Ethical Dilemma a Child Psychologist Faces

Psychiatric Assessment of Children under 18 Years Old
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March 23, 2022
Understanding the various aspects of psychological treatment provision is essential for any psychological professional. It allows him to understand better the various factors that must be considered in making decisions during the treatment. This paper will focus on the dilemma faced by a child psychologist in line with the case at hand. Overall, the author believes that in making decisions like this, it is best to tell the child about the limits of confidentiality while giving him consistent assurance about the help you can offer to him.
Ethical Dilemma
As stated earlier, this case provides an ethical dilemma that a child psychologist faces.
On the one hand, the professional is bound by both rules of morality and ethics to keep the interactions that they had between them confidential. This is in line with the ethical principles of Privacy and Confidentiality as discussed in Section 4.01 of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Additionally, there is also an ethical and moral drive for individuals to keep secrets.
On the other hand, however, the professional is also bound by ethical and legal principles of informing the parents of the nature and proceedings of psychological treatment. Legally, several articles and references indicate that minors usually do not have the right to confidentiality (Holoyda et al., 2018). Perhaps, this is in line with the legal notion that children under 18 years old lack the capacity to make an informed consent.
Decision Making
In line with this problem, the author strongly believes that it is essential to strike a balance between these two conflicting ideas. Notably, despite the child’s request, the psychological professional should only limit confidentiality up to the point where it meets the “parents’ right-to-know.” This would help the psychologists from complying with the ethical and legal requisites in their State.
Additionally, since the case states that the child is engaged in illicit behavior, the author believes that it would benefit the parent and the child because the former would be able to pose effective and cost-efficient interventions. In one article written by Sheridan et al. (2019), the authors noted that holistic family intervention is effective and cost-efficient. Specifically, the authors noted that this is because such interventions are tangible, relational, and interpersonal, to name a few, which makes it better compared to other kinds of treatment. Thus, considering that this case indicates the c...