Ethical Issues in Counseling

The differences between the ethical standards for clients being treated by psychologists in counseling sessions and the standards for conducting psychological research with human participants are based on the rules and regulations within the given setting. Counseling and research sessions are two different structured methods within psychology. From my understanding, I acknowledge research as a way to discover and identify a certain situation or issue with a person or a group of participants. Therapy, on the other hand, is used to treat a person with their emotional, social, and mental issues in life. After a research study, a person could be directed to seek help in a therapy session.

Once a therapist enters into a dual relationship with their clients, feelings of mistrust, unhealthy attachment, and exploitation are common. In a survey conducted by the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, a group of various females who admitted to having sexual contact with their therapists/ psychiatrists were interviewed and given a questionnaire to measure their self-esteem, depression, attitudes, and psychosomatic/psychological assumptions. The results showed that the women ranging from ages 26-45 developed a strong mistrust and anger toward these health care professionals (Feldman-Summers & Jones, 1984). This study demonstrated how much influence a therapist has on their client and shows that the bond between therapist and client is delicate and needs to be treated with both respect and understanding. “Sexual boundary violations are considered the most serious ethical infraction in the mental health profession, as well as in higher education and pastoral counseling. Recognized as unethical due to the power imbalance inherent in the structure of the therapist-patient and teacher-student dyads, erotic contact between therapists and patients has been revealed in prevalence studies to occur at an unacceptably high incidence rate (9 to 12 per cent) among mental health practitioners” (Czlenza, 2007). The imbalance of power when there is a sexual relationship present can be extremely damaging to

Ethical dilemmas will be a constant as we embark into the field of counseling. Whenever human beings are involved there are a range of personality types, beliefs and characteristics that are involved. There are many views of counseling but it is very important to have a world view which captures the gamet of individuals. To be a professional counselor it is important to first know who you are, what your motivations are and morals. A counselor has many roles; they provide guidance, structure, spiritual guidance and counseling. The counselor has a huge respionsibility which includes making clear unbiased judgements, listening without persuading, acountability for

Given that the counselor never revealed her personal counseling practice policy of not keeping individual secrets in couple’s therapy in addition to her failure to include that exception in her informed consent document, deems this to be unethical. In addition to the counselor breaking confidentiality of an individual session by stating the said content of the affair in the next couple’s session. According to the APA Standards 3.10 and 10.01, informed consent and informed consent to therapy, the counselor should inform the clients as early as feasible in the therapeutic relationship about the nature and anticipated course of therapy, which should also include personal and professional policies such as keeping individual secrets in couple’s

Unfortunately, some mental health counselors may engage in behaviors that do not benefit the client and eventually lead to harm. Mental health counselors are required to refrain from entering dual relationships possess the possibility of impairing the professional judgment of the mental health counselors and increases the risk of harm to the client. Mental health counselors need to be aware of the potential intimacy of the counseling relationship and avoid and abstain from actions or behaviors in which the mental health counselors gains from the relationship at the expense of their client such as romantic relationships with the client or any member of their family (AMCHA, 2015). Mental health counselors may also encounter situations in which their religious and cultural values conflict with the values of their clients or the ethical standards. When the counselor's personal values interfere with the counseling process it becomes an ethical issue and may harm the

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.

D-Met with the patient as she was placed on HOLD to address her AWOLs. According to the patient, she had overslept on 07/31/2016 & 08/02/2016. This writer informed the patient about the risk of missing a dose and the patient signed a AWOL notice. The patient is aware that if it happens again, she will receive a treatment violation. According to the patient, she says, " I will make sure to set my alarm to make sure I get here to dose.......Charlene, I relapse, man.....I did not use heroin, but I used cocaine." When asked how much, the patient did not want to disclose as to how much and only says, " Not a lot....I felt bad about it, but you right...I missed my dose and felt sick." This writer rescheduled the patient's appointment as she was unable to stay for a full counseling session today. Next appointment is scheduled on 08/2/2016 at 11:30am.

In the counseling profession, situations may be come about in the areas of ethical, professional, or legal concerns. New Counselors can become frustrated by the lack of dilemmas they can face in the field of mental health. Counselors must take into consideration the ethical, professional, and legal considerations they can or may encounter. Counselors use the ACA guide as rule book of professional standards of moral duty and obligation. The Ethics guide provides a frame work that centers on the counselor’s conduct in their work, accountability, and professionalism. The codes are written in broad terms to serve as starting point for making decisions in the professional field.

Dual relationships play a big part in the counseling environment. Unfortunately, they transpire without notice but once those lines are crossed, it is ultimately the counselor’s responsibility to ensure proper guidelines are being followed so the client is not being exploited. Guidelines are generally adhered to if the counselor maintains professional distance and recognize the boundaries that are set in place. If the client is exploited, the counselor is faced with the task of fixing the problem and not leaving the client to find his or her way out of this situation. In all likelihood, could result in the patient having a bad experience with counseling, the counselor’s reputation being ruined, or a complaint being filed of which the counselor has to appear before the state licensing board, or in court.

Counselors at the onset of the therapeutic relationship can set boundaries in order to avoid harming the client. The boundaries may be indicated at the beginning of a counseling so the client may understand the counseling process and the limitations. Counselors that fail to wait five years to date or have a sexual relationship with a client can do more damage to a client thus leading to malpractice. According to Deng et al. (2016), counselors have the power to compel their clients to give sexual services or through the client's lack of knowledge of counseling. In this case, the counselor would be taking advantage of a client to satisfy their own needs by putting the client and themselves in danger. Furthermore, counselors that abuse their power

People who work as counselors must obey the laws of ethics. It would be terribly unprofessional to share other people’s problems and confer them with a third party. The individual’s intimacy must remain with the counselor only, so if you choose to share it with a professional, he must never tell other people about it.

During this week, there were two events that took place that awaken my awareness of how dangerous the counseling profession is if one doesn’t pay close attention to clients/patients and follow all rules and regulations (state, federal, ethical). There was a patient admitted to the floor that was extremely agitated in the ED. He was found “dangling” off a local bridge and brought in TDO by the police. The patient slept for the first few hours after being admitted to the floor from the ED. When he woke up, he was agitated and began to pace the floor. There was another patient, a 4 foot 9 female, that had been verbally aggressive towards other patients and staff. While the male patient was pacing the floor, the female patient was verbally aggressive towards another patient and the male patient assumed she was talking to him. He immediately became physically aggressive towards the patient by lifting her and slightly throwing her against the wall. At that moment, the staff called the appropriate code for security to arrive. Once security arrived, he became even more

For over the last sixty years according to our text, Ethics in Counseling and Psychotherapy, it has been evident that participation in counseling and psychotherapy proves to be an effective intervention for relieving emotional distress, improving interpersonal relationships, and increasing overall general satisfaction with life (Welfel, 2016). However, when a patient feels their life is coming to an end, whether because of detrimental physiological or geriatric concerns, clinical counseling professionals will have to face personal moral and ethical issues that will arise. Personally, working in clinical counseling, I will inevitably be faced with clients that might have suicidal tendencies or have thought out rational suicide while being

This paper is going to discuss the ethical considerations when working with a person that has disabilities. Being ethical is a must for any professional. If you want to be successful, you have to have good ethics. When being in a field like mental health, ethics are almost taken to another level. Being ethical not only helps the professional keep their job, but it helps the client through therapy as well. When counseling clients, counselors will come across a wide variety of clients and problems/difficulties that they may have. Some of these difficulties are actual disorders and disabilities that they are going to be living with for the rest of their lives so their therapy is crucial to help them function daily. There are several different

A principle put to paper over 2,000 years ago and credited to Hippocrates; nonmaleficence has become the ethical foundation of any form of professional treatment in the modern age (Edelstein, 1943). Although boundary crossing has risks I believe the capacity to do harm in this case hinges on the competence of the counselor. As I read I came to the conclusion intentional self-disclosure is an art that must be mastered. The well-being of the client is the primary consideration, however, there are also considerations of timing, the developmental need of the client, and the counselor’s ability to craft a disclosure that leaves no room to open additional doors. Although it may be counterintuitive disclosing one’s orientation to someone who feels alone in their sexuality does have possible negative consequences. An emotionally vulnerable client who is struggling with being gay may develop an attraction to a therapist who shares their orientation and is the same sex. If the counselor is not attuned to this development the client could confuse the counselor’s disclosure with their availability or receptiveness to the attraction. A therapist who discloses but is not aware of an attraction that is developing, meaning it goes unprocessed, has tremendous potential to do damage in the context of therapy. Additionally, if the therapist is taken by surprise and rejects the advances of a vulnerable client without care it could have unintentional detrimental effects on the counselor-client