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PCR #1
Rachelle Spraker
Liberty University
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Summarize
In chapter 8 of the practicum and internship textbook, it states the importance of ethics
education in counselor training; ethics training must be a part of all counseling credentialing
schools curriculum. According to Jungers and Scott (2019), the ways to be an ethical counselor
are that ethical standards give credibility to the mental health profession, provide clients about
the limits of confidentiality and what the counselor can and can discuss, and to demonstrate
relevant knowledge of ethical and legal standards. The code of ethics serves four functions:
establish integrity for the profession, serve an educational and role socialization function, have
the trust of the public, and they serve an enforcement value in developing licensing requirements
and legal sanctions [ CITATION Jun19 \l 1033 ]. The code of ethics that counselors will go by
are either the ACA Code of Ethics (2014) or the ASCA Code of Ethics (2016), or whichever
mental health code the profession goes by; each helping profession (psychology, counseling,
social work, etc.) has an ethical code that is specific to their discipline [ CITATION Jun19 \l
1033 ]. There are three styles of ethical decision making: principle-based ethics, virtue-based
ethics and ethical decision making, and self-tests after resolving an ethical dilemma. The main
principles in ethical decision making are nonmaleficence (do no harm), beneficence (benefitting
others), respect for a person’s autonomy, fidelity, and justice. In all of the ethical codes,
internship students will see the importance of multicultural counseling; it even says in the ACA
Code of Ethics that there is a need for competence in cultural counseling. It is pivotal, and more
importantly ethical, for the counselor to plan culturally sound sessions. Counselors also must
tread carefully when using technology in the counseling field. There are multiple instances when
a client’s personal information has been compromised because a provider has not adhered to the
code of ethical practice.
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Respond
This particular section is always a reminder to brush up on the code of ethics. For
example, just the other day, I was talking to my supervisor about a question on a quiz that I had
on an ethics quiz. I had got the question wrong, and it was one of those gray area questions, and I
had told her about it and we discussed it. I find that with counseling, it is never good to assume
and to always check what the code of ethics says and to confer with a colleague if there is a
question whether something is ethical or not. The code of ethics is a strong tool for the counselor
to have, because it essentially covers every ethical dilemma a counselor can think of; it is also a
useful tool when a counselor is in an ethical dilemma, the code of ethics is written so that there is
no room for error. It always floors me when counselors get penalized for an ethics violation,
because the code of ethics is so straightforward and there is little room for misinterpretation or
error. It is not something that I have had a problem with, but one ethical standards that I find
hard is to not impose your own values on the client [CITATION Ame14 \p A.4.b \l 1033 ]. As a
person, you tell people your opinions and where you stand on certain issues, but with counseling,
your opinions and values have to take a backseat for the betterment of the client. Like I stated, I
do not struggle with it, but it is hard to not give your own opinion. I believe that is why that
statute was created, because if the client wanted another person’s opinion, they would have gone
to a friend.
Reflect
The statute about not sharing your own personal opinion correlates directly with the
ethical principles of nonmaleficence and beneficence. The principle of nonmaleficence refers to
the duty to do no harm or not to engage in actions that risk harm to others [ CITATION Jun19 \l
1033 ]. In counseling, you are dealing with emotionally fragile individuals, so if a counselor
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were to share their opinion, they do not know what type of impact that may have on their client.
From what I learned in my first counseling course, is that counseling is not advice giving, but
rather helping the client with whatever they are facing at the moment. The other ethical principle
is beneficence, which refers to the doing good or benefitting and has two aspects: providing
benefits that increase general well-being and balancing the potential benefit against the potential
harm. In everything that a counselor does, they must always weigh whether a treatment, or even
a statement that they say, will benefit the client. To make sure that I do not harm my client, I will
take the second part of the statute, which is to do the following: respect the diversity of clients,
trainees, and research participants and seek training in areas in which they are at risk of imposing
their values onto clients, especially when the counselor’s values are inconsistent with the client’s
goals or are discriminatory in nature [ CITATION Ame14 \l 1033 ]. As a counselor, training and
education is ongoing and there are always things to learn about the profession, other cultures, etc.
and to do no harm. At the core of it all, it is most all of out of respect of the client and being
respectful of their situation and treating it with sensitivity.
Act
In order to be successful with being respectful of my clients’ beliefs, I will first make sure
that I surround myself with knowledgeable and helpful colleagues. Having a great support
system around you is pivotal in the counseling field; having colleagues who are there to help you
staff your clients and any concerns that you might have is an underrated tool in the counselor’s
toolbox. That way, if a problem arises, you can ask your peers about a situation and how they
would handle that situation and talk through it. Another thing I would do, which comes right out
of the ACA Code of Ethics, is to always to researching different cultures, and to be a competent
counselor. Going back to the first ethical principle, nonmaleficence, I do not want to offend
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someone with my beliefs when they do not share them. I believe that is why counselors are not to
share their own beliefs with their clients, because it might be a different belief than the client,
and it might offend them. Finally, in order to be successful in ethical decision making, I will go
back to the code of ethics for a refresher; you are never too good to brush up on the code of
ethics.
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References
American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA Code of ethics. Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
Jungers, C. M., & Scott, J. (2019). Practicum & internship: textbook and resource guide for
counseling and psychotherapy (sixth ed.). New York, New York, USA: Routledge.
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