Ethical issues encountered by a professional counselor

n a minimum of 200 words, respond to the following:

• Describe an ethical issue you might encounter as a professional counselor in practice. The issue you describe should be relevant to the counseling relationship (Section A of the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics), confidentiality and privacy (Section B of the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics), or professional responsibility (Section C of the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics).
• Indicate to which section your ethical issue is related (A, B, or C) and clearly explain what makes the issue an ethical counseling issue.
• Using an ethical decision-making model and information from Section I of the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics, explain the steps you would take to resolve the ethical issue.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE BELOW  USE YOUR OWN

As a professional counselor ethical standards and principles are important, and should be held deemed for practicing/interacting with clients. The American Counseling Association(ACA) 2014 code of ethics, have put in place a number of rules, regulations, and guidelines that encourages therapeutic professionals to adhere by; and how it displays that professional counselors values, morales, and standards in a counselor-client atmosphere.

Section C of 2014 ACA code of ethics, professional responsibility as explained in (AUO,2017) module 3 overview reading. As a professional counselor, it is a responsibility to provide that client with information about counseling process before engaging in a counseling session, inform and discuss with the client who they are as a professional; of their credentials and licenses, and to use a informed consent document; giving the client the opportunity to whether or not they would still like to proceed with the treatment(psychotherapy) process; ACA code of ethics A.2.a. Informed Consent.  Also as part of the consent process, it is essential that the client is informed about the value of confidentiality, and how it encourages the relationship between to two. Confidentiality in some cases have limitations, and can be disclosed if the professional counselor detects a risk of harm that the client can impose on themselves and others, criminal activity, and physical abuse; this should be address to the client as well.

Ethical Issue:

My client is a   42 year old female; and  in one  our counseling sessions, she revealed to me that her husband’s brother had been sexually abusing her the whole time she has been married to his brother.  She also explains that this man is a ex convict who has been in out of jail for attempted murder and rape charges; and he has threatened her life if she told anyone their horrible secret, that he would kill her! As her counselor I felt empathetic and emotional from what my client just disclosed; I make an irrational decision to go to the house and confront the man.  As a professional I am absolutely committing an  ethical violation.
As a professional counselor the clients welfare should have been my primary responsibility, I needed to see what I could have done,  to get her out of that situation, and also should have asked her permission if she wants to discuss this issue with her husband, in one of her counseling sessions.  It was my responsibility to keep all things confidential, and keep her out of harms way.

The ethical issue that I represented was not adhering to ACA 2014 code of ethics; A.1. Clients welfare, A.1.a. Primary Responsibility, A.4.a, Avoiding Harm to client, B.7.b. Disclosure of Confidential information, B.1.c. Respect for Confidentiality, and code B.1.b. Respect for privacy.

I have learned that a professional counselor should always display professionalism at all times, especially when dealing or treating clients; that our clients confidentiality is their civil right, and it aids to building a counselor-client relationship. Counseling is not always an easy job; there are some dilemmas in counseling that call for a  ethical decisions; which most professionals are encourage to get the opinion from other professional colleagues and ACA code of ethics. This is why I say, as counselors-in-training in this program that this is not to be taken personally; but to see it as a counseling experience. We can all learn from each other, whether we disagree to agree; in this very moment we are in a professional counselor-client mode. “THIS IS A TEST OF CHARACTER AS A PROFESSIONAL!”

References:

Argosy Online University. (2017). Module 3 overview. Informed Consent and Confidentiality. Retrieved from http://www.myeclassonline.com

American Counseling Association. (2014). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from http://www.aca.org.

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