Ethical Norms And Standards In The Field Of Counseling

Hello, Robin! According to Corey et al. (2015), the counselor as a person and as a professions should promote healthy relationships and boundaries to prevent the impairment of making ethical decisions. The NASW Code of Ethics provide ethical standards, ethical principles, and ethical values that guide professional behavior, but they have limitations. Counselors should discourage themselves from using their own values, qualities, and experiences in a therapeutic session, however, implementing these characteristics should only be considered when there isn’t a code to address an issue and when it is in the best interest of the client. It is the social workers' responsibility to allow clients to make decisions for their own lives, but when the

Professional associations establish codes of ethics to ensure that clinicians uphold the standards of their association in order to protect the clients they serve and the profession they are affiliated with. This paper will compare the codes of ethics of the American Counseling Association (ACA), American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

D-Met with the patient as she was placed on HOLD to address her AWOLs. According to the patient, she had overslept on 07/31/2016 & 08/02/2016. This writer informed the patient about the risk of missing a dose and the patient signed a AWOL notice. The patient is aware that if it happens again, she will receive a treatment violation. According to the patient, she says, " I will make sure to set my alarm to make sure I get here to dose.......Charlene, I relapse, man.....I did not use heroin, but I used cocaine." When asked how much, the patient did not want to disclose as to how much and only says, " Not a lot....I felt bad about it, but you right...I missed my dose and felt sick." This writer rescheduled the patient's appointment as she was unable to stay for a full counseling session today. Next appointment is scheduled on 08/2/2016 at 11:30am.

Ethics in the profession of counseling are critical and serve as the framework for practitioners. They educate counseling practitioners and the general public about the responsibilities of the profession (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2011). Ethics in the counseling profession are vital in that they allow for various approaches and procedures to be utilized in order to determine the best outcome for difficult or complex problems. In my experience, most practitioners look at the code of ethics from a prospective of fear opposed to an opportunity for the betterment of client. Many practitioners are so fearful of being involved in a lawsuit that they focus their time and energy with fulfilling legal requirements rather than utilizing ethics as an opportunity to determine what is best for the client (Corey, 2013). Corey stated that in this era of litigation, it makes sense to be aware of the legal aspects of practice and to do what is possible to reduce a malpractice suit, but it is a mistake to equate behaving legally with being ethical (2013). Ethics are more than a set of rules established to avoid lawsuits; they are critical thinking tools that challenge and assist

Like every profession, they are codes of conducts that we need to follow to ensure the strict principals of the profession. Counseling has several elements that are very important that will help you in a future professional career in this area of psychology.

To start, the relationship between a counselor and a client is based on trust, therefore being the cornerstone of the counseling relationship. Professionals in many situations deal with issues that have ethical and legal ramifications. The communication amongst the two is to occur freely, the client must have privacy, and the information shared during the session is to be private (Newsome, Gladding, Pg. 66). The ethically and legally job of the counselor is to maintain and respect professional boundaries. Boundaries help provided structure to the professional relationship and the vulnerability of the client. Another area clinical mental health professionals practice is the boundaries of their competence. Based on the counselor's education, training, supervised experience, state and national professional credentials, and appropriate experience, counselors will achieve the knowledge in personal awareness, sensitivity, and skills to working with a diverse population (Newsome, Gladding, Pg. 66). The wide-spread of the availability of the internet since the

Although the counselor-client confidentiality agreement exists and must be held with utmost importance, it is imperative for professional therapists and counselors to remain cognizant of the limitations to this rule. Confidentiality must be at the very core of the therapeutic relationship in order for the rehabilitative process to be successfully effective, which is the cornerstone of the counseling profession. When trust is broken or the confidentiality has been compromised, providing that breaking this agreement falls within its limitations, the expectancy of failure of the relationship is likely to ensue (Capuzzi & Gross, 2011). In this paper, I will attempt to

Therefore, a course of action to resolve this ethical violation or issue before it even begins is to ensure that I, as the counselor, research my new area, culture, and take cultural education course from the counselors who have been working on the reservation for quite some time. Research has stated that counselors working with indigenous populations or a culturally diverse population should utilize local culture and traditions in an attempt to adapt their therapeutic techniques to fit the unique needs of their clients (Gray & Rose, 2012). Although these therapeutic techniques are culturally sensitive, they are learned from other counselors working with the population who found them effective. One study that surveyed Native Americans regarding the importance of Native American spirituality and traditions being incorporated into psychological counseling over 55% said it was extremely important, with approximately 41% stating it is dependent upon the client, and 4% said it is not important (Thomason, 2011). It is vital when working with indigenous clients or multicultural backgrounds that the counselor adjusts their therapeutic practices and frameworks to best suit the client.

Any profession that involves working closely with people requires wisdom and self-reflection, particularly in counseling where difficult ethical dilemma arise. Professional expectations require counselors to set aside personal values in favor of the ACA principles to be considered ethical counselors (Remley and Herlihy 2016). Human autonomy is considered a fundamental client right and a value to be upheld by all counselors (American Counseling Association 2015). Christians ought to strive for excellence in all things, and Christians in counseling should strive to be the most ethical counselors (1 Corinthians 10:31). However, I believe the highest directive for Christians is not the principle ethics determined by the ACA, but the commandments

-Next Dorothy would need to identify her feelings. It is important to identify and sort out your own feelings about many things. This will take some effort.

School counseling has a unique ethical code, which is listed on the American School Counseling Association (ASAC) website. The code starts with responsibility to students and supporting student development. This means school counselors have an obligation to the students including treating each student with dignity and respect. Furthermore, respecting students and families values, beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identification, and cultural background. School counselors have a goal of supporting students and families in a short-term setting, then referring to outside services for long-term counseling. Additionally, the fundamental role of parents/guardians need to be recognized. School counseling is not designed to make diagnoses but to

Counselors face ethical challenges when engaging in research studies due to the complexity of conducting, interpreting and reporting the results of research. Confidentiality is an essential component that researchers need to take very service to avoid any wrongdoings because of the potential impact it can have on participants. Therefore, guidelines and the use of protocols that are in place in all stages of research need to be followed by the researcher. While conducting research it is vital to consider if the assessment being used is appropriate for the study, considering cultural differences and disabilities are factors that counselors need to be aware of.

A therapist has many decisions to make when a client walks through their doors for his counseling session. First, the counselor must greet the patient and assess a baseline behavior and his goals for counseling. Among this, as a future therapist, my role is to be an educator for my clients so they may be best equipped to go through life with a handle on their mental distress and illness. Beginning with a client, uncovering what has worked in their treatment, what has not worked out so well are key points in how to explore counseling options. Afterwards, I must properly educate my clients on his diagnosis(es). With as many “medical” websites as there are today, I want to ensure he understand his diagnoses from psychiatric research rather than the questionable information on these websites. In addition, clients most likely need guidance in how to navigate difficulties in life and balancing the stress they face in day to day life. Education also comes into play with uncovering what coping skills my client has been utilizing. If they are negative coping skills, such as

At some point in counseling, counselors will be faced with the decision to proceed in an ethical manner when situations arise. In spite of personal opinions, the use of ethical practice provides guidance, balance, and integrity in the counseling field. The use of the Gallagher survey reported deficiencies in counseling practice centers “between 1986 and 2008 where a total of 86 counseling centers had been the target of at least one lawsuit or another legal challenge due to unethical practices” (Affsprung, 2010, p. 133). In the counseling practice, Therapists can seek to gratify themselves when helping others rather than choosing to operate within a professional standard of boundaries. Therefore, adhering to ethics is vital in counseling because they provide the structural process in “defining the profession in a changing world that unifies therapists, gives methodologies for practice, and extends and invitation for therapist to work together while providing the very best care for clients” (Hendricks, 2008, p. 259 ).

Ethical issues in a counseling practice lay the foundation of a therapist in practice. Ethics are at the center of how the counseling process functions and operates in a successful manner for the clients who seek help in such a setting. In order for the counseling profession to be ethical and hold professional recognition, there are many facets that need to be examined and outlined to make sure all counselors and practitioners are functioning at the highest level and withholding their duties required by the counseling profession. The first introduction so to speak of the area of ethics also happens to be one of the first steps in counseling, which is the informed consent. The informed consent provides the basis of what happens or will be