Clinical Psychology

Q1

Clinical psychology involves a number of legal issues to which they must be adhered to and followed. Doctor-patient confidentiality is one major legal issue. This prohibits the doctor from discussing patient's matter with any other party unless there is an order to do so by the courts (Plante, 2011). There is also the consent to treatment which is written and the withdrawal of the consent means that treatment must cease. An unethical breach could arise when the doctor does not adhere to the confidentiality consent without the patient approval. However, it could be legal when it is required by law despite the fact that the patient could be against it. Moreover, clinical psychology ethics code prohibits any clinical psychologist from releasing any medical information pertaining to a patient.

Q2

Clinical psychology may include ethical issues such as competence and constitutional rights and respect. However they could be ethical but illegal is when a patient may need marijuana for medical purposes and yet it is prohibited in the country (James, 2012). It can be supported by the fact that marijuana is an authentic item in the medical arena but the federal laws are against its use. However some states have legalized the use of marijuana but only to the extent of medical use only. Therefore it is true to say that marijuana has great medical use with makes it ethically right to use to a patient but it is illegal according to the state laws to use it for any other purpose (Plante, 2011).

Q3

Professional boundaries can be said to be limits on the client and the psychologist relationship in order to achieve a safe and an innocent environment for the two. The said boundaries assists the psychologist to built a strong professional relationship as well as creating and enhancing the safe boundaries in order to allow the client to speak freely without fear or intimidation in order to aid the treatment process. Boundary crossings can be referred to a deviation which is harmless, supportive and non-exploitive of therapy from therapeutic activity (Plante, 2011). However the patient’s choices and goals must be respected so that no violation will be seen. The boundary crossings enable the doctor and the patient to have trust and good faith between them. This creates a better ground for them in the therapy activity. Boundary violation is a deviation from the classical therapeutic activity which is harmful to the patient and the whole therapy activity. This means that there is exploitation and emotional violence is experienced and one party takes advantage of the other (Plante, 2011). The boundaries create a line for appropriate and inappropriate behavior. It is important as they create space for each part and the limit is observed solely for the purpose of treatment. The boundaries also enhance treatment as there is concentration between the therapist and the patient.

Q4

Culture plays an important part in any individual. This goes up to treatment as it should respect the patient’s culture. This means that any form of treatment to a patient should be in line and acceptable by the patient as it should not be against their belief or values (James, 2012). Due to the importance that people have placed on culture it is therefore important for the psychologist to consider culture in the administration of treatment (Plante, 2011). Treatment can be appropriate to one culture and be unacceptable to another. Behavior is another cultural limitation that may affect treatment. A medical professional should be able to adapt to the patient behavior in order to make the treatment effective. A research by a medical professional is appropriate as it will try to eliminate or minimize cultural differences throughout the treatment so as to minimize the misuse of assessment instruments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

James, W. (2012). The Principles of Psychology, Vol. 2. Newburyport: Dover Publications.

Plante, T. G. (2011). Contemporary Clinical Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.