This report focuses on ethical issues in relation to a profession of interest. The profession of interest chosen for this report is counselling. This was done through sourcing of relevant documents related to the profession. The potential ethical dilemma (case study) that would be discussed looks at the confidentiality that exists between a counsellor and client. Ethical approaches that were recognized when making decisions in the text would be highlighted.
Introduction
Profession of interest
Counselling occurs when a client and counsellor set aside time in order to look at difficulties which may include trauma and other emotional feeling of the clients. It is a process that helps the clients to see situations clearly from different
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Counselling aims at dealing with and overcoming issues that cause difficulty. During counselling sessions, clients are encouraged to express their feelings and emotions. Counsellors relate in a professional manner to make clients feel a great relief by sharing their fears or concerns and help clients to reach a positive solution. They are trained to listen and focus on the client without judging or criticizing them. Although for counselling to be very effective one factor is very important and must exist between the counsellor and the client and that is (trust). The client must have or build trust over time with a counsellor else sought for another in other to achieve their goals or corrections. Counselling can take place individually, over the phone, by email, or in a group.
Ethical dilemma is a term used to describe a situation of preferences between two options, neither of which solves the situation in an ideal fashion. Making such preferences can be in a professional way which brings about some methods or approaches to find out which decision is best suitable to take or a personal way which is guided in the way an individual sees his or her decision as right. In determining what constitutes ethical dilemma, it is necessary to make a distinction between ethics, values, morals, laws and policies. Ethics are prepositional statements (standards) that are used by members of a profession or group to
When we look at other professions like social workers, housing officers, the emergency services, the police and priests who utilise counselling skills we realise that some of the key concepts that are fundamental to the counselling profession are not their main priority. If such people were to introduce themselves as counsellors their clients may be under the impression that such things as confidentiality will be upheld. An example is the work of doctors, social workers, nurses and carers, in these types of professions advise is given to the client as to what to do and what not to do, medication is administered to the client whereas in the case of counselling especially with
The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions provides the foundations and guidelines for ethical understanding and good practice in counselling work. This enables a counsellor to practice safely in private practice or within an agency. Different agencies may work with other frameworks, for instance the National Counselling Society (NCS), who support counselling and related therapies, and are closely linked with the NHS. (Nationalcounsellingsociety.org). The BACP framework can’t inform a counsellor of specific rights or wrongs, but outlines the values, principles and moral qualities that a counsellor should adhere to, which helps with guidance and ethical decision making and safeguarding client and counsellor. (BACP, 2015)
I understand counselling to be a helping practice that differs from other helping activities, such as teaching for example. Counselling requires professional training and is specifically contracted or explicitly agreed. It has a theoretical base and uses specific methods within an ethical framework. The relationship between the counsellor and the client is built upon mutual expectation and is central to the process of the client under-going significant change in their lives.
Before a counselling session starts it is important that the client understands confidentiality. To be able to understand this the counsellor must explain to the client that anything they say within the
In everyday life people experience difficulties and problems that they feel they are not able to deal with on their own and need help with. The help that people receive to overcome their problems can be in many different forms. People may receive help in an informal way, such as having a chat to a close friend or relative, who can offer support and advice or they may seek help in a more formal capacity from various helping professionals, such as counsellors, social workers, psychiatrists, doctors, etc. For all of these professionals it is their
In this assignment I intend to define ‘counselling skills and knowledge’ and then show how I actively employ these qualities during my everyday life. These include informal helping interactions with family and friends, in a supervisory capacity at work and during skills practice sessions as part of my counselling course. Finally I’ll analyse the effects that these helping interactions have on me personally and the various ways in which I deal with those effects.
The process involved in establishing a counselling relationships includes many factors to ensure that a client feels safe and comfortable with a counsellor to explore his or her feelings with them.
Counselling is a process of assisting individuals go through worries and difficulties, (Geldard and Geldard 2012). Consequently, many people strive for counselling help when they cannot handle issues or sometimes when they require expert support to provide
One the other hand, ethical dilemmas are circumstances where an individual has to decide what to do. The right choice may be difficult because of the scarifies involved or it may be unclear. Dilemmas usually happens when a person struggles with making a personal decision, where ethical issues may be a topic the person has an opinion about but doesn’t have a chance to make a stand that impacts the decision (Slade, & Prinsloo,
A counsellor focuses of many things during sessions. The core conditions that all therapists should have are empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruency. The relationship between the client and therapist is confidential and formal.
Counselling skills are shown in a clearer way through one-to-one sessions as the counsellor enables the client to understand that they will not be judged and will be respected throughout their period of time with their counsellor (Nelson-Jones, 2015). This helps the client to openly talk about their feelings and gain the ability to recognise their own emotions. In the same way, structured counselling would be useful for the client in the case study. By the client being able to talk freely about what she is experiencing, will help her to reflect on the causes of this and gain a sense of understanding and control over her emotions. Additionally, a more structured style of counselling will help to build her communication skills and develop socially (Chiaramonte and Mills, 1993). For the reason that face-to-face counselling gives individuals the chance to understand and recognise their own emotions and, by talking freely about this with someone who is actively listening will build confidence in communication. Also, due to the client having difficulty trusting people, she may not have the self-assurance to express herself to a stranger. Therefore, this style would be most beneficial for the client discussed, due to counsellors being
Ethical Dilemma (noun) a choice between two options, both of which will bring a negative result based on society and personal guidelines. Everyone encounters ethical dilemmas it is the reaction to the ethical dilemma that defines their character. For me I think a person 's ethics and values really show who they are as a person and their character
Ethics are a very important thing to consider in the field of psychology. As potential future researchers and counselors, it is critical for us to know the ethical guidelines that we must live by and practice. Without any form of ethical guidelines, there would be no sense of security or safety inside of the workplace. We would not be able to provide our clients with the professional treatment that they deserve and are paying for.
Name; Adnan KhanMBA 3 semester 2016-18Group BAssignment No; III ANS No 1: MY OWN UDERSTANDING ABOUT ETHICAL DILEMMAS;Ethical Dilemma is a situation created by three conditions. The first condition is when an “Agent” must make a decision about which is best course of action. If there is no choice in a situation then it is not a Dilemma. For example if in internship students are under the supervision of a social work field instructor. Since there is no choice in this situation therefore this will not be an ethical dilemma if students do discussions with the supervisor.The second situation for ethical dilemma is that there are many courses of action from which we have to choose the best one.The third situation in ethical dilemma is that there
The problems and dilemmas of professional ethics have always existed and have been a complicated subject of discussions. It should be pointed out that relationships between a counselor and a client in some cases can cause ethical issues. The first situation covers the problem of both platonic and sexual relationships between the counselor and his client. The second situation reflects the question of sexual relationships between the counselor and client’s relatives.