“You are a counsellor providing psychological assessments in an urban hospital. A young woman is self-referred, complaining of anxiety. Through the process of the assessment, you learn that she is concerned about being “fat,” often induces vomiting after meals, uses laxatives frequently, restricts her caloric intake, and exercises daily. She says that she feels you understand her and would like you to provide treatment.

“You are a counsellor providing psychological assessments in an urban hospital. A young woman is self-referred, complaining of anxiety. Through the process of the assessment, you learn that she is concerned about being “fat,” often induces vomiting after meals, uses laxatives frequently, restricts her caloric intake, and exercises daily. She says that she feels you understand her and would like you to provide treatment. You tell her that you do not consider yourself competent to provide treatment for her eating disorder. You do not have training and experience in assessing eating disorders and a well-informed opinion on how best to treat them. Your therapeutic preparation consists only of having read several major works on the topic and attending a two-day workshop on treatment, however. She says that she has never told anyone about her problem and that if you do not treat her, she will not seek therapy from anyone else.”
Would it be possible to involve this client’s family in the matter if they are not willing to get help and the issue is life-threatening? Does this count as an “imminent threat towards self”?
References:

Martin, L., Shepard, B., & Lehr, R. (Eds.). (2015). Canadian counselling and psychotherapy experience: Ethics-based issues and cases. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association.
Olszewski, J. (2020). Ethical Standards for Mental Health Service Providers