Summary And Response : Module 3

As a counselor, I need to accept my client without being judgmental during a therapy session. I understand we have different values and we might not agree with each other and I should not make my client feel uncomfortable. I will not use my own personal values towards my clients. I will make sure to incorporate empathy because the client needs to feel that they are being understood and trust. Empathy helps build a strong relationship and helps clients feel comfortable and trust the counselor; I will make sure that I treat my clients with dignity and respect. Professional Identity can also be incorporated in my counseling relationship because I will make sure I used the code of ethics with my clients and stay professional at all times. I will make sure I provide a good supported treatment for my client. I will use my best practice to help my client achieve their

Capuzzi and Gross (2013) say there is a continual struggle for professional identity. One issue is whether counseling will develop as a united profession or as separate specialties. Other issues are multicultural counseling and social justice issues also, the organizational structure of the American Counseling Association (ACA). Remley and Herlihy (2015) address confusion about accreditation of specialties and varying state licensure and certification requirements for the Council for Accreditation and of Counseling and Counseling Related Educational Programs

As individuals, we are diverse based on the background, experience, ability, race, language, etc. which impact the lens through which we view others and ourselves. As diverse individual, we may belong to dominant or non- dominant groups. Thus, either we have power and privilege or we experience discrimination and oppression. Further, we are shelled with diversity, ethnicity, and multiculturalism issues. Counselors have some ethical primary responsibilities to respect the dignity and promote the welfare of the client (A.1.a), “honoring diversity and embracing a multicultural approach in support of the worth, dignity” and “promoting social justice” (Herlihy & Corey, 2014, p. 3)

When speaking with my client he made mention of the fact that in all his years of practicing this past decade has been where the highest emphasis on cultural sensitivity has been made. He noted that as a white middle age male, he had had to learn new things about himself to be able to overcome preconceived notions and biases that he may have held without knowing. Cultuaral sensitivity is very important in trating cllients. Since behavior is culturally relative, when a counselor is competent, he or she would understand the context of the clients thought or behaviors within their given culture. It also promotes a better relationship between the counselor and the client as the client begins to truly trust that the counselor sees him/her as a unique individual and not just another stereotype. Another professional issue that comes up in the counseling setting is the core witness status. In the interview with David, he remarks that he has rarely been subpoenaed to testify in court even though he deals with a love of adolescents from the juvenile system. He however did mention that the times he had been subpoenaed were for civil and not criminal

The AASECT ethical code that I can relate to the most is competence and integrity. Competence and integrity relates to a counselor’s responsibility for the consequences of their acts, by commission or omission, and making reasonable efforts for provision of all professional services in an adequate and appropriate manner (Long, Burnett, & Thomas, 2006). As human sexuality counselors, I believe that it is critical for us to maintain client’s confidentiality by ensuring the information obtained from clients is used for counseling purposes only and is kept private and confidential. This can only be done through competent practice and maintenance of professional integrity.

There are three core goals leading a counselor to become culturally competent, which include awareness of personal biases, understanding and acknowledging the worldviews of individuals from all cultures, and developing appropriate techniques and interventions by using specific skills and strategies. Becoming aware of ones own biases is essential for changing ones perspective. Being aware of Ones of biases allows the individual to rewire their thinking patterns and unattached previous assumptions. A cultural competent counselor will actively understand the worldviews of all individuals from different cultures. Research is a key fundamental when educating ones self about culture. A culturally competent counselor will accept clients for who they are and perceive them without judgment. Cultural competent counselors will create innovative techniques and interventions depending upon the client’s culture. Counselors must function with clients as a team to optimize growth and development of the client. Together, the counselor and the client can find new strategies and interventions that work effectively. Becoming culturally competent is an important goal for counselors and throughout the profession counselors will strive to achieve

“Standard 2.01(a) requires psychologists to “provide services, teach, and conduct research with populations and in areas only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, consultation, study, or professional experience” (Shiles, 2009). Counselors should remain inside their span of training, be mindful of the restrictions of his/her licensed expertise, be present at essential education programs and maintain their learning, use his/her own common sense, and be able to identify when referrals should be made. It should be the disposition of counselors to always value the mixture of their clientele, novices, and study partakers. The ACA Code of Ethics (2005) section A.4.b. Personal Values states, “Counselors are aware of their own values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors and avoid imposing values that are inconsistent with counseling goals” (Kaplan, 2014).

The overarching goal as an effective and competent counselor is the ability and knowledge to integrate ethical codes into ones professional practice (Kocet, 2006). Therefore, this ethics paper will explore the topics of ethics as it is within groups as compared to ethics regarding individual counseling. Ethical decisions are those pertaining to the overarching moral principles, such as doing good for others which is termed beneficence and to do no harm which is no maleficence in ethical terms (Rapin, 2004). Furthermore, it is imperative to know the two central components of ethics for counselors, which is first to outline the prescribed or mandatory professional behaviors by which counselors are expected to govern their conduct and secondly to know that a code contains aspirational components, which encourages active ethical beliefs of the profession (Kocet, 2006). However, no code of ethics can encompass every potential ethical dilemma faced by a professional but a code of ethics does serve as a blueprint for laying down the foundation that is necessary to promote the competency and efficacy of counselors (Kocet, 2006).

Our counseling history and Ethical Code we practice by demand that counselors take personal responsibility to ensure equality for all. Sweeney (2001) calls for counselors to model concern and

Ongoing efforts to remedy inequities in counseling practices continue. One way is to train multiculturally competent counselors who are aware that a “one size fits all” approach is not effective for a diverse population of clients (Gerig, 2014). The American Psychological Association created a task force focused on

According to Galileo, nature is “immutable”, unchanging over time, and she “cares not a whit whether her abstruse reasons and methods are understandable to men”. Alternatively, the Bible, in order to “accommodate the understanding of everyman” is subject to interpretation “so as the bare meaning of the words is concerned”. Puzzling as both can be, new discoveries in nature may refute the theories of the Bible. It is dangerous to apply Bible scriptures to science because that would then limit the meanings of the scriptures. The Bible is based on limited and often theoretical conjecture and using passages taken from it to which are, perhaps not understood properly, are inappropriate and “ill-suited to their purposes”, as it is possible for the “Bible [to]…speak untruth”. Irrefutable evidence of the Sun and Earth’s movements was not available when the Bible was originally composed. Galileo thought it was self-serving of those in the church to condemn his findings, by “showing a great fondness for their own

(TCO 1, 2, 3, 4) Identify the seven basic principles put forth in the American Sociological Association’s Code of Ethics. Choose three of these principles, and anticipate how a researcher might encounter controversy by abiding by these principles

Another beneficial theme of the book is values and the helping profession. A therapists’ values are part of who they are and it is difficult to ignore them. A complicated issue counselors have is keeping their values from influencing the client and realizing that their task is to help clients identify their beliefs and apply their values to solving problems (Corey et al., 2010). A good point made in this book was for a therapist and client to clarify their values. This way they both have an understanding of each other’s values and could be able to recognize when value imposition is occurring. If value conflicts are occurring during therapy it would be a good idea to refer the client to someone who can better understand where the client is coming from. If referral is the only way, then perhaps the counselor should explore their values and involvement in therapy.

Counselor education programs (CEPs) prepare students to serve as competent clinicians who are capable of working with different populations (e.g., substance abuse or mental health) in an array of clinical settings (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs [CACREP], 2015). Many CEPs begin with focus on knowledge-based material and offer relevant course work to address identified areas of competencies such as ethics and multicultural sensitivity. CEPs then integrate the skills based component that has an emphasis on providing supervised practicum/internship experiences (CACREP, 2015). During practicum and internship, counselors-in-training, referred to here as supervisees, start the process of linking knowledge to skills by working clients with real clinical concerns.

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.