Ethics in Marriage counseling

The textbook Ethics in Psychology and the MentalHealth Professions

Koocher, G.P. &Keith-Spiegel, P. Ethics in Psychology and the Mental Health Professions,4^th

Imagineyou are a therapist, and you have agreed to take on a couple for maritaltherapy. The main issues they have identified to be

 addressed in treatment arecommunication difficulties and disagreements on how to discipline the children.

Inthe course of the therapy, you observe that the husband is very domineering. Inaddition, he often makes racist and sexist remarks during 

the sessions. Youobserve what you would classify as psychological abuse by the husband againstthe wife, and you suspect (but no one has mentioned) that physical abuse mightbe occurring as well. 

Pleaseidentify some of the complex and potentially competing ethical issues you canidentify in this example. How would you resolve these 

issues? 

(Pleasedon’t feel the need to “treat” the couple in your response — stickexclusively to identifying the ETHICAL issues and how you might 

resolve them.)