Listed below is a situation that may or may not violate codes of ethics when working with families. Study the scenario carefully and then go to the codes of ethics for AAMFT, IAMFC, AACC, and ACA to find the ethical answers to the dilemmas presented. Be sure to record the code location on each ethical code where the violation or permission is given for the counselor to do what had been done (ex: AAMFT 2.2 or ACA B.7.2).
You have been counseling a family of Korean origin for the past 5 weeks. Specific family members have been suffering from generalized anxiety disorder, which is connected to family discord and what you see as blurred boundary issues. In your fifth counseling session, the teenage daughter tells you that her parents do not understand American culture and how it affects family rules. Having worked with over a hundred clients struggling with anxiety, you feel she needs to set clear boundaries with her parents. You instruct her to exercise more independence from her family and seek to become self-actualized.
As a competent Christian counselor, you also give her Mark 10:6–9 and Luke 14:26–27 and ask her to study them this week to see how individuals must distance themselves and become self-differentiated. In your reply, look for other confirmations in the codes that the therapist either did well or violated competent practice.
