Value Objectivity Paper
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Grand Canyon University *
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505
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Arts Humanities
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Apr 3, 2024
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Benchmark: Value Objectivity Paper
Stephanie A. Flores
College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Grand Canyon University
CNL-505: Professional Counseling, Ethical, and Legal Considerations
Afiya Burson
9February 8th, 2023
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The purpose of this essay is to discuss whether or not a counselor should remain value-
objective when presented with controversial issues by a client; especially those that go directly against the beliefs and values held by the counselor. This paper will also aim to discuss the ethical implications of self-disclosing values from counselor to client and explore alternative options when referring the client to another counselor as well as when referral is not an option. Lastly, it is pertinent to discuss ethical decision-making models when taking action to help a client facing a difficult problem and ensure best practices.
Self-disclosure in regard to this paper is understood to be a counselor sharing his or her personal experiences, values, and beliefs to their client. In some instances, it has been found to be helpful and/or beneficial to the helping relationship between the client and the counselor for the counselor to self-disclose their values on specific topics. Edwards and Murdock (1994) conducted a study to determine the reasoning behind why counselors self-disclose and found that
many counselors choose to self disclose to facilitate a therapeutic outcome and relate to their clients. “Miller (1983) argued that appropriate disclosures were those that promoted client self-
disclosure, increased the client's trust in the counselor, and improved the therapeutic relationship” (Edwards & Murdock, 1994). When making the decision to disclose personal information to a client the most important factor to take into consideration is the rights of the client and a counselor's professional responsibility to protect those rights. The ACA Code of Ethics (2014) discusses in section A.4.b., with regard to personal values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors, counselors are to avoid imposing these onto the client.
When working in a helping profession, it is inevitable that you will come into contact with clients who hold differing values, beliefs, and attitudes about specific topics, especially
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controversial topics such as abortion. As a counselor, part of the helping relationship is to be open to discussing a client's values, and how those values and/or beliefs affect their decisions. Corey, et al., (2019) made a great point about differing values in the helping relationship. A counselor that is secure in their own values will not feel threatened by people who do not share their worldview. For example, imagine a counselor who finds it difficult to work with a client weighing their options with regard to getting an abortion, because the counselor is a Christian who does not believe in abortions, one thing this counselor should do is take a step back mentally
from the situation to explore the situation from a value-objective lens. This counselor has an ethical and professional duty to place emphasis on the clients problem, rather than their own. “Counselors and clinicians need to work along with the expectations, preferences, needs, and values of their clients” (Maximo, 2019). The counselor needs to respect that the client is their own individual with their own held values and beliefs and these should be listened to and taken into consideration when exploring options for treatment and referral. It is also advisable to refer to the ACA code of ethics as a foundation of ethical principles because these are values agreed upon by the counseling profession as a whole. (Wright-McDougal & Toriello, 2013). In 2015, the state of Tennessee introduced and passed the conscience clause legislation that essentially allows university students in counseling, social work, or psychology programs the ability to refuse to counsel a client based on their sincerely held religious beliefs, and not face
discrimination or discipline for doing so. (APA, 2023) This affects the mental health profession because it is allowing ill-prepared individuals to surpass necessary training in the mental health field because of conflicting values and beliefs. It also has the added harm of setting unrealistic expectations within the field of counseling and mental health because ethical guidelines
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specifically advise that counselors refrain from refusing to work with potential or current clients solely based on their own personal values and beliefs. Some factors that may lead a counselor to refer a client to another counselor are when the
education, training,. skills, and knowledge of the counselor do not meet the needs of the current or potential clients and are outside the bounds of the counselors competency. An example of this could be a counselor meeting with a client for depression and anxiety and during the intake assessment, the client reveals that they struggle heavily with alcohol abuse and believe it to be contributing to and exacerbating their depression. If the counselor feels that they do not possess the skills or qualifications for addiction counseling, they can consult with their supervisor if they are unsure of their competence within this area of counseling, and once it is determined to be outside their scope of practice, at this time it would be appropriate to discuss with the client the option of referring them to an addiction counselor who is better suited to care for them.
There may be instances where referral is not possible and a counselor will need to make informed decisions to ensure they are adhering to ethical guidelines while providing care to their client. One example of this could be a counselor who cannot refer a client to another counselor because the basis of their referral is only on the grounds that the client's values and beliefs conflict with their own. Corey, et al., (2019) notes that when a counselor lacks knowledge about the client they are working with, it is their professional responsibility and obligation to seek additional training, consultation, and supervision to obtain these skills and knowledge. The ACA provides practitioners with an ethical decision-making guide to use when facing an ethical dilemma. Counselors can ensure they are using best practices by using the foundational principles and following the steps to ethical decision-making as outlined in the Practitioners Guide to Ethical Decision-Making (2016). The first steps include identifying the problem,
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applying the ACA code of ethics, and determining the nature of the dilemma. In this way counselors are allowing themselves to use their skills, knowledge, training and education to determine the best approach once the root of the problem has been identified. Furthermore, by using the mentioned principles, counselors can analyze how the dilemma they are facing can be applied to each principle to inform their decision making and ensure that they are following ethical expectations and guidelines. References
American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA Code of Ethics.
Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf
American Psychological Association. (2023). The "Conscience Clause" in Professional Training.
Retreived from https://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/conscience-clause-brief
Corey, G., Corey, M.S., & Corey, C. (2019). Issues and Ethics in the Helping Profession. Cengage Learning.
Edwards, C. E., & Murdock, N. L. (1994). Characteristics of therapist self-disclosure in the counseling process. Journal of Counseling & Development
, 72
(4), 384–389. https://doi-
org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1994.tb00954.x
Forester-Miller, H., & Davis, T. E. (2016). Practitioner’s guide to ethical decision making (Rev. ed.)
. American Counseling Association. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/practioner’s-guide-toethical-
decision-making.pdf
Maximo, S. I. (2019). A scoping review of ethical considerations in spiritual/religious counseling
and psychotherapy.
The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 73
(2), 124–133. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/1542305019848656
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Wright-McDougal, J. J., & Toriello, P. J. (2013). Ethical implications of confirmation bias in the rehabilitation counseling relationship. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 44
(2), 3–10.
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