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ETHICAL VIGNETTE
Ethical Vignette Paper
Virginia Guentzel
School of Behavioral Science, Liberty University
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ETHICAL VIGNETTE
Identifying the Problem
For this paper, we are discussing the video “Whose Records?” (Pearson). The
client is requesting that she be referred to another counselor and requesting that she be
given access to all her records from her current and all previous counselors. The issue is
that the current counselor is requesting to continue counseling to talk about this client’s
tendency to counselor hop and is very hesitant about giving the client access to her
records. This is an ethical and professional issue. The reasons as to why this scenario
would have ethical and professional issues will be discussed later in this paper.
Applicable ACA and State Codes
The American Counseling Association’s (ACA) Code of Ethics, Code B.6.e states
that clients have a reasonable right to access their records but that the counselor may
choose to withhold some or all records if there is reason to believe that access to the
records would harm the client. ACA code B.6.f touches on how counselors aid in the
interpretation of records. ACA code A.11.c speaks on how to appropriately deal with the
termination of a counselor-client relationship.
In the state of Texas, Texas Health and Safety Code 611.0045 states that every
client has a right to access their record, though the professional has the right to deny this
