Legal and Ethical Practices in Adolescent Counseling
As a 15-yearold “at risk” adolescent, Manual recently reported feeling extreme depression and admitted that he no longer cared about living. In order to provide useful counseling support to Manuel, J. McWhirter, B. McWhirter, E. McWhirter, and R. McWhirter (2013) provide a list of legal and ethical considerations that serve as a guidelines during interventions. These suggestions include counselors’ documenting the incident and any intervention methods, consulting with colleagues in order to provide sound counsel, encouraging staff members to be considerate and professional within their communication, reaching out to the adolescents’ families, and keeping current with professional
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If Manuel’s answers demonstrate imminent danger, emergency services should be called immediately and all information gathered from the initial conversation should be documented.
For the purposes of this paper, an assumption that Manuel is not in immediate danger is made, and he chooses to sign a written contract stating that he will not make any attempt on his life before having another discussion with a counselor. While a written contract cannot guarantee that Manuel will not choose to harm himself during this period, adolescents who sign this type of contract will typically comply. At this point, a follow-up meeting is scheduled, which will allow time to consider the assessment information in formulating the scope of the problem, and provide intervention strategies for Manuel’s continued treatment (McWhirter et al., 2017).
Consultation and Supervision In order to provide Manuel with the best therapeutic approaches, colleagues should be consulted, who are willing to question the intervention strategies from not only a therapeutic perspective, but also keeping in mind ethical and legal guidelines (McWhirter et al., 2013). One method of consultation that is proving to be helpful is the formation of consultations groups who “serve many functions for the clinician, including the development and refinement of therapeutic skills, assistance with case
Allowing for our ethical codes of conduct, if the client is someone we feel we can proceed with, then as always, the first stage would be to develop a good rapport and gain the clients trust to develop an honest and open relationship with them. The client centred approach as always is the best method for this – to put the client at ease in a non-judgemental space where they can express their emotions and explore what it is they want to achieve with therapy. In giving the therapist an
The first thing the therapist needs to do in this situation, beyond the obvious need to form a therapeutic alliance, is determine the lethality Allison’s suicidal intent. This could perhaps be accomplished by administering the Children’s Global Assessment Scale, or CGAS. This is an assessment tool that rates the general mental functioning of minor children, on a scale from 1-100 (Shaffer, 1983). This would have to be the first step, as it poses risk to the client and carries an obvious urgency prohibit lengthy therapeutic visits, depending on the severity of the crisis situation. On the surface, it appears that Allison’s score is within the 40-31 range, due to the history of suicidal attempts and self-cutting. However, a determination is made that Allison did not have “clear lethal intent” (Shaffer, 1983), placing her in the 50-41 range. Because there is no immediate risk of harm, therapy can commence.
Case management services were provided through a face to face meeting in Garden Grove. Present at the meeting were WYP (Wraparound Youth Partner) Andy Ngo and the youth. WYP Ngo contacted the youth via a phone call to inform the youth about the one on one meeting. The youth called WYP Ngo back and informed WYP Ngo, he is walking home. WYP Ngo encouraged the youth to wait for WYP Ngo. WYP Ngo was able to meet with the youth. WYP Ngo updated the youth about the FTM (family team meeting). The youth is not interested in going to counseling. The youth claimed he did not go to school yesterday, because he was feeling sick. The youth informed WYP Ngo, he would rather consult with WYP Ngo than a counselor. WYP Ngo acknowledged the youth’s feelings.
This paper is a response to a video discussing the issues of confidentiality, privilege, reporting, and duty to warn. This paper looks at these issues and their explanations in the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics as well as the Georgia State Board of Professional Counselor’s ethical guidelines and provides a commentary on the laws. It was found that these issues are not always black and white, but there is some debate on these issues. Confidentiality is both an ethical and a legal responsibility yet there are often times when the ethical demands clash with the legal demands. This paper explores some of those crashes and explains what I have learned from the video and the professional and stage guidelines concerning confidentiality and its implications and how I will apply what I have learned into future practice.
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.
Professional associations establish codes of ethics to ensure that clinicians uphold the standards of their association in order to protect the clients they serve and the profession they are affiliated with. This paper will compare the codes of ethics of the American Counseling Association (ACA), American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and National Association of Social Workers (NASW).
There is an ethical duty to report a client of any age when there are reports of suicidal attempts or ideation. Confidentiality is a consideration, but the safety of Angela is the first priority. There is a legal and ethical duty to report if there is a foreseeable harm (Remley, T. P., & Herlihy, B., 2010). A counselor must be knowledgeable of the proper assessments and tools, and should consult other
There are many ethical issues that can arise during counseling. One issue that is fairly common is sexual attraction from patient to counselor, counselor to patient, or even in both directions. Even though an attraction may exist, this does not necessarily mean that these instincts will be followed in any inappropriate way. In fact attraction is a natural part of life and is impossible to avoid. However, any fulfillment of these desires is an unethical act that could not only be in violation of the code of ethics that a counselor is bound by, but it could also subject the counselor and their organization to litigation and legal action.
Counselors need to be guided by the ethical standards set forth by the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics. These standards define ethical conduct in the counseling profession, and provide guidance for maintaining professionalism in any situation. I have become familiar with many of the sections included in the ACA Code of Ethics from the research and assignments completed in this class. Garnering an awareness of the ACA Code of Ethics as it pertains to informed consent, confidentiality, professional responsibility, and resolving ethical issues, has given me confidence to discuss and evaluate the legal issues and ethical obligations associated with this profession. The section regarding professional responsibility of this document resonated with me the most, and elicited a feeling of confidence about counseling ethics and law, that was not present before this class. Professional responsibility sets the tone for everything else we do. As counselors, we must be guided by professionalism and high standards. Standard C.1 of the ACA Code of Ethics (2014) states that counselors have a responsibility to read, understand, and follow the ACA Code of Ethics, and abide by all applicable laws and regulations. While there are a plethora of legal and ethical issues that may arise for professional counselors throughout their careers, I feel that this class has given me a broad overview of how to be proactive and use appropriate decision-making tools to work
Today review evidence-based treatment fashion in Children and adolescents. We will also review new Suicide Prevention guidelines
Video presentation: The video clip was quite interesting I found it to be very educational as to the legal obligations of therapists in the mental health field. There were issues that were brought up that were quite important, such as therapists need to understand confidentiality, privileged information, and a therapists responsibility related to reporting suspected child abuse, elder abuse, and/or suicidal ideations, and possibly the most important of them all is a therapists duty to warn. The first case they were
Ethics of working with adolescents is not simply a response to their conflicts and dilemmas. It involves a complex deliberation of the legal context, as well as the ethical framework, that guides the practice of a healthcare practitioner (Michaud, Berg-Kelly, Macfarlane, & Benaroyo, 2010). Ethical considerations for an adolescent include the important components of duty of care, confidentiality, consent, and mandatory reporting (Sigman, Silber, English, & Epner, 1997).
Knowing when to call for rescue is important to be aware of. If urgent medical help is required a call should be made immediately. Continuing, if someone, as stated in Rock
Counselors can be guided by the professional code of ethics, which are common standards designed to guide professionals through the most common difficulties in practice (Ponton, & Duba, 2009). Ethical principles just guide counselors on the better decision. In other hand, in legal issues counselors are supposed to follow the law. A counselor must be aware of the federal, state, and local legislative bodies laws that concerning children. It is important a counselor know what is the age that a minor become an adult in the state where his practice is located, for example. According to Henderson and Thompson (2011), some states recognize that a minor become an adult at age 18 and in others at age
Ethical issues in a counseling practice lay the foundation of a therapist in practice. Ethics are at the center of how the counseling process functions and operates in a successful manner for the clients who seek help in such a setting. In order for the counseling profession to be ethical and hold professional recognition, there are many facets that need to be examined and outlined to make sure all counselors and practitioners are functioning at the highest level and withholding their duties required by the counseling profession. The first introduction so to speak of the area of ethics also happens to be one of the first steps in counseling, which is the informed consent. The informed consent provides the basis of what happens or will be