Essay Writing on Ethical Dilemmas In Counselling Text

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Below is an essay on ethics on counselling from anti essays, your source for research papers, essays, and term paper examples. Ethical considerations in a counselling relationship: the code of ethics that counsellors follow to portray a professional standard and set of rules which protect the client and counsellor from misconduct on both sides. The need for a procedure for making ethical decisions is to educate counsellors and the general public about the responsibilities of the profession and it provides a basis for accountability, and through their enforcement clients are protected from unethical practices. Nzac code of ethics ethics define the boundaries and limitations to protect the client and counsellor. If we did not have a strong and effective procedural structure to guide counsellors in making the right decision we all could end up in a lot of trouble.

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Counsellors are expected to be honest and consider the impact that their work could have on clients. We need to think about dealing with ethical problems and keep in mind that most ethical issues defy simple solutions and its ok to seek consultation from another professional asking for help means we are professionally mature. The term culture covers those values, beliefs, convictions, languages, knowledge, traditions and ways of life through which a person. My understanding of professionalism is having the discipline to be aware of and work to a set of values made up of legal statutes, of professional body frameworks and guidelines and of employer policies, frameworks and guidelines, which together detail expected conduct.

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Those statutes, policies, frameworks and guidelines should be used to identify roles and responsibilities which in turn define boundaries. The british association of counselling and psychotherapy bacp , of which i am a student member, is the largest professional body in the uk for counselling and psychotherapy and lays down what standards of conduct counsellors, service users and the public expect at a national level. The idea of counselling has been around for hundreds of years and in each culture there have been ways to help people who have or are experiencing emotional or psychological distress frank, 1973. It has only been recently however, that the person centred approach to counselling has evolved.

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Many believe that this type of approach started with a talk given by carl rogers 1902 1987 in 1940 on 'new concepts in psychotherapy' to the university of minnesota barrett lennard, 1979. Rogers suggested that the therapist would be most effective when allowing the client to find the solutions to their own problems and only have the therapist there as a guide and inspiration. When facing uncertainty, consult a colleague, refer to apa's ethics code and document your decision, advised apa ethics committee members. Can psychologists accept gifts from their clients? is it ethical to be the mediator in the divorce case of former marital therapy clients? at a session at apa's 2004 annual convention, members of apa's ethics committee discussed these questions and other common ethical dilemmas of practicing psychologists. They emphasized that psychologists who thoroughly consider the consequences of their actions are better able to effectively weigh competing ethical principles, avoid conflicts of interest and put clients' best interests first. The presenters illustrated such ethical decision making by discussing how psychologists might think about the ethical quandaries posed by several vignettes, including: my laptop containing confidential client records was stolen. Should i tell my clients about it? ethics committee member anne hess, phd, suggested that psychologists in such a situation first consider their record keeping and confidentiality practices more broadly.

For example, are they treating electronic records with the same level of security as paper records? are their electronic files encrypted or password protected and are they stored on a removable drive that can be locked away? do they include that they store information on a laptop in their informed consent forms? do they back up their electronic records? section 6 of apa's ethics code offers guidance on such issues, noted hess. Other considerations, she said, include how the disclosure would affect clients' course of treatment and whether nondisclosure would affect the psychologist's effectiveness. They should also consult a colleague and document the decision making processes in case they must later defend their decision, she added. For example, the psychologist might have to evict his client for failing to pay rent or he might be a poor landlord. i provided marital counseling to a couple, and they have asked me to serve as the mediator in their divorce.

Should i agree to the request? several ethical standards apply to this situation, said linda campbell, phd, the ethics committee chair. For example, does the psychologist have adequate training to be a competent mediator, as standard 2.01 requires? familiarity with his clients doesn't override the need for training, campbell noted. should i accept a gift from a client? ethics committee member neil massoth, phd, noted that while there's no specific ethical standard that addresses client gifts, there is some guidance in the code. For example, principle a says psychologists strive to benefit their clients and do no harm would accepting or refusing the gift cause harm? would accepting the gift create a harmful or exploitative relationship, as in standards 3.06 and 3.08? other factors include whether it's personal in nature, a one time occurrence or a pattern, for a special occasion or no apparent reason, and expensive or reasonable in cost.

For example, he recounted at first feeling uncomfortable accepting a large chocolate and peanut butter christmas candy from a client. However, he changed his mind when she told him that she made 60 to 70 every holiday, and humorously added that he shouldn't feel too terribly important. When weighing their decision, psychologists should also consider cultural factors, he added pointing to principle e on respecting the dignity of others. Depending on a person's background, he said, psychologists may do more harm than good if they refuse a reasonable gift. That said, he also noted that many psychologists have a flat no acceptance policy.

Can i still use the older version that i prefer? while standard 9.08 says psychologists shouldn't use tests that are obsolete or not useful for the current purpose, hess noted that doesn't mean that older tests are automatically off the table. Psychologists, she said, should note the norm groups for each version and from that determine which test is more appropriate for the client. For example, the norms of newer versions tend to include more diverse populations, but the content of an older intelligence test might be more appropriate for older adults or a specific population, she said.

You should be comfortable justifying your test choice to a third party or a judge, she noted. Developing counselling skills explain current ethical guidelines for counsellors and supervisor practitioners. Everyone who works within the health and social care sector has to abide by the ethical guidelines. O'farrell, 19 the ethics framework states the guidelines that are expected of each counsellor and professional and it consists of three elements values, principles and also personal moral qualities. Professional ethics may be viewed as the rightful domain of moral philosophy which is concerned with establishing principles for articulating what is 'good' and what is 'bad'.

Ethical principles are well suited to examining the justification for particular decisions and actions. However, reliance on principles alone may detract from the importance of the practitioner's personal qualities and their ethical significance in the counselling or therapeutic relationship bacp, 2007 values inform principles and they are important to the counsellor to expressing their commitment to ethics. The values of counsellors include respecting human rights and dignity, ensuring the integrity of professional relationships, enhancing the quality of professional knowledge and its application, alleviating personal distress and suffering, fostering a sense of self that is meaningful to the client, increasing personal effectiveness, enhancing the quality of relationships between people and appreciating the variety of human experience and culture. In conclusion one can see that the three elements of the ethical framework of the bacp are ways for the counsellor to express their commitment but it does not invalidate other approaches. Ethical principles are well suited to examining the justification for particular decisions and actions.

However, reliance on principles alone may detract from the importance of the practitioner's personal qualities and their ethical significance in the counselling or therapeutic relationship. The provision of culturally sensitive and appropriate services is also a fundamental ethical concern. Cultural factors are often more easily understood and responded to in terms of values. Therefore, professional values are becoming an increasingly significant way of expressing ethical commitment. The above preview is unformatted text  ethical issues in counseling practice ethics are a vital component of counseling. It helps keep professional counselors accountable to their clients, and to the state board.