Ethical Analysis : Ethical Competence

To ensure that all possible clients of all walks of life are successfully benefiting from the counseling profession, advancement in the assessment field should be of a primary concern for present and future counselors. It is understood and respected that a multitude of counselors vary in the foundations of their theoretical framework and collectively not all counselors participate in assessment with their clients, but as the counseling profession continues to grow the demand of expansion is critical.

You must be trustworthy in order to keep client information confidential, which also requires restraint and discipline. Most importantly, a counselor must keep up with their own mental health. Knowing how to cope, unwind, and relax after serving others can sometimes become emotionally taxing. Taking care of oneself in order to help others is paramount to success in their career. I believe that I posses all of these qualities and can learn to strengthen and apply them through your graduate program. In a world that is ever changing, diversity training and sensitivity is also important. As a therapist, I will be placed in environments with the opportunity to work with people from different backgrounds, cultures, beliefs, traditions, and approaches than I. Building rapport through relationship and empathy will be the key to giving my clients the assurance needed to make their first step toward changing their lives and moving forward toward their desired self. My job, as a counselor is to empower, not to tear down, which is why I will seek to give back my services in low income areas, nonprofit organizations, as well as on a volunteer basis to improve my very own community.

Counsellors are required to have adequate training and supervision to help maintain them throughout their professional lives. Counsellor must be respectful of their professional position and remain loyal to their clients.

A person using counselling skills should not describe themselves as a qualified counsellor as the level of training differs greatly and it would be misleading and unethical to do so. Pete Sanders refers to counselling skills as being “basic helping” without being required to adhere to the ethical principles of counselling and psychotherapy, whereas a qualified counsellor will be held “appropriately accountable” for

According to ACA Codes of Ethics (2014, Standard F.7.b), counselors educators are knowledgeable and provide instruction within their areas. Counselor’s educators develop competence in the use of technology. In context, counselors should avoid providing evaluations that can throw them into the role of expert witness unless they have decided to do

This How a client perceives a counselor is very important in how they effective they feel they

Firstly it’s important to distinguish between using counselling skills and being a counsellor. From my own research I think the distinction revolves

I believe that I have many skills and experiences that will allow for me to be a great counselor. I have seen first hand, experienced first hand, and learned to deal with things first hand. I experience anxiety, but have learned how to cope and deal with it. It is not always easy when there are so many things that can be thrown at you through life. I have a lot of motivation, qualities, experiences, and goals that I can bring to counseling.

An agency that provides marriage and family counseling will need all counselors to participate in assessments to help measure their competencies. The assessments will focus on knowledge, skills and abilities, culture, and behavior. The knowledge competencies involves the understanding of counseling through education, practice, training, seminars and past career

Ethics is a comprehension of the way of contentions emerging from good goals and how best we may manage those (Noble, 2007). Morals does not choose what is ethically right or wrong; rather it considers how we ought to act better in the light of our obligations and commitments as moral agents (Noble, 2007). We are all molded by our own encounters, recollections, feelings, and learning influencing our observations, thinking and judgment of individuals and circumstances. These elements contribute to a person’s worldview, professional philosophy, and moral compass- the ability to judge wrong and right and act accordingly. The purpose of this paper is to describe this author’s professional moral compass, which is coordinated by different inspirations, interests, and values.

This is also a general characteristic of many counseling professions, and especially so with rehabilitation because the body needs time to heal physically, mentally, spiritually, and socially. Other characteristics of a rehabilitation counselor include critical thinking, negotiation, and the ability to remain calm in order to generate conflict resolution (Chan et al., 2004).

The practice and scope of counselor competency are based upon the state in which the individual is practicing and determined through the application and licensing process. The state determines who qualifies as a potential counselor through various testing and background checks. The application

Corey et al. (1998) states about the boundaries of a counselor competency; "Counselors may need to be both generalists and specialists to be competent to practice with some client populations. Many substance abuse counselors argue that if you are licensed as a generalist, you are not qualified to work in the area of treatment of addictions. To qualify as a substance abuse counselor, the CACREP (2009) standards identify specific knowledge,

A counselor should be very observant and able to interpret non-verbal communication for example if the patient looks angry, and then find out the cause of his/her anger first. An effective counselor should provide non-possessive warmth in a counseling environment. Smile and show concern and acceptance by showing comfort, empathy, and understanding to the patient.

In the counseling profession, having knowledge of the theoretical approaches and which ones will be essential based on your standpoint of human nature, problems, and changes for an individual is important. Having a clear understanding of the approaches is key, but the counselor’s knowledge of his or her own principles, life experiences and viewpoints will define how the counselor will effectively perform their job.