The Legal and Ethics Boundaries that Inform Counselling Practice - Essay Example

Case Study Lawrence and Robinson-Kirpius (2000) that there are four ethical considerations that must be taken into account when counseling with minors: (1) counselor competence, (2) informed consent and a minor’s ability to enter into a contractual relationship, (3) confidentiality, and (4) child abuse reporting. Counselor competence requires certain skills on part of the counselor to deal with seven years old Jenny. Ethical practice must be based on theoretical models addressing depression in Jenny.

The counselor should have suitable experience and training in dealing with minors. Next, informed consent is about having the capable patient take part in making decisions about his healthcare and treatment process (Wear, 1992). Jenny should be well informed about all the circumstances, and her wishes and judgment has to be considered by the practitioner. Informed consent also has a legal consideration that will be discussed in the next paragraph. Confidentiality is also a crucial ethical issue, which must be maintained between Jenny and the counselor.

Sometimes what is illegal in the eyes of court is correct ethically. For example, law bounds the counselor not to disclose information to a third party, but since Jenny is too small, it would become necessary to disclose her information to Jane ethically, because she is her mother. Lastly, child abuse reporting to authorities becomes an ethical consideration, if child abuse is found to be the root cause of Jenny’s depression. It is difficult for the counselor to report child abuse because doing so will very likely deteriorate the relationship between Jenny and him, and will also disrupt the trust of Jenny’s family over him.

Still, reporting child abuse is ethically mandatory for all clinicians, so that the criminal gets arrested. Prout and Brown (2007, p.47) state that “there is often overlap between legal and ethical aspects related to the provision of mental health services to children and adolescents.” For example, legal consideration arises, besides ethical issue, when Jenny’s informed consent will be taken. Jenny can give her informed consent either by the consent of Jane, her mother, or at Jane’s insistence, or because of court order.

In Jenny’s case, since her mother is not well enough to give consent, order should be taken from court to continue Jenny’s counseling. Otherwise, the practitioner can be sued for not taking consent. Although after taking order from court, it will not be deemed necessary to take consent from Jane, yet it should be better if she is informed about her daughter’s treatment. Also, reporting child sexual abuse also becomes a legal matter, since many states have made it mandatory for clinicians to report it.

Hence, if the counselor founds Jenny to be a victim of child abuse, he should report it to authorities or court. There are certain acts like The Children’s Protection Act 1993 in South Australia, and the Children and Young Persons Act 1989 in Victoria, that hold child abuse reporting mandatory. Sometimes, ethical and legal issue collide, like confidentiality and privileged communication is considered as a legal consideration, because law will not allow the counselor to disclose Jenny’s information with a third party, but ethically it would be important for the counselor to take Jane into confidence, since Jenny is too small a minor.

The counselor must be “aware of the specific privileges, limits, and expectations associated with their licenses and certifications in their state statutes” (Prout & Brown, 2007, p.49). The court also protects privileged communication, and does not allow disclosing it (Cottone & Tarvydas, 2003, p.53). ReferencesCottone, R.R., & Tarvydas, V.M. (2003). Ethical and Professional Issues in Counseling. USA: Merrill Prentice Hall. Lawrence, G., & Robinson-Kirpius, S. E. (2000). Legal and ethical issues involved when counseling minors in nonschool settings.

Journal of Counseling and Development, 78(2), pp. 130-137.Prout, H.T., & Brown, D.T. (2007). Legal issues. Counseling and Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents: Theory and Practice for School and Clinical Settings. USA: John Wiley and Sons. Wear, S. (1992). Informed Consent: Patient Autonomy and Physician Beneficence within Clinical Medicine. USA: Springer.