Case+of+Ethical+Termination




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Appropriate Termination
Christine, who is non-Jewish, is engaged to marry a young Jewish man, Jeremy, who she met in college. Her future in-laws, Orthodox Jews, are opposed to the marriage and have voiced their disapproval of the “outmarriage.” Christine, an English Protestant, does not intend to convert to Judaism. She is offended by Jeremy’s parents’ rejection simply because of her religious preference and ethnicity. Christine promised her future in-laws that she will follow Jewish holiday traditions in raising her children. Jeremy, who does not practice his religion and leans toward the more liberal reform or reconstructionist positions of Judaism, feels that his family will adjust eventually and that they should just ke ep moving ahead with their marriage plans. Christine, troubled by her future in-laws’ rejection, wonders about its effect on her forthcoming marriage and is reconsidering her plan to marry Jeremy. A friend recommended that she seek counseling to assist her in resolving this issue.

Christine sought counseling through a private practice. She requested to see a Jewish counselor because she felt that he or she will have a thorough understating of the outmarriage (interfaith or mixed marriage) issue and would be able to advise her about dealing with her future in-laws.

Steve was assigned her case; prior to the session, the insurance clerk for the private counseling center informed Steve that his client, Christine, had coverage for ten counseling sessions. As Steve listened to Christine recount her problems and vent her anger toward her potential future in-laws, he realized that he has a strong reaction to her. Although he did not state it, Steve agreed with Jeremy’s parents in disapproving marriages between non-Jews and Jews. Steve tried to contain his strong emotional reaction to Christine’s anger toward Jeremy’s parents and Jews in general because of the restrictions about intermarriage. As Christine told her story, he thought she would have a difficult time accepting Judaism. He found himself siding with Jeremy’s parents and believed that his goal was to convince her to end the engagement.

Steve shared his goal with his supervisor, Marvin, who cautioned him against imposing his own values on the client. When Martin asked how sessions with Christine were going, Steve simply stated that the client was still defensive.

Steve met with Christine weekly and attempted to explore her understanding of Jewish beliefs and traditions. He continually challenged her lack of understanding of Jeremy’s reli gion and background. Christine ignored these challenges and presented arguments in favor of marriage because she and Jeremy love each other and get along well. Steve became convinced that Christine should not marry Jeremy and he was increasingly frustrated that she appeared to show no insight into the reason why. At the tenth session, Steve decided to be more blunt and told Christine that, in his opinion, she should not marry Jeremy. He explained that after ten counseling sessions, she still did not seem to understand what it means to engage in a religious intermarriage. Christine told Steve that she thought he was wrong about her understanding of intermarriage, but she did not realize he was opposed to her marriage to Jeremy. Christine wanted to continue counseling but could not pay the fees. Steve did not believe that she would benefit from any further counseling, so she was informed that he could not see her since her insurance coverage had been used up. He informed her that she might try a community mental health center where she would be charged based upon her ability to pay. Christine was not pleased when she left the session. She felt the counselor had not really helped her with her problem but had depleted her insurance coverage.

Christine was angry that she received little or no help from Steve and felt he was prejudiced in his views of religious intermarriage. She also was upset that the counseling session ended without giving her further treatment. She contacted the state licensure board and filed a complaint. Her complaint accused Steve of prejudice and not providing an appropriate referral to another counseling agency for counseling.

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