Читать книгу Ethics in Psychotherapy and Counseling - Kenneth S. Pope - Страница 22

Ms. Cain brings her two children, ages four and six, to Dr. Durrenberger for a psychological evaluation. She reports that they have become somewhat upset during the last few months. They are having nightmares and frequently wet their beds. She suspects that the problem may have something to do with their last visit with their father, who lives in another state.

Dr. Durrenberger schedules three sessions in which he sees Ms. Cain and her two children together and three individual sessions with each of the children. As he is preparing his report, he receives a subpoena to testify in a civil suit that Ms. Cain is filing against her ex-husband. She is suing for custody of her children. During the trial, Dr. Durrenberger testifies that the children seem, on the basis of interviews and psychological tests, to have a stronger, more positive relationship with their mother. He gives his professional opinion that the children would be better off with their mother and that she should be given custody.

Mr. Cain files an ethics complaint, a civil suit, and a licensing complaint against Dr. Durrenberger. One basis of his complaint is that Dr. Durrenberger had not obtained informed consent to conduct the assessments. When Mr. and Ms. Cain had divorced two years previously, the court had granted Mr. Cain legal custody of the children but had granted Ms. Cain visitation rights. (Ms. Cain had arranged for the assessments of the children during a long summer visit.) Another basis of the complaint was that Dr. Durrenberger had made a formal recommendation regarding custody placement without making any attempt to interview or evaluate Mr. Cain. Additionally, Mr. Cain’s attorney and expert witnesses maintained that no custody recommendation could be made without interviewing both parents.