ETHICS

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ETHICS

• In a world trembling with change, are there any
  valid measures of good and evil?
• VanHoose/Paradise

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Virtue Ethics

• Virtue Ethics Focuses on the character traits of
  the counselor and nonobligatory ideals to which
  professionals aspire rather rather than on
  solving specific ethical dilemmas. Principle
  ethics asks Is this situation unethical?
  whereas virtue ethics asks Am I doing what is
  best for my client? Counselors should strive to
  integrate virtue and principle ethics.

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Five Characteristics of Virtuous Professionals

• Motivated to do what is right for the right
  reasons
• Possess vision and discernment, which involves
  sensitivity , judgment and understanding
• Possess compassion
• Possess self-awareness
• Connected with and understand mores of their
  community

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Principle Ethics

• Principle Ethics a set of obligations and a
  method that focuses on moral issues with the
  goals of (a) solving a particular dilemma or set
  of dilemmas and (b) establishing a framework to
  guide future ethical thinking and behavior.
  Principles typically focus on acts and choices,
  and they are used to facilitate the selection of
  socially and historically acceptable answers to
  the question What shall I do?

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Moral Principles

• Autonomy Independence
• Nonmaleficence Not causing harm to others
• Beneficence To be proactive and do good
• Justice Not treating all persons the same
• Fidelity Notions of loyalty, faithfulness, and
  honoring commitments

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Ethical Decision Making Model

• Identify the Issue
• Identify possible options
• Consult ethics codes
• Assess ethical issues (autonomy, nonmaleficence,
  beneficence, justice, fidelity)
• Consult with other professionals
• Identify legal concerns
• Reassess options and identify a plan
• Implement plan and document the process
• Reflect on the outcome of your decision

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Vignette- prison escapee

• Counselor in a community mental health center.
  Man whos received short-term counseling from you
  two years ago, walks into your office. He says
  he escaped from the state prison where serving a
  10 year term for child molestation. Hes been on
  the run for months. Hes tired, anxious and
  scared. He says he doesnt know if he should
  leave the country or give himself up.

• A. Tell him you dont work with criminals and
  report him immediately.
• B. Help him understand the seriousness of his
  crimes counsel him to surrender immediately.
• C. Explain that you cant make his decisions but
  that you will try to help find possible
  solutions.
• D. Here is someone in trouble- give him help
  without regard for his behavior of for later
  consequences.
• E. Tell him you will work with him but that he
  should turn himself in and avoid further trouble.

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Vignette- sexual seduction

• Counselor in private practice- A 28 year old
  client comes to you complaining that she stopped
  seeing her previous counselor because he
  attempted to seduce her. Shes afraid to make
  this known to anyone because her husband is a
  jealous person and she fears that no one would
  believe her because of her promiscuous behavior
  during her adolescent years.

• A. Ask client to give you the counselors name
  so that you can report him to the state ethics
  board.
• B. Discuss the issue with the client to
  determine is she contributed, in part, to the
  actions of the counselor.
• C. Honor the clients wishes about not reporting
  the counselors behavior, but discuss the
  situation in terms of her present motivation and
  goals for counseling.
• D. Suggest that she has grounds for a lawsuit
  and that her actions may prevent others from
  being victimized by this counselor.

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Vignette- child abuse

• School counselor- talking to a students mother
  you observe that shes distraught and anxious.
  She cant talk about her son and talking about
  her own feelings and fears. Shes pregnant for
  the 5th time and doesnt want the child. She
  says shes taken her frustrations out on her
  son and that shes physically abused him. Shes
  seeking ways to terminate her pregnancy. Her
  husband doesnt know shes pregnant and she
  doesnt want to tell him.

• A. Counsel the mother to tell her husband of her
  condition and give her agency names that could
  help her.
• B. Suggest that termination of the pregnancy may
  be the best alternative but it is her and only
  her decision.
• C. Explain to the mother that you would like to
  help but school counselors do not get involved in
  family or medical problems.
• D. Help her to consider the seriousness of child
  abuse.
• E. Inform OCS that you suspect possible child
  abuse.

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Vignette- double bind

• Counselor at a community college- One of the
  students comes to tell you that the department
  chairman has suggested an affair in return for a
  good grade. The student fears that the professor
  will give her a bad grade if she doesnt
  cooperate. This individual also happens to be
  your mentor and present supervisor as this is a
  new job for you.

• A. Ask the student how she wants you to help and
  explore possible consequences of these actions.
• B. Advise the student to drop the course and
  avoid any embarrassment.
• C. Suggest that this is a personal problem that
  should be resolved with the individual since no
  official school rules have been violated.
• D. Report the professor to the main supervisor
  to prevent any further difficulties.
• E. Help her resolve the problem without regard
  for the consequences from your mentor/supervisor
  .

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Vignette- drug abuse

• Licensed Professional Counselor- A client youve
  seen frequently tells you hes been taking drugs
  and thinks its great. He tells you that the
  drugs have made him more imaginative and alert.
  However, he fears the medical consequences after
  reading about the dangers of drugs in a class.

• A. Direct the young man to a drug center where
  he can learn to eliminate the habit.
• B. Report his drug activities to the police or
  proper authorities.
• C. Reinforce his concern over the danger of drug
  use and encourage him to quit immediately.
• D. Help him understand the meaning of his
  dependency on drugs.
• E. Tell him that some drugs may not really be
  harmful and suggest that he has the right to do
  his own thing.

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Vignette- suicide issue

• Licensed Professional Counselor- During a
  session, a client admits that he is planning to
  commit suicide. He is completely disorganized,
  his school work is failing, he has no friends,
  and he finds no purpose in continuing the
  struggle to live.

• A. Immediately refer the student to the
  agency/person responsible for suicide issues.
• B. Try to help the client gain more self-esteem
  and confidence by stressing his strong qualities.
• C. Due to the importance of the situation,
  parents of nearest relative should be contacted
  immediately.
• D. Direct the client to various youth
  organizations to find friends and learn to
  interact with others.
• E. Tell young man its wrong to take your life
  and tell him to get psychiatric help.

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Vignette- assignment

• Over the lunch break, write your own vignette.
  You may call on personal experience, but be
  cautious not to record something that actually
  happened to you as a counselor.
• Make sure that your anecdote requires a solution
  involving ethics.

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Vignette Sharing
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Case One

• LPC- Makes unreasonable and unsubstantiated
  claims about the effectiveness of his/her
  recently developed counseling techniques, stating
  that research on their effectiveness suggests
  startling advances for marital counseling. The
  counselor is unable to produce any research
  documents to support his/her claims.

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Case Two

• LPC- Uses an audio tape of a client with sexual
  problems as demonstration of counseling
  techniques for a class s/he is teaching at a
  local community college. During the course of
  the tape, certain personal information is
  conveyed which could identify the client in this
  small town.

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Case Three

• Guidance Counselor- Recognizes a student in
  his/her office as the child of a former student
  that once accused the counselor of being unfair
  and tried to get the counselor into trouble with
  the principal. The counselor asks a colleague to
  deal with the student (without explaining to the
  student why the counselor was giving the
  student to someone else).

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Case Four

• LPC-During vocational counseling with a client, a
  counselor learns that the client is under the
  care of a psychiatrist. The counselor does not
  contact the psychiatrist (after getting a signed
  release from the client) because s/he feels that
  this is not psychotherapy but vocational
  counseling and that it is up to the client to
  determine who the client wishes to see.

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Case Five

• School Counselor- Is told by a student who is a
  senior that another student that is a senior, has
  a serious crush on him/her. This student has
  actually begun to stalk the counselor and has
  many comments about this counselor on a My Space
  page on the internet. The counselor decides to
  ignore all of this calling it typical adolescent
  behavior.

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ACA Code of Ethics

• Section A- Counseling Relationship
• B- Confidentiality/Privacy
• C- Professional Responsibility
• D- Relationships with other Professionals
• E- Evaluation/Interpretation
• F-Supervision/Training/Teaching
• G- Research/Publication
• H- Resolving Ethical Issues

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American Counseling AssociationCode of Ethics -
2005

• American Counseling Association
• 5999 Stevenson Ave.
• Alexandria, VA 22304
• www.counseling.org
• 800-422-2648 x222
• ACA Code of Ethics Class- David Kaplan,
• Six CEUs
• Resources Ethics I Counseling Psychotherapy-
  VanHoose/Paradise- 1979- Carroll Press
• American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of
  Ethics 2005