Ethics in Counseling - Essay Example

?Ethics in Counseling As a counselor, how will you determine what you will consider to be ethical and what you will consider to be unethical? The criterion for distinction between unethical and ethical behavior for a counselor is the client’s beliefs and morals in addition to the professional ethics as dictated by the ACA Code of Practice. Every culture contains certain norms, values and principles that are not necessarily the part of other cultures. Certain gestures have specific meanings in certain cultures while in other cultures, they may not be identified with the very meanings. In order to be successful as a counselor in the contemporary multicultural society, it is imperative that a counselor has conducted an in-depth research of the norms, values and beliefs of people of different cultures, and the knowledge thus gained should be made use of while dealing with the clients from the respective cultural backgrounds. Thus, whatever kind of dealing or attention a client requires from the counselor must be granted to him as long as it is not in conflict with the dictations of the professional ethics codebook. Yet, there can be situations when a counselor may neither be able to retrieve any guidance from the professional ethics codebook nor be sufficiently informed about the client’s beliefs. In such cases, the counselor should make use of intuition, personal values and moral beliefs to make informed decisions. Do you think counselors can remain neutral in relation to their clients’ values? It is hard for a counselor to remain neutral with respect to the values of the client specially when they are conflicting with the counselor’s own values, though it is not impossible. Counselors can remain neutral by taking certain proactive measures. First of all, they should realize that people differ in their values and moral beliefs since it is an outcome of religion combined with the up-bringing given to an individual. Although religion is the fundamental determinant of individuals’ values, yet two individuals belonging to the same religion can have different values based on the difference of circumstances in which they have been grown up. Secondly, counselors should practice the skill of listening to others and understanding things from their points of view. It becomes hard to remain neutral when a counselor is not ready to come out of his/her comfort zone and evaluate the matter from the perspective of the client. Thus, neutrality comes with patience and consideration. Thirdly, in an attempt to be precautious, a counselor should identify his/her own values and tend to identify the potential ways in which those values can be challenged in a counseling session. This practice helps the counselor avoid becoming biased in practice. Depending on the country where you practice, privacy laws may allow clients to access their files. How do you feel about allowing your clients to have access to the case notes you have of them? Allowing clients an opportunity to have a look into their case files as prepared and maintained by the counselor lays basis trust and confidence between them. Case file is something which serves as the fundamental source of information for the counselor and he/she decides the course of action for a particular client based on the information recorded therein. Thus, by asking for the case file without prior indication of the same, the client can evaluate the sincerity of the counselor towards him/her. Earning the client’s confidence is vital to the development of rapport between a client and a counselor which in turn is extremely essential for positive outcomes of the counseling. Therefore, a counselor should not have any problem showing a client his/her file. Besides, this act is a big step in the way of making the system transparent and is likely to generate favorable outcomes for the counselor. For example, being satisfied with the transparency of the system, the client would recommend other fellows to see the same counselor for the solution of their problems. Also, having noticed the information recorded exactly as it is, clients would take the counselor more seriously and would follow the treatment instructions exactly as given by the counselor. Do you think that suicide is the ultimate right and responsibility of the client and not the counselor and therefore it is unethical for a counselor to try and prevent it from happening? Euthanasia or assisted suicide is one of the most controversial and debatable topics of the contemporary age. This is because of the fact that much emphasis is placed upon the individual’s will and individual’s rights in the matters of daily life. Accordingly, the decision to die is also considered as personal and its granting the individual this right is advocated. I, however, condemn the idea that suicide is the ultimate right and responsibility of the client. I believe that counselor can play a central role in changing a client’s decision to commit suicide. It is not at all unethical for a counselor to try and prevent the suicide from happening because his/her attempt to save the client would otherwise have many positive outcomes. The utilitarian view says that an action is justified if its outcomes are favorable. Outcomes of a suicide are never favorable. First, this is a challenge to God’s decision that lets an individual live. Secondly, suicide serves a motivation for many others who are fed up of life. Thirdly, a counselor has not done justice to his/her job if he/she allowed the client to commit suicide. If a client committed suicide, what did the counselor get paid for then? You work in a small town where you are only counselor. How will you manage the pitfalls of dual relationships? Dual relationship between a client and a counselor is quite inappropriate for the counselor’s tendency to do justice to the job. The understanding between the client and the counselor is affected by the dual relationship. If I were to counsel a client with whom I have a dual relationship, I would set boundaries from the very first day. In order to achieve this, I would also call the client and invite him to join me in the process. For his sincere participation, I would tell him why I am setting the boundaries and the potential ways in which our dual relationship can harm the process of counseling if healthy boundaries are not established in time. I would inform the client about the organization’s policy regarding the social vs business and personal vs professional relationships. I would tell the client that we would not talk about our second relationship during the counseling sessions. I would advise him to call me by the name he/she would call a strange counselor. I would also tell him that he/she should not expect special treatment from me or any privileges because of his/her relationship with me. While doing this, I shall make sure that he/she understands me and is not offended. Read More