” in which I presented a hypothetical dilemma which raises questions associated with the law governing the duty to report child sexual abuse. In light of an interesting series of comments that the … Continue reading →

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Adolescent sexual activity, birth control, and confidentiality

Posted on January 3, 2012 by admin

Happy new year, everyone! I’m back with my take on a practice scenario that has been portrayed in several different ways in several ethics textbooks as an “ethical dilemma.” As with most of the examples pesented on this blog, this dilemma in actuality … Continue reading →

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