Ethical Vignette 2

Marisol is a 24-year-old Latina student in her second year of her master's program in psychology. For her practicum, she was assigned to a school working in a low-income, culturally diverse community. She has a long-term interest in working with children and adolescents so is excited about her placement. As she prepares for the school year, she meets regularly with the school counselor and teachers to become familiar with the policies, procedures, and organization of the school. The school has its own social media account and since Marisol is so comfortable with the administrators and truly feels a part of the team, she friends and follows the school's social media account. During the school year, she forgets about the account but then one day in session, one of her clients begins to ask her about her boyfriend and what she is doing on the weekend. She is also starting to get direct messages to her personal social media account from students and teachers. Sometimes the comments are informational updates about what is happening at the school, but at other times the teachers are sharing information about students from the school. Because of her access to the school's account, she also can see pictures and comments posted by students regarding after school behaviors, which include sexual activity and alcohol use.

What ethical dilemmas are presented in the vignette? Are there any sociocultural variables to consider in understanding this case and possible ethical issues? What are the next steps that the counselor in this scenario should take?