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Ethical Issues Within The Field Of The Counseling Profession

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Introduction
“In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost” –Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ethics as the rules of behavior based on ideas of what is morally good and bad. According to Webster ethics is also defined as the principles of conduct governing an individual or group. Almost every profession abides by certain rules and regulations that protects not only the professional but the client or patient that the profession serves. These rules and regulations guide the professional and try and prevent decisions that might be detrimental to both parties. These rules and regulations are designed to protect the interests of the clients and avoid malpractice lawsuits of certain degrees. This research paper will concentrate on ethical issues in the field of the counseling profession. Even though Licensed Professional Counselors go through rigorous training courses and ethics training occurs at almost every counseling subject’s introduction, there are still counseling malpractice incidents. Most of the literature explains that most challenges professional counselors face occur when their professional code of ethics conflict with their own personal values. Most recently, legal cases such as Keeton vs. Anderson-Wiley, 2010 and Ward vs. Willbanks, 2010 have brought the counseling profession into the limelight. Most LPC do not view the ACA code of ethics as simple

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