Clinical Supervision - Case Study Example

Clinical Supervision. The Ethical Issues. The given case study is devoted to the ethical issues in clinical supervision. Here we used the information from the website of American Psychological Association (APA) and the book Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions 8th ed. by Gerald Corey, Marianne Schneider Corey and Patrick Callanan. It covers the topic of ethical issues in the practice of clinical supervision looking at them from both, the supervisor’s and the intern’s, sides. Lily began supervising an intern, Jack.

Then Lily went to a medical leave for six months, since she was the only licensed mental health professional in the office she left Jack work without her supervision. Jack took the new case and didnt manage to find a right diagnosis and tried out a few techniques during sessions. He shifted all the responsibility for that on to Lily. When the client got stable, he filed a complaint against Jack and Lily with the state licensing board and threatened legal action. The case of Lily and Jack is quite tangled because the personal irresponsibility of the intern and the lack of support from the supervisor are involved here.

Keywords: case study, Psychology, Clinical Supervision, American Psychological Association (APA), ethical standards I consider that the supervisor gave too much freedom of decision-making for the intern and we should mention that she didn’t warn Jack not to take any new cases. Therefore she actually was responsible for everything he’s done. On the other hand Jack shouldn’t make any serious decisions without consulting his supervisor and moreover he shouldn’t insist on the fact that Lily was fully responsible for that he’s done.

Here we should address to the main APA ethical principles: Psychologists establish relationships of trust with those with whom they work (Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility); Psychologists seek to promote accuracy and honesty in the science, teaching and practice of psychology (Principle C: Integrity). As it was said in the APA basic principles “If psychologists’ ethical responsibilities conflict with law, regulations or other governing legal authority, psychologists clarify the nature of the conflict, make known their commitment to the Ethics Code and take reasonable steps to resolve the conflict consistent with the General Principles and Ethical Standards of the Ethics Code.

Under no circumstances may this standard be used to justify or defend violating human rights.” To my mint the patients’ health and life are to be on the first place for the psychologists and no excessive self-confidence should influence the process of treatment. So we can conclude that both sides were wrong; Lily should warn Jack beforehand about the problems that may appear and she should be in touch with the intern. Jack, in his turn, shouldn’t take new patient whose disease he wasn’t really able to diagnose.

ReferencesAmerican Psychological Association http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx?item=3Gerald Corey, Marianne Schneider Corey, Patrick Callanan. Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions 8th ed USA. Brooks/Cole. 2011