Boundaries In Counseling Profession

Dual relationships and the ethical behavior that revolves around boundaries with clients present a multitude of very complicated situations to counselors where a clearly defined course of action is not always evident. Aside from no accord amongst mental health professionals and boundary issues being unavoidable at times, recognition and prediction of potential benefits or pitfalls correlated with dual relationships can prove to be troublesome as well (Remley & Herlihy, 2010). For most cases, it is best if an outline is used to discern when it is appropriate for a counselor to breach the client-counselor boundary.

The 2014 ACA Code of Ethics provides structure that protects clients. Responsibilities that counselors to be aware of is avoid imposing their own values, attitudes and beliefs on clients (Ethics, 2014). Developing a relationship with clients requires providing counseling in a culturally sensitive manner (Ethics, 2014). Counselors respect the diversity of clients take measures to ensure that they are not of risk of imposing their values onto clients (Ethics, 2014).

Professional boundaries, in human services, are essential to helping clients and upholding the standards of the profession. Human service professionals provide several different services and are often faced with ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas are a major reason professional boundaries are established as they protect both the helper and the individual seeking help. Boundaries are not just rules that we enforce with clients, they are essentially an understanding of how we interact with people, both, professionally and personally. Boundaries are crucial if you want to have an effective relationship with the individual you are helping. Professional boundaries set the structure of the relationship and provide a framework in which you will

This essay will explore the counselling relationship along with the benefits and limitations as well as discussing other factors that have an important impact in relation to the outcome of counselling. Counselling is an interpersonal relationship between the client and qualified therapist, the relationship involves communicating with the client and using skills to explore the client's feelings. The counselling/ therapeutic relationship can be used in all types of counselling such as psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioural, person centred and cognitive therapy. As mental health disorders increase so does the need to deliver effective counselling, which means that the therapeutic relationship is more crucial than ever. (Miller, Hubble, Duncan and Wampold 2010; Norcross and Lambert 2011).

Professionalism is one of the most important aspects of counseling. Lacking professionalism may potentially cause harm to the client. In my opinion, professionalism begins and ends with the code of ethics. I feel that if you abide by the code of ethics you have nothing worry about regarding professionalism. The code of ethics summarizes the standards of integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality. A counselor is supposed to abide by the legal and moral standards of the community (Grold, 1996). All professionals should dress

Professional boundaries are very important at my agency. At SOAR we regularly meet with clients, health professionals, and other social workers. We are working with people who struggle with homelessness, mental illnesses, medical impairments, and/or substance use disorders, so it is important to build rapport, and act in a trustworthy and responsible manner.

My personal philosophy of life and my philosophy of counseling has been deeply affected by my life experiences as a young child and also as an adult. I am fortunate that my life has been a good life and I consider myself to be fortunate to have to have good parents and many loving family members. I do not recall having any events in my childhood that I would consider to be abusive or neglectful on the part of my family, and for that I consider myself to be lucky. I know several people who were abused as a child and it seems to have impacted them in many aspects of their lives even into adulthood.

To have good ethical practice within counselling it is important that there are boundaries and contracts in place that are agreed to and understood by both the counsellor and the client.

I believe counseling is a collaborative partnership between client and counselor. Furthermore, this collaborative partnership is built from trust and acceptance of both client and counselor. I hope in conjunction with clients to understand the issues and concerns so to help them tap into their wisdom, creativity, and strengths to meet their current challenges. I believe in a comprehensive perspective through which clients can better comprehend themselves in the framework that our thinking about events can lead to emotional and behavioral upset. Moreover, counselors are to provide a safe environment for clients to explore their challenges and identify ways to move differently in overcoming these challenges.

The philosophy that underlies the counseling profession is unique among mental health professionals. According to Remley & Herlihy (2014), the philosophy is made up of four components. First, counselor 's view mental health challenges through a positive, wellness-oriented lens. The primary goal of the wellness model is for the client to achieve the highest degree of mental health possible. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers follow the medical model of mental health. The goal of these clinicians is to cure the client’s illness, which differs drastically from counselor’s view of clients.

Jenny’s reaction to Michael’s rejection: If the therapeutic relationship is uncomfortable, Michael should refer Jenny on to someone else, as this could impair judgement, treatment and diagnosis.

Once I had acknowledged that it was normal to make mistakes in the mock sessions, I was able to enjoy the sessions and better know my client. I also learned that the skills, such as reflection of feeling and open questions, are skills that are essential to master in order to be successful in the counseling field. The basic skills that are taught in this course are skills that will be used throughout one’s career. Also, these skills are applicable to situations outside of counseling and can be practiced on individuals, such as family members. As stated earlier, my client was extremely patient with me while I navigated through the

Since definitive boundaries for community counseling were non-existent, each counseling program was left with defining its own area of expertise (Hershenson & Berger, 2001), which created inconsistency in course titles and content. From 1986 to 1987, AMHCA created a set of training standards for mental health counselors (AMHCA, 1993; Smith, 2012), and in 1988, these standards for specifically mental health counseling were adopted by CACREP (AMHCA, 1993). There was also an expansion in private insurance coverage for mental health services, offering the option to get care by a range of professionals and hospitals, and for individuals offering the care to be reimbursed. (Smith, 2012). This influenced an extreme growth in demand and supply for

The one aspect of the reading that I found interesting was “How to File an Ethics Complaint with the American Counseling Association's Ethics Committee”. I particularly found this aspect interesting because I had no clue how to file an ethic complain, so that was very new to me. I now can use this valuable information for future reference. Furthermore, the explanation on how to file an ethics complaint was easy to understand. It provides step-by-step directions and provides a telephone number if any issue

Boundaries are extremely important in a counseling session. Setting boundaries and limits in therapy sessions represents an ethical decision that is set by each counselor, when entering a therapeutic relationship. In this presentation, I will discuss pertinent boundary issues that the staff has encountered, since working at this agency. Finally, I will describe how these boundaries are addressed and resolved at this site.