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Step 4: Refer to Professional Ethical Standards and Relevant Laws and Regulations
The British Psychological Society (2017), recognizes counseling trainees to be psychologists and so Mary is subject to the laws and regulations stipulated in the code. According to these stipulations, Mary is expected to exercise integrity, responsibility, , and respect in her daily practice. Besides that, the Equality Act of 2010 provides for the fair treatment of all people, thereby compelling Mary to not only uphold integrity in her duty but also to treat people equally without discriminating (Ministry of Ethics, n.d.). Hence, in this case, it will be unfair to provide the information about her clients to enable the students in her current school to get a quality education while violating the privacy rights of her other clients.
The Data Protection Acts of 1998 also prevents Mary from disclosing the information about her former clients. This act gives clients the right to know what confidential information about them is held by the practitioners and protects the data from being deliberately or accidentally compromised (Kinsinger, 2009). Section four of the guidelines stipulates laws that psychologists' duty to promote and safeguard the welfare of children (Kinsinger, 2009). Thus, Mary may not be at liberty to disclose information about her former clients to the principal because the principal's low level of confidentiality may affect the students' mental wellbeing. Mary is therefore obligated to work in close collaboration with both the school management and the parents to achieve the students' best interests.
Step 5: Searching out the relevant ethics literature
The most pertinent ethical issues, in this case, are confidentiality, beneficence, and autonomy. According to the UK Ministry of Ethics (n.d.), confidentiality entails the protection of a client's personal information from unauthorized parties. According to Article 8 of the 1998 Human Rights Act, all individuals have the right to privacy with regards to his life, his correspondence and his home (Ministry of Ethics, n.d.). The act also provides minors who wish to conceal information about their medical history from their patients with the right to do so and therefore; Mary has to ensure that this information is well respected.
According to Kinsinger (2009), beneficence is an act of kindness or charity from a sense of moral obligation. In this case study, Mary has to solicit the beneficence of her clients for the information about them so that they can decide whether to give it or not. The third ethical issue is the autonomy. Mary should allow her clients to make their own choices with regards to the therapy sessions and the information held about them without coercion or pressure to submit from Mary or the principal. Thus, if the clients find the need to support the school with their confidential information, then they will independently do so.
Step 6: Apply Fundamental Ethical Principles and Theories to the Situation
Mary will have broken the confidentiality that her clients have in her if she discloses the information about them to the principal. Her clients may not feel motivated to speak openly and honestly with her during future counseling sessions. The sessions may therefore not be useful for the clients. In addition to that, Mary will be breaching the Code of Ethics thereby compromising her career as well.
In this case, Mary should consider taking a decision that is in the interest of all parties. First, she should refrain from handing over her clients' information to the principal, and instead seek their consent to share the information by explaining to them how sharing their information will be beneficial to the students at the school. Then she should allow her clients to decide to give or withhold the information autonomously. Mary will as well encourage the principal to act in the best interest of all the stakeholders.
Step 7: Consult with Colleagues about the Dilemma
At this stage, Mary should as well consult with colleagues in the counseling field such as her supervisor concerning the dilemma. Experienced psychologists are likely to have experienced the same issues in their past experiences and may offer Mary good professional advice. It would also be advisable for Mary to consult other professionals such as social workers as they may have experience on the psychological problems that students undergo when information about them is shared without their consent.
Step 8: Deliberate independently and decide
After considering all issues at hand, Mary should make a decision that best safeguards the integrity of her work. She should protect her clients' right to privacy by withholding information about them from the principal. Then she should encourage collaboration among the students, parents and the school on how to help the school to get the needed donations. Then after deliberation, Mary should allow all parties to make their own decision concerning the issue autonomously. At this point, the principal would have understood the importance of protecting the students and parents right to information and may not likely press Mary to disclose the information if they choose not to. The chances are that the principal will seek another way of getting the needed donations.
Step 9: Informing the Appropriate People and Implement the Decision
The final step is to inform all the stakeholders of the decision and to implement it. In this case, no action will be taken if Mary's clients refuse to provide their information to the school principal, but if they willingly offer it, then the school principal will use it to make the annual report for the school. Mary will also regularly meet her clients to monitor their progress after the disclosure of their confidential information.
Step 10: Reflecting on the Actions Taken
Disclosing personal information about oneself is a big decision. It may positively or negatively affect the individual. Mary will have to continually monitor the patients for negative impacts arising from their choices. Although both Mary and the principal are both obligated to act in the students best interests, Mary has to consider what effect the impact of the disclosure will have on them. Hence, she may be required to counsel the principal on client confidentiality so that in the future the principal may consider every individual's interests with as much importance as the school's interests.
Bibliography
Bodenhorn, N. (2006). "Exploratory study of common and challenging ethical dilemmas experienced by professional school counselors." Professional School Counseling,10(2), 195-202.
British Association for Counselling Psychotherapy (BACP). (2018). Ethical Frameworks for the Counselling Professions. Leicestershire, British Association for Counselling Psychotherapy, pp. 4-35.
Decision-making practice versus theory." Counseling & Values, 60(1), 84-99.
Ethics Committee of the British Psychological Society (ECBPS). (2009). Code of Ethics and Conduct. Leicestershire, Ethics Committee of the British Psychological Society.
Kinsinger (2009). "Beneficence and the Professional's Moral Imperative." Journal of Chiropractic Humanities, vol. 16(1): 44-46.
Kitchener, K. S. (1984). "Intuition, Critical Evaluation and Ethical Principles: The Foundation for Ethical Decisions in Counseling Psychology." Counseling Psychologist, 12 (3), 43-55.
Levitt, D. H., Farry, T. J., & Mazzarella, J. R. (2015). "Counselor ethical reasoning:
The British Psychological Society (BPS). (2017). Practice Guidelines. The British Psychological Society, 4th Ed.
The Ministry of Ethics. (n.d.) Principles of Confidentiality. Accessed from: https://www.ministryofethics.co.uk
Tim Bond. (2004). Ethical Guidelines for Researching Counselling and Psychotherapy. Leicestershire, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
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