The Is The Ethical Foundation Of Any Form Of Professional Treatment

The purpose of this paper is to explore various considerations when counseling members of the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender community (LGBT). When counseling LGBT members, the psychology professional must be aware of various factors that may influence effective treatment. For instance, the historical treatment of the LGBT community by the mental health profession is important to understand in order to make strides at improving institutional attitudes and approaches. Other factors such as community perceptions, interfamily relations and cultural bias are all relevant to successful therapeutic outcomes. This paper aims to discuss these factors in order to present a comprehensive review of the cultural considerations involved with counseling the LGBT community.

It’s very likely that LGBTQ youth are not able to get the help in school which causes them to have low self-esteem, not show up to school, and even engage in risky behavior. School psychologists must provide services for their entire student body and that includes youth apart of the LGBTQ community. Regardless of what their beliefs are it’s important that they give LGBTQ youth the support that they need and also help them work towards a positive identity while going the process of coming out. To assist LGBTQ youth with the decision of coming out, school therapists must create an environment that is conducive to trust, provide resources that will educate and foster empathy, and great care must be given to the type of therapy.

Each day, men, women and children are put behind bars suffer from lack of access to medical health care. Chronic illnesses go untreated, emergencies are ignored, and patients with serious illnesses fail to receive needed care. A small failure to medical care can turn in to death of an inmate if left untreated. Prisoners are humans whether inmates or not, with normal health issues or diseases. Even a common cold is an example of an illness that needs treatment. A lot with what is wrong with the health care system today, in the United States deals with money. Within prisons, it is an entire different story. The mission of medical care is to diagnose, comfort and cure. These goals are not being achieved within the prison system. Care needs to be given to every inmate, even the most despised and violent one among them all.

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

A counselor’s primary goal is to have integrity, while also having the client’s well-being as a priority. While competency is the most important factor in professional counseling, a level of trust needs to be met between the client and the counselor. When a client has full confidence that the counselor will maintain confidentiality, the counselor’s integrity has been established and the client can being to open up more to the counselor, establishing better tools for increasing mental health (Sanders, et. al., 2013, p. 263). Sexual identity therapy is also a potential means of.

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.

Sanders’ book, Christian Counseling Ethics: A Handbook for Psychologists, Therapist, and Pastors, the author speaks of the care and treatment of the sexual minority client. Over time, researchers have found a few areas of concern, regarding the counseling profession. With attempts to assist those wanting to change their sexual orientation, the American Counseling Association ethics committee, noted issues related to competence. The committee, released a statement, reminding counselors to respect client autonomy, the client’s overall welfare, and to keep in mind when reorientation request was made for reorientation therapy, that the counselor must be competent to provide therapy (Sanders, R. K, 2013 p.257). There is much controversy surrounded around the issue of sexual orientation therapy and data provided. Dr. Robert L. Spitzer completed a study on 143 men and 57 women. All of whom identified themselves as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Many of these subjects had been through a hundred plus episodes of reorientation therapy. The study stated, religious beliefs was the reason most gave for seeking reorientation therapy. The American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation, concluded that helpful aspects of reorientation therapy could be achieved through affirmative treatment methods while avoiding potential harms that may be associated with reorientation therapy. N.C, Cochran, Flentje, A, Heck (2014) Experiences of Ex-Ex-Gay Individuals in Sexual Reorientation Therapy: Reasons for Seeking Treatment, Perceived Helpfulness and Harmfulness of Treatment, and Post-Treatment Identification. Journal of Homosexuality, 61:1242–1243. For the Christian counselor, there is a need to become more open minded to the cultural changes occurring daily. Counselors need to consider providing best practices and know at what point a referral is needed, when faced with ethical dilemmas. Having full

Counselors communicate the parameters of confidentiality in a culturally competent manner” (American Counseling Association , 2014). Once a client trust is gained, it is the therapist obligation to make sure that the client’s confidentiality is within the code of ethics. Because Dr. Lyne is discussing therapeutic issues via email he should take the proper steps to assure himself of all possible issues.

Mercy killing can be one of the most relevant and talked about subject when dealing with the ethics of patient treatment. I am sure I would not feel comfortable ending the life of someone as it in my views it is not morally correct. However, there are many people who believe preventing suffering for others justifies the act of euthanasia. Also, patients can refuse treatment and die of natural causes although these are cases where they cannot decide for themselves. There are many factors to take in to consideration when looking at this issue. When it comes to ethics in many situations I feel as if I’m torn between what’s right and what’s wrong.

Sara has an ethical dilemma when confronting her own values regarding same sex, or bisexual desire and behavior. Holding strong personal values regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, the imposition of therapist values, attitudes, negative personal reactions, limited empathy, and lack of understanding will only taint the therapeutic relationship with Bernard. In order for Sara to implement any therapeutic strategy with Bernard, the first thing she needs to change is her assumptions and attitudes toward the sexual orientation of others. Therapists like Sara should be able to confront personal prejudices, myths, fears, and stereotypes regarding sexual orientation. Sara also admits not having enough knowledge about gay relationships but, a therapist who works with LGBT clients has the responsibility to understand the special concern of these individuals and it is ethically obligated to develop the knowledge and skills to competently deliver services to them. Sara's self-disclosure in this case clearly states that discrimination, or acting different toward a group of people, is unethical and

If the counselor has any biases or prejudices against anything in Jenny's case, it is going to be obvious for the client. It would have a negative reaction with with the client. If it is because she is transgender and may not "pass" or because she is Native American or because of the unprotected sex, it would be obvious that the counselor has a problem with it and that could make the situation very uncomfortable for Jenny and make her less likely to open up about her situation or have her come back at all. As a counselor or should not have any biases or prejudices, especially when it comes to these situations. Situations like this and with this certain problems are becoming more common and should not be met with any

The Number 18 on the self-assessment got my attention. This information professionally made me aware of what some may concern me of having a shortcoming. I am concern about counseling lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clients if it has anything to do with their relationships. If the counseling is about other issues, I am fine. In that I consider same-sex relationships to be a sin, I don’t believe I would be the best counselor for them. I am thinking more about the client than myself. I believe it would be unethical for me to counsel them. I would not impose my belief on them, but I would have a hard time being authentic. I would refer them to another counselor. I would tell them I would like to refer you to someone who specializes

Self-awareness is an exceptionally important value for mental health practitioners to hold. Through the evaluation of our value systems, we identify potential biases and make modifications appropriately. (Code of ethics, A.4.b) There will inevitably be occasions where one considers themselves unsuitable to offer treatment to a client, based on the counselor's personal values. For instance, I am not confident that I could render therapeutic help to a client who admits to pedophilia. Admittedly, it is upsetting; however, as a professional counselor, I owe it to the individual to behave compassionately, and in the best interest of the client. Therefore, I would seek out alternative treatment options, and find an appropriate counselor for

It is important for a counselor to first recognize the sexual attraction and be aware of these feelings. It is often the case that a counselor will ignore these feelings or dismiss them given the rather taboo nature of the counselor viewing their patient as sexually attractive (Gallagher, 2010). The lack of acknowledgement of these feelings or urges can increase the risk that they could manifest. Identifying them is the first step in ensuring that appropriate responses can be developed that will allow the counselor to maintain their ethical integrity. Once the attraction is brought into the open there are many ways in which it can be handled. However, if the attraction is not identified then this puts both the client and counselor at an increased risk for damages to one or both parties.

Nuremberg Code is a set of 10 sophisticate principles regarding ethical clinical research on human being (Grodin, 1994). It is mainly for protection of subjects’ human right (Shuster, 1997), such as compulsory of informed consent and the equal authority of subjects as the physician-researcher to end the experiment.