Ethical Dilemmas: School Counsellors - Coursework Example

Ethical Dilemmas – School Counsellors Ethical Dilemmas – School Counsellors What are the ethical dilemmas that a school counsellor may encounter and how should they be addressed? Ethical Dilemma – Confidentiality One of the ethical dilemmas that a school counsellor may come across is the issue of maintaining the confidentiality of the information provided by a student. It has been made obligatory for the counsellor in the ASCA Ethical Standard for Counsellors to who are working in a school setting that the information they obtain through a student during the consultation session should be strictly kept confident (Gse.rutgers.edu, 2014). Confidentiality of consultation sessions is of utmost importance for both the counsellor as well as the counselee because it is the confidentiality clause that enables counselee to reveal the information that comes in handy for the counsellor to make appropriate therapeutic decisions. In this case an ethical dilemma faced by the school counsellor is that he/she might end up requesting for information from the student that is no consistent with the aim of the entire counselling session (Iyer, 2010, p.5). An issue exist when school counsellors do not only have to protect the confidentiality of the student; they even have to abide by the parent’s right to gain information about their children (Brigman, 2005, p.21). Solution Recommendation – Confidentiality One way for avoiding this dilemma from even occurring is that the counsellor needs to provide different caretakers of a child including the parent, teachers as well as the administration that it is highly important for the counsellor to keep the information gained confidential (Bodenhorn, 2006). Another way through which school counsellors can avoid this issue from occurring is that they can maintain an informed consent policy (Glosoff, 2002). This means that they need to obtain consent from the caretakers of the child that information obtained during counselling sharing may not be shared with the caretakers. This consent should be in written form in order to avoid legal issues such as parents suing a counsellor for not appreciating the parent’s right to know. Ethical Dilemma – Primary Responsibility At times school counsellors are faced with the issue of primary responsibility; this means that they face difficulties in drawing a line between whether their main clients are the administrators of the school or the students of the school. A school counsellor may be required by the highest authority of the school to follow his/her instructions and perform duties that are being delegated by the school principal and on the other hand the counsellor may be required to attend a student who is experiencing distress (Froeschle, 2010). In such a scenario, the counsellor may be required to choose who they responsible to first are. The ACA Code of Ethics provides direction to the school counsellors that their primary duty is to attain and maintain the wellbeing of their clients (Texas Counseling Association, 2014). Solution Recommendation – Primary Responsibility One solution to this issue has been identified by Froeschle who states that the school counsellor needs to clarify his/her roles and duties with the principal before he/she starts working with the school (Froeschle, 2009). Secondly, it is stated under the ACA Code of Edthics that the primary responsibility of the counsellor is towards his/her client which in any case are the students because the primary purpose of deploying counsellors in school is the wellbeing of the students and Huey states that ethical standards should be utilized by counsellors during their professional endeavours (Cottone, 2003, p.238). Ethical Dilemma – Dual Relationships Ethical dilemma that a school counsellor may face is the dilemma of dual relationship between a counsellor and the student (Hubert, 2004). This means that the counsellor has to act as a friend as well as a disciplinarian for his/her client (student). A counsellor cannot always remain highly professional to a student otherwise he/she may not be able to make the student speak (Sommers, 2007, p.254). A counsellor has to be friendly in order to provide the confidence and the trust that the student needs to open up to the counsellor. A counsellor faces troubles when he/she has to play both the roles and he/she has to ensure that the closeness between the student and the counsellor does not cross the boundaries of professionalism (Thompson, 2012, p.459). Solution Recommendation – Dual Relationship In order to avoid the issue of dual relationship, school counsellors can attain assistance from the administration of the school. They can inform the principal or other school administrators about a close and friendly relationship with the student and the principal can provide the counsellor regarding how attached he/she can be to a particular student (Ebert, 1997). A school counsellor can even create certain boundaries to guide their own professional endeavours. These boundaries will remind the counsellor about the intensity of the relationship that he/she can be involved in with the students (Reamer, 1998). Guidelines and strategies to avoid such dilemmas is one of the best practices that school counsellors can adopt. Ethical Dilemma – Personal Bias Conflicting values is another ethical dilemma experienced by school counsellors when the values that are held by the counsellor and the values that are held by the client (student) differ from each other (Constantine, 2008). For example: in the case of abortion, the client may perceive that abortion is not a morally wrong act, while on the other hand the counsellor may be of the idea that abortion is unethical in nature (Schoolcounselor.org, 2014). Schulte states that the counsellors who practice in school settings have their own values to different consultation sessions with different clients (Schulte, 1995, p.78). Due to these conflicting views, a school counsellor experiences the issue of failing to maintain neutrality while dealing with their clients. Solution Recommendation – Personal Bias The occurrence of such conflicts can be foreseen by the counsellors before they join a particular educational institute. The school counsellors can avoid this ethical dilemma from occurring by giving consideration to the educational institute that they are applying to and the kind of counselling that they will be required to do. Those counsellors who hold very strict personal values should opt for schools which have faculty and culture that is consistent with their values and/or they should opt for areas of admission counselling and career counselling where the chance of value conflict arising is quite low (Gazda, 2001). Secondly, if counsellors are experiencing a conflict of values, they should divert the client or the case to another counsellor and even inform about the conflict to the school’s administrations (Tyson, 2000, p.58). Ethical Dilemma – Labelling Counsellors in different settings, especially in school settings are involved with the task of labelling children and this can sometimes become problematic for the student. The labelling task is an essential task as with the assistance of labelling, counsellors tend to differentiate between students and their individual needs for treatment (Rhodes, 2013, p.26). Some labels do not pose a threat to the student, these labels may include, dividing the student according to their gender, their ethnicity and their schooling level. But certain labels can lead to consequences for the students. For example: suicidal, hyper active as well as emotionally challenged are some labels that can be problematic. Due to these categorizations, these students might be treated differently at home as well as by administrators of the educational institutes and this may make the students feel inferior (Van Hoose, 1985, p.131). Solution Recommendation – Labelling To avoid this dilemma, school counsellors can be careful while labelling a child and choose those labels that may not harm the student or make them inferior. They even need to talk to teachers about the treatment of these students in accordance to the labels that have been attached with them and how differential treatment can be problematic for the child (Tyson, 2000, p.58). They can even inform the students about the labels they have been associated with them and how these labels will help them. References Bodenhorn, N. 2006. Exploratory Study of Common and Challenging Ethical Dilemmas Experienced by Professional School Counselors. Professional School Counseling. 10, 195-202. Brigman, G. 2005. School counselor consultation. Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley & Sons Constantine, M. G., Hage, S. M., Kindaichi, M. M., & Bryant, R. M. (2008). Social Justice and Multicultural Issues: Implications for the Practice and Training of Counselors and Counseling Psychologists. Journal of Counseling & Development. 85, 24-29. Cottone, R. R. and Tarvydas, V. M. 2003. Ethical and professional issues in counseling. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill Prentice Hall. Ebert, B. W. 1997. Dual-relationship prohibitions: A concept whose time never should have come. Applied and Preventive Psychology. 6, 137-156. Froeschle, J. G., & Crews, C. 2010. An Ethics Challenge for School Counselors. 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Professional school counseling: best practices for working in the schools. New York, Routledge. Tyson, L. E. and Pedersen, P. 2000. Critical incidents in school counseling. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. Van Hoose, W. H. and Kottler, J. A. 1985. Ethical and legal issues in counseling and psychotherapy. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass. Read More