Setting Boundaries When Working with Clients 

Prior to beginning work on this week’s discussion, please review Standard 3: Human Relations (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.  in the APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.  Please also read the Asay and Lal (2014) “Who’s Googled Whom? Trainees’  Internet and Online Social Networking Experiences, Behaviors, and  Attitudes with Clients and Supervisors,” Harris and Robinson Kurpius  (2014) “Social Networking and Professional Ethics: Client Searches,  Informed Consent, and Disclosure,” and Taylor, McMinn, Bufford, and  Chang (2010) “Psychologists’ Attitudes and Ethical Concerns Regarding  the Use of Social Networking Web Sites” articles.

For this discussion, you will examine ethical issues encountered by  clinical and counseling psychologists in the digital age. Begin by  reviewing the cases of Dr. Arnold and Dr. Washington listed below and  selecting one of these ethical dilemmas for analysis.

Case 1
Dr. Arnold is a clinical psychologist who  specializes in child and adolescent issues. From time to time, she  provides consultation on high lethality cases within the juvenile court  system. Recently, she was referred a case involving a 15-year-old male  who has a history of aggression, angry outburst, destructive behavior,  and cyberstalking.  Concerned for her safety and well-being, Dr. Arnold  input the client’s name into a search engine, which yielded the client’s  social network page. Dr. Arnold is uncertain whether or not to look at  the client’s social network page.

Case 2
Dr. Washington is a counseling  psychologist who specializes in trauma and self-harming behavior.  Recently, he received a “friend request” from a former client who he  provided individual therapy to six months ago. Dr. Washington opted not  to accept the “friend request,” but considered sending a private message  to the client with the social networking policy from his informed  consent.  Dr. Washington is uncertain whether or not to send the private  message to the client.

In your initial post, assume the role of a colleague to the doctor  named and analyze the ethical issues encountered in your chosen case.  Given the situation described in the case study, recommend how your  colleague should proceed. Provide support for your response by citing  the required articles for this discussion. Consider the current and  potential actions of your colleague and explain whether or not he or she  is currently, or potentially will be, in violation of the APA’s Ethical  Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Provide support for  your explanation by citing Standard 3: Human Relations (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.  in the APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.  Explain how your colleague might avoid this type of ethical dilemma in  the future. Describe what policy or policies you might put in place if  you were your colleague.

Guided Response: Review several of your colleagues’  posts and respond to at least two of your peers who chose a case study  different from the one you selected by 11:59 p.m. on Day 7 of the week.  You are encouraged to post your required replies earlier in the week to  promote more meaningful interactive discourse in this discussion. 

In your responses, evaluate the recommendations suggested by your  peer. State whether you agree or disagree with your peer’s  recommendation to the doctor on how to proceed. Suggest other ethical  implications your peer may not have considered in this case. What follow  up questions might you ask your peer to aid in the ethical assessment  of the case? In addition to the suggestions provided by your peer, what  recommendations might you make to the doctor so that he or she might  avoid these types of dilemmas in the future? What additions or changes  might you make to the policy or policies suggested by your peer?

Continue to monitor the discussion forum until 5:00 p.m. Mountain  Standard Time (MST) on Day 7 of the week and respond to anyone who  replies to your initial post.