Discussion: Do No Harm In Counseling

The American Counseling Association and the American Mental Health Counselors Association Codes of Ethics both provide guidance and direction in making ethical decisions for their members (ACA, 2005) (AMHCA, 2010). Both the ACA and the AMHCA Codes of Ethics cover a wide range of moral and ethical situations that could present themselves to mental health professionals. Both of these codes of ethics have significant impacts on the counseling profession. The tools provided by these codes of ethics ensure that mental health professionals are able to conform to the regulations set forth. They address common concerns from varying points of view. Understanding these codes of ethics is essential to all mental

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.

In order for counselling to be effective and purposeful it must be conducted in an ethical way. The very act of seeking counselling predisposes that the seeker is vulnerable/troubled and needs assurance that the main focus of counselling will be their well-being and promote for them a greater sense of autonomy, and not to serve any other purpose. Therefore the foundation of good counselling must be an ethical relationship, hence the need for an ethical framework. As Tim Bond (2010) states:

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).

Counseling is defined as ”the use of therapeutic strategies to help clients address personal concerns and mental health issues” (Nystul, 2016). Pursuing counseling as a career involves many years of formal study and certification or licensure. After receiving licensure to practice as a professional counselors it is a requirement to maintain involvement and certification in certain associations in order to hold your license. These association often require further education and/or professional practice in order to maintain membership in these associations. It is quite obvious that counseling requires a large amount of commitment and passion in order to pursue it as a career and maintain a title as a counselor. I have conducted an interview with a professional counselor in order to further understand the experience of being a counselor. The interview that I conducted explores the requirements of maintaining and receiving a counselling career, the experience of being a counselor, and what characteristics or skills a professional may have. The Individual who agreed to the interview was a counselor by the name of Susie Facio. Susie Facio, through this interview, will be giving us a look at what influenced her to become a counselor, what her work entails on a day to day basis, and what qualities and skills she has acquired in order to become a successful counselor.

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.

Psychotherapy and counselling are inseparable. The effectiveness of a counselling program is not just based on the connectedness and interaction between a therapist and a client, but also the framework of the counselling approach in helping the client improving his mental health or overcoming personal problems. There are an extensive number of psychotherapies developed by past researchers, with each therapeutic concept offering unique contributions in understanding human behaviour and useful implications for counselling practice (Bedi et al., 2011).

There are several ethical dilemmas that the mental health professionals that are working as a team will face including “ensuring that the client has given informed consent, maintaining client confidentiality, and involving professionals, paraprofessionals, and family in appropriate coordinated processes that benefit the client” (Paproski & Haverkamp, 2000, p.96).

The beginning section of the book describes the challenges counselors face in dealing with clients. (1). Moving from Two Areas of Competence to Three (2). Blurred Personal-Professional Distinctions (3).Expanded Definitions of Training (4). Confronting Dominant Views of Mental Health (5). Establishing a Scientific Base (6). Defining Relevant Ethical Standards (McMinn, 2011). After mapping out the challenges facing interdisciplinary integration, McMinn first divides his renowned book into eight rewarding chapters including summary and reflection following each of them. He also uses vignettes in order to ask his readers”What if this Happens” scenarios (McMinn, 2011)

Counseling is a relatively young profession when compared to other mental health professions. In my brief personal and professional experience with the field, I have come to define counseling as a process of engagement between two people, both of whom are bound to change through a collaborative process that involves both the therapist and the client in co-constructing solutions to concerns.

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.

In the mental health profession of counseling, therapy, psychology, psychiatric and social services ethical dilemmas are faced primarily on a daily basis. Being that mental health professionals are working with clients who are often fragile and vulnerable, they must develop an intense awareness of ethical issues. On the other hand, mental health professionals would never intentionally harm their clients, students or colleagues and others whom they work with. Unfortunately, good intentions are not enough to ensure that wrong doings will not occur and mental health professionals have no choice but to make ethically determined decisions. Depending upon the experience and expertise of the professional determines the outcome of the ethical

This is an overview of personal thoughts regarding the views of human nature and goals made therapeutically as a professional counselor. The paper will include a description of my therapeutic process and evaluations of other theories which I believe to share common ground with and other theories I do not agree with. The roles and duties of a counselor will be clarified. The relationship between the counselor and client will be illuminated, regarding what the relationship should consist of. There will be shared insight on what is believed to bring about changes in behavior.

This paper will explore the concept of dual relationships between counselors and clients and the ethical implications of such relationships. In addition to presenting several examples of dual relationships, this paper will also explore how ethical decisions must be made to avoid potentially harmful or exploitive relationships in therapy as well understanding how different interactions between counselor and clients can be understood from an ethical standpoint, as well as how reviewing these ethical dilemmas may shape my future career as a counselor.

As everybody is different and comes from different backgrounds, therefore give us all different values and beliefs, it is important to have an effective client-counsellor relationship based on four main areas of duty of care 1. Helper competence, 2. Client autonomy, 3. Confidentiality, 4. Client protection (Nelson-Jones, 2008). There will be times throughout the sessions with clients that your own values and belief creep in, and you do make judgement, therefore you as a counsellor have to know and acknowledge this happen and understand why it is happening.