Goal #1: Learn and practice the ethical standards of my profession. Use of Stren¬gths: 1. Prudence: I’m interested in becoming a counselor. The most important ethical standard for the counseling profession is confidentiality. I will use my prudence by not sharing personal information about future clients, unless the clients are a danger to themselves and/or other people. The client¬¬s who will share information with me are being vulnerable and I should be kind enough to respect them and their privacy. 2. Fairness: Another ethical standard in counseling involves refraining from being disrespectful to a client because of their attitudes, beliefs, and cultural values. It takes courage to sit across from a counselor. To honor the courage of clients, …show more content…
Kindness: I like to do volunteer work. It not only benefits the people I’m helping, but it also benefits me because of how happy it makes me feel. I will use my kindness by continuing to be involved with volunteer work for as long as I possibly can. 2. Perseverance: Several of the places that I have volunteered at have required me to do an interview and go through training. This stuff seems tedious, but I realize it's important and needs to be done. I will use my perseverance by following through with the requirements to become a volunteer at the places I choose to donate my time to. Goal #3: Take time during the week to practice self-care. 1. Self-Regulation: I volunteer at the Agora Crisis Center. The volunteer work that I do on a weekly basis definitely brings up negative feelings for me. I feel positive things, too! It’s nice to provide a listening ear to others, especially when they really need one. There’s always at least one story that sticks with me at the end of each shift, where I wish I could take away the suffering that some people experience. I need to take care of myself because being in the right state of mind is very important when a person volunteers at a crisis center. I will use my self-regulation to keep in tune with how I feel at the end of each shift and act accordingly to remind myself that there are good things in the
What was most useful to me was the Ethical boundary worksheet. This worksheet took me through a systematic process of identifying my professional and personal boundary weaknesses and strengths and how they related to my personal/emotional responses throughout my life. The attraction portion of the exercise compelled me to take an in-depth and personal view of what are my primary influences toward this topic. Finally, it provided me a freedom to formulate an awareness plan of action for future reference as it pertains to my professional development.
Do you believe the ethical standards in America are generally increasing or decreasing? Give four specific reasons to support your answer.
lawyer, how do we know if he is not like that towards other clients and judges. I understand that people get emotional when things like divorce and custody arises and things can get out of hand, but in this case, I feel he went a little overboard only thinking about himself and not considering the consequences this all had on his ex wife and minor child. He was definitely unprofessional and even one of the judges said “ if someone asks me what vexatious litigation looks like, the former husband's various filings in this divorce case, especially his antics in these post judgment proceedings, are an excellent example” (Judge Farmer, 1997). Judges and lawyers have a higher standard to go by, if this type of action is not tolerated when representing a client, then it definitely should not be tolerated by a lawyer in his own case.
The 2014 ACA Code of Ethics provides structure that protects clients. Responsibilities that counselors to be aware of is avoid imposing their own values, attitudes and beliefs on clients (Ethics, 2014). Developing a relationship with clients requires providing counseling in a culturally sensitive manner (Ethics, 2014). Counselors respect the diversity of clients take measures to ensure that they are not of risk of imposing their values onto clients (Ethics, 2014).
To have good ethical practice within counselling it is important that there are boundaries and contracts in place that are agreed to and understood by both the counsellor and the client.
Boundaries and ethics are very important to know whether you a counselor, coach, pastor, and so on because there are limitations in what you can do and say. Almost everywhere you go a business, organization, church, etc. has a Code of Ethics to follow. Having a Code of Ethics in place is to protect the coach and the client to create professional boundaries that can help build a professional relationship. The American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) has very strong approach on how a coach should have professional boundaries with their clients. Having Code of ethic or professional boundaries is important to understanding before you meet your client so you and the client can have a proper environment during your time together. When
The importance of following both the ethical guidelines and legal standards for counselors is of the upmost importance. Both the ethical and legal considerations are put into place to not only protect the client but the counselor as well. Have a code of ethics or set ethical standards helps to validate and give credibility to the mental health profession (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2014). The ACA or American Counseling Association (2014) Code of Ethics A.4.a. states that counselors are to avoid harming their clients.
I believe that it is extremely important to help others, and this also provides an appreciation for the people around you. I make sure to participate in a service project at least once a month to give back to the community. For example, I take part in Animal Anti-Cruelty every month. By helping animals in animal shelters, I can aid the animals that give people so much joy. Benefitting the community enables you to reflect on your own actions and how to further help others, and it is fun to take part in helping causes that I am passionate about.
Professionalism is one of the most important aspects of counseling. Lacking professionalism may potentially cause harm to the client. In my opinion, professionalism begins and ends with the code of ethics. I feel that if you abide by the code of ethics you have nothing worry about regarding professionalism. The code of ethics summarizes the standards of integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality. A counselor is supposed to abide by the legal and moral standards of the community (Grold, 1996). All professionals should dress
To have good ethical practice within counselling it is important that there are boundaries and contracts in place that are agreed to and understood by both the counsellor and the client.
Volunteering to me didn’t seem very pleasing at first. My focus was simply getting the hours I needed to make my resume look good. However, my perspective changed when I began getting involved with the various activities of the community. I enjoyed helping and serving others, seeing the positive impact I made gave me a great satisfaction. Thankfully, I have volunteered in many areas, however there are a few organizations in which I have invested more time and effort.
As a counselor, the clients that come to receive services will generally be experiencing a tough time in in their lives. The intent of a counselor should be to see them through this time and help them overcome the hardship. A majority of the information they share will be not only be expected, but required to stay confidential. Summers (2014), informs her readers that “confidentiality is both an ethical principle and a legal right” (p. 47). Many individuals feel a sense of comfort knowing that the information they share with counselors will remain between them. Without this, many clients would potentially not feel comfortable enough to share some of the intense personal feelings or experiences they are dealing with.
As a counsellor I have an obligation to follow professional standards and apply appropriate behaviour defined by mental health associations. The purpose of this is to prevent harm to clients as well as to define my own professional values.
My commitment to volunteering at Mother Joseph’s Care Center is for no reason other than the fact that I love the patients who live there. One of my biggest responsibilities at Mother Joseph’s is helping with resident’s outings and making sure that they all are safe and happy on their day exploring the city. Every day that I go in to work, I can see their faces brighten up because they know that I am there to take them to do something fun. Because I have been volunteering there for almost 7 years now, the
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.