Ethical Issues in Counselling Practice:
Introduction
- Mandatory ethics: a level of ethical functioning at the minimum level of professional
practice.
- In contrast aspirational ethics: focuses on what’s best interests of clients. Functioning
at this level requires understanding and following the principles on which the code is
based.
- Fear-based ethics isn’t good ethical practice. Strive toward concern-based ethics
- Positive ethics: an approach taken by practitioners who want to do their best for
clients rather than simply meet minimum standards to stay out of trouble
Putting Client’s Needs Before Your Own
- Ethically, it’s essential: we become aware of our own needs, areas of unfinished
business, potential personal problems & especially our sources of
countertransference
- An ethical problem exists when we meet our needs, in either obvious or subtle ways, at
the expense of our client’s needs. Crucial: don’t exploit/harm clients
- We all have blind spots – why we need to: actively work toward expanding our self-
awareness & learn to recognise our areas of prejudice & vulnerability
Ethical Decision Making
- Broad guidelines for responsible practice
- In practice, you’ll have to apply the ethics codes
The Role of Ethics Codes as a Catalyst for Improving Practice:
- Professional code of ethics serves a number of purposes:
➢ Educate counselling practitioners & general public about the responsibilities of
the profession
➢ Provide basis for accountability
➢ Protect clients from unethical practices
➢ Provide a basis for reflecting on & improving your professional practice
- Used: guidelines to guide your reasoning & help make the best judgements possible
Some Steps in Making Ethical Decisions:
- Following a series of steps:
➢ Identify the problem/dilemma. Gather information that’ll shed light on the
nature of the problem. This’ll help you decide if problem: ethical, legal,
professional, clinical or moral
➢ Identify the potential issues. Evaluate the rights, responsibilities & welfare of
all those involved in situation
1
, ➢ Look at relevant ethics codes for general guidance on matter. Consider
whether your own values & ethics are consistent with/in conflict with
guidelines
➢ Consider: laws & regulations – determine if: if have a bearing on an ethical
dilemma
➢ Consult more than 1 source to obtain various views on the dilemma
➢ Brainstorm various possible courses of action
➢ List the consequences of various decisions & reflect on implications
➢ Decide what appears to be best possible course of action
- If possible, include client in all phases of the ethical decision-making process
The Right of Informed Consent
- Informed consent: ethical & legal requirement that’s an integral part of therapeutic
process
- Also establishes: basic working foundation for creating a working alliance &
collaborative partnership between client/therapist
- Informed consent: right of clients to be informed about their therapy & to make
autonomous decisions relating to it.
- By educating clients about their rights & responsibilities – empowering them &
building a trusting relationship with them
- Some aspects of informed consent process:
➢ General goals of counselling ➢ Legal and ethical issues
➢ Responsibilities of ➢ Qualifications and
counsellor toward client background of practitioner
➢ Responsibilities of clients ➢ The fees involved
➢ Limitations of ➢ The services the client
confidentiality expects
➢ Exceptions to ➢ Approximate length of the
confidentiality therapeutic process
- The challenge is to strike a balance between giving clients too much information and
giving them too little.
- Informed consent provided written form, orally or both
Dimensions of Confidentiality
- Confidentiality & privileged communication are related but somewhat different
concepts. Both relate to client’s right to privacy
- Confidentiality: an ethical concept. It’s a fundamental ethical standard underlying all
curative, promotive & preventive counselling interventions
- central to developing a trusting/productive client-therapist relationship
- professionals have the responsibility to define the degree of confidentiality
- counsellors have an ethical & legal responsibility to discuss the nature/purpose of
confidentiality with their clients early in counselling process
2
Introduction
- Mandatory ethics: a level of ethical functioning at the minimum level of professional
practice.
- In contrast aspirational ethics: focuses on what’s best interests of clients. Functioning
at this level requires understanding and following the principles on which the code is
based.
- Fear-based ethics isn’t good ethical practice. Strive toward concern-based ethics
- Positive ethics: an approach taken by practitioners who want to do their best for
clients rather than simply meet minimum standards to stay out of trouble
Putting Client’s Needs Before Your Own
- Ethically, it’s essential: we become aware of our own needs, areas of unfinished
business, potential personal problems & especially our sources of
countertransference
- An ethical problem exists when we meet our needs, in either obvious or subtle ways, at
the expense of our client’s needs. Crucial: don’t exploit/harm clients
- We all have blind spots – why we need to: actively work toward expanding our self-
awareness & learn to recognise our areas of prejudice & vulnerability
Ethical Decision Making
- Broad guidelines for responsible practice
- In practice, you’ll have to apply the ethics codes
The Role of Ethics Codes as a Catalyst for Improving Practice:
- Professional code of ethics serves a number of purposes:
➢ Educate counselling practitioners & general public about the responsibilities of
the profession
➢ Provide basis for accountability
➢ Protect clients from unethical practices
➢ Provide a basis for reflecting on & improving your professional practice
- Used: guidelines to guide your reasoning & help make the best judgements possible
Some Steps in Making Ethical Decisions:
- Following a series of steps:
➢ Identify the problem/dilemma. Gather information that’ll shed light on the
nature of the problem. This’ll help you decide if problem: ethical, legal,
professional, clinical or moral
➢ Identify the potential issues. Evaluate the rights, responsibilities & welfare of
all those involved in situation
1
, ➢ Look at relevant ethics codes for general guidance on matter. Consider
whether your own values & ethics are consistent with/in conflict with
guidelines
➢ Consider: laws & regulations – determine if: if have a bearing on an ethical
dilemma
➢ Consult more than 1 source to obtain various views on the dilemma
➢ Brainstorm various possible courses of action
➢ List the consequences of various decisions & reflect on implications
➢ Decide what appears to be best possible course of action
- If possible, include client in all phases of the ethical decision-making process
The Right of Informed Consent
- Informed consent: ethical & legal requirement that’s an integral part of therapeutic
process
- Also establishes: basic working foundation for creating a working alliance &
collaborative partnership between client/therapist
- Informed consent: right of clients to be informed about their therapy & to make
autonomous decisions relating to it.
- By educating clients about their rights & responsibilities – empowering them &
building a trusting relationship with them
- Some aspects of informed consent process:
➢ General goals of counselling ➢ Legal and ethical issues
➢ Responsibilities of ➢ Qualifications and
counsellor toward client background of practitioner
➢ Responsibilities of clients ➢ The fees involved
➢ Limitations of ➢ The services the client
confidentiality expects
➢ Exceptions to ➢ Approximate length of the
confidentiality therapeutic process
- The challenge is to strike a balance between giving clients too much information and
giving them too little.
- Informed consent provided written form, orally or both
Dimensions of Confidentiality
- Confidentiality & privileged communication are related but somewhat different
concepts. Both relate to client’s right to privacy
- Confidentiality: an ethical concept. It’s a fundamental ethical standard underlying all
curative, promotive & preventive counselling interventions
- central to developing a trusting/productive client-therapist relationship
- professionals have the responsibility to define the degree of confidentiality
- counsellors have an ethical & legal responsibility to discuss the nature/purpose of
confidentiality with their clients early in counselling process
2
