Discuss ethical and legal issues within the context of family therapy. Read the scenario provided below and answer/discuss the following questions:

What is your view of the problem?

What professional and ethical issues do you need to consider?

What actions, if any, would you take?

Clinical scenario: The teenage son in a family you are treating calls you on the phone to ask to see you separately from the rest of the family. You feel that this request represents an important development in the treatment of the family, and you are inclined to agree. As you are thinking about this, he says that he doesn’t want you to tell the rest of the family about the meeting because he is terrified of their reaction, if they find out that he has revealed a secret about them. Against your better judgment, you agree. When you meet in person, he tells you that his father has been sexually abusing him. As you probe, it several cue emerge that lead you to believe the young man is not being truthful.