Professional Counselors : Ethics, And Maryland 's Board Regulations

Directions: Read the scenarios below. For each scenario, provide a 75-150 word response to each question. Use the ACA and NAADAC Codes of Ethics and other scholarly resources to support your responses. You must provide at least one citation to support your response for each scenario. Though APA format is not required for your answers, citations and references should be presented in accordance with APA guidelines.

The American Counseling Association and the American Mental Health Counselors Association Codes of Ethics both provide guidance and direction in making ethical decisions for their members (ACA, 2005) (AMHCA, 2010). Both the ACA and the AMHCA Codes of Ethics cover a wide range of moral and ethical situations that could present themselves to mental health professionals. Both of these codes of ethics have significant impacts on the counseling profession. The tools provided by these codes of ethics ensure that mental health professionals are able to conform to the regulations set forth. They address common concerns from varying points of view. Understanding these codes of ethics is essential to all mental

It goes without saying that at some point in a counselor career, he or she can expect to be faced with an ethical dilemma. Ethical decisions are rarely easy to arrive at, as the dilemmas a counselor is faced with can be very complex

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).

Professional counselors and their staff are exposed to sensitive client information and records. The helpful receptionist and whose privilege videos, show how to apply both the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics (ACA Code of Ethics) and state board counseling laws to common ethical scenarios. The content explores aspects designed to call attention to favorable and unfavorable skills and techniques in handling such matters. These two videos demonstrate the limitations of confidentiality and privileged information. As a professional counselor one is expected to uphold the principles of confidentiality and privilege according to the ACA Code of Ethics and state laws. One may conclude that the helpful receptionist video shows clear violations of confidentiality. While the whose privilege video indicates the significance of insuring that counselors comprehend state laws and ethics codes pertaining to confidentiality and privilege. Furthermore, counseling professionals are held accountable for violating ethics codes and state laws as well as training staff on informed consent.

Regarding step 4, while there are no laws which pertain to this particular case as it does not involve a sexual relationship, but there are regulations and professional standards one must adhere to. Step 4 and step 5 are closely related and are the crux of this ethical dilemma. Ethics codes of all major mental health associations mandate that therapists/supervisors

Counseling takes many different roads in the direction of improving a client’s mental health. These roads all lead to a common goal, but the therapist must be diligent in the direction chosen. A code of ethics provides the parameters for proper and effective treatment and boundaries protect the process of healing. Understanding how these two critical components interweave into this process aids in the conceptual framework of therapy. It may become necessary to expand upon and even cross the theoretical aspect of a boundary in order to stimulate the process of helping the client, but by no means shall these boundaries be violated. The Royal College of Psychologists (2013) compare professional boundaries to that of guardrails at the Grand Canyon, providing the visitor a safe area to enjoy the view with minimal risk of harm. Though the therapist’s boundaries can be much more flexible than a guardrail as it involves the process of therapy, some aspects such as sexual contact as an example are just as unyielding. Utilization of ethical treatment keeps the counselor on the path with clear direction and out of harm’s way for both the client and the therapist. The substance abuse therapist must become intimately familiar with the definition and application appearance of boundary crossing versus boundary violation and how a code of ethics model successful treatment for the substance user.

There are several ethical dilemmas that the mental health professionals that are working as a team will face including “ensuring that the client has given informed consent, maintaining client confidentiality, and involving professionals, paraprofessionals, and family in appropriate coordinated processes that benefit the client” (Paproski & Haverkamp, 2000, p.96).

The ACA Code of Ethics states, “when counselors are faced with ethical dilemmas that are difficult to resolve, they are expected to engage in a carefully considered ethical decision-making process,” (ACA, 2014, p. 3). Throughout these three case studies, I will use the seven-step ethical decision-making model to address the important professional issues, relevant ethical codes, and legal standards (Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996). By applying the steps to each case I will share how I came to my resolutions.

According to the ACA code of ethics (A.4.b.) counselors need to be aware of their values and avoid imposing them onto their client (American Counseling Association, 2014). Counselors may find this difficult when their religious or own personal values do not match those of their client. For example, the counselor who was seeing a family where the father was abusing his wife. The counselor after a session was beginning to let her own personal values take over and wanted to refer the family to a different counselor. However, after discussing with a colleague she began to see the father's side of things and realized the transition from a Middle Eastern Country to the United States would be difficult due to the two cultures

There are numerous ethical issues a counselor must confront during their work; dual relationships and confidentiality being two of them and are going to be discussed here. Both are important to both the client and the profession, as they set the expectations for how counselors are to act professionally (Miller, 2015). Ethical principles “direct the moral and value-based decisions that affect the counseling process” (p. 557). Without them, the profession lacks these moral and value-based directives and the ship that is “addiction counseling” has no rudder. It is directionless and adrift.

Lying on the Couch by Irvin D. Yalom has been both entertaining and interesting from a counseling standpoint in that it provides a scandalous and as was in most of the cases, a look at what could go wrong if ethics in a clinical counseling setting go awry. Following the characters of Seymour Trotter, Earnest Lash, and Marshal Streider in working with their clients and with each other the ethical lessons to be learned become obviously apparent, if not emotionally painful. Although, numerous issues arise throughout the book, there were at least three that will be covered within the context of this writing. In consideration of each of these ethical breaches there will be dialog on the nature of the ethical issue or violation, where the ACA ethical code applies, ramifications of the ethical issue or violation on both parties, and application of Kitchener?s five primary ethical principles that were involved or violated. In addition, the justification offered by the characters in the book for their actions or considered actions, application to the situation in the setting of Clinical Mental Health counseling, and indication of personal response to the situation presented. Understanding that the use of these ethical principles and considerations as they apply in counseling are unequivocally valuable tools in helping a practitioner in working with clients to make comprehensive decisions that will not create conflict within their ethical parameters and are aligned with the laws

Sexual intimacies are another area in which similarities and differences can be observed between the two codes of ethics. Both codes of ethics prohibit sexual and romantic relationships between counselors and clients. Sections A.5.a and A.5.b of the ACA code of ethics clearly state this (American Counseling Association, 2005, p 5). This is also clearly stated in section 1-131 of the AACC code of ethics (AACC Law and Ethics Committee, 2004, p 8.). At this point, it is necessary to point out differences between these two codes of ethics in this regards. The AACC guideline clearly forbids sexual and romantic relationships with former clients but provides an exception as stated in section 1-133 where possible marriage is involved (AACC Law and Ethics Committee, 2004, p 8). On the other hand,

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.

In the mental health profession of counseling, therapy, psychology, psychiatric and social services ethical dilemmas are faced primarily on a daily basis. Being that mental health professionals are working with clients who are often fragile and vulnerable, they must develop an intense awareness of ethical issues. On the other hand, mental health professionals would never intentionally harm their clients, students or colleagues and others whom they work with. Unfortunately, good intentions are not enough to ensure that wrong doings will not occur and mental health professionals have no choice but to make ethically determined decisions. Depending upon the experience and expertise of the professional determines the outcome of the ethical