Counselors who counsel children and adolescent under the age of 18 or adults who do not have the legal capacity to care for themselves will more than likely experience conflict between what they consider to be their ethical or more obligations and what they consider to be their ethical or moral obligations and what the law dictates that they must do (Salo, 2015). Counselors provide services to minors, who lack legal competency, are obligated to pay attention to the legal rights of parents and guardians. They protect them from harm and take the steps to prevent abuse or neglect of these clients. According to the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics, any minor under the age of 18 years old, have the right to consent to counseling without consent of the parent or guardian. Balancing the legal rights of parents or guardian and the …show more content…
Counselors must inform the parents and legal guardians about confidentiality as it applies to the minor 's counseling sessions and work toward establishing a collaborative relationship with the parents (ACA, 2005, Standard B.5.b). Under the federal and state laws, counselors must protect confidentiality. “When information must be released, the parent must be notified. Additionally, the minor should receive an explanation suitable for their developmental ability to understand why their confidentiality is being breached” (ACA, 2005, Standard B.5.c.). Under Standard A.2.a., Clients have the right for informed consent and the freedom to decide to enter and remain in therapy after understanding their rights and responsibilities as well as the responsibilities of the counselor (ACA, 2005). “Counselors must respect clients ' right to privacy unless they disclose an intention to harm self or others or when the client discloses they have a communicable and life-threatening disease (Standard B.1.b., Standard B.1.c., & Standard
...rt of the medical profession, the therapists are expected to maintain the confidentiality of their clients. A psychologist must be able to acquire a client’s trust in order to keep quality confidentiality amongst the two parties. Only on seriously occasions should the patient’s records be shared, under certain other conditions the psychotherapy records of a minor can be reviewed by others without prior written consent. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), psychologists can usually give way the patient records to parents or legal guardians. Some of the ethical rules that apply to the practice of child and adolescent psychiatry are clear and generally agreed upon For example, rules against sexual contact or harsh or abusive treatment are encoded as boundary violations. A psychotherapist must be able to respect the boundaries of the client.
I believe the school psychologist was not acting ethically. According to Standard I.1.1, "parent consent is required if the consultation about particular child or adolescent is likely to be extensive and ongoing and/or if school actions may result in a significant intrusion on student or family privacy beyond what might be expected in the course of ordinary school activities." Since the counseling group would be considered "extensive", the school psychologist needs a formal approval or denial of the services she intends to provide. The school psychologist also decided to send a letter explaining what the counseling session. While the letter does seem to provide extensive information on the sessions, the school psychologist has no way to know if the parents received the letter, or if the
Lawrence, G., & Robinson Kurpius, S. (2000). Legal and ethical issues involved when counseling minors in nonschool settings. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78, 130-135.
The ASCA reminds school counselors that they are to guide and assist students who are victims by supplying appropriate services (ASCA, 2016). When abuse is suspected, a guidance counselor must personally report the abuse to child protective services (CPS). Cuff vs. Grossmont Union High School District reminds us how vital it is to follow all reporting procedures. In the state of Virginia, teachers, and those working in public and private schools, are mandated reporters and must report within 24 hours of the suspected neglect or abuse; even if the abuse occurred in the past (DSS.VA.GOV). Failure to report will result in criminal actions. Although school counselors are held to confidentiality terms, cases such as these warrant a duty to warn and an ethical obligation to protect. The American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) state that as Christian counselors, one should always disclose confidential information when a life is endangered, this includes events such as suicidal ideations, bullying, and abuse (AACC, 2014). Although the ASCA and the AACC provides guidance to crisis responses, there are still legal and ethical issues that may not be
A counselor should always keep their thoughts to themselves and remain open-minded about the situation. The only time a counselor should share their thoughts is if it helps the client with their situation that they are dealing with. “Counselors must practice only within the boundaries of their competence (Standard C.2.a.), and, if they “determine an inability to be of professional assistance to clients” (Standard A.11.b.), they should facilitate a referral to another provider. (Kocet, M. M., & Herlihy, B. J. (2014). Addressing Value-Based Conflicts Within the Counseling Relationship: A Decision-Making Model. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 92(2), 180-186 7p. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00146.x).” Keeping your thoughts to yourself is
The nursing profession is trusted to provide answers to their patients regarding questions of health, illness, and disease. Genetics often play a part in the overall wellness and health of particular individuals. The family health nurse should help family members understand the challenging aspects that genetic information will have on their own life, family structure, beliefs, and cultural norms (Daly, 2015, p. 550). This discussion post will explore a counseling scenario that involves a counseling session that will provide information and choices to a couple wishing to have children.
...g with veracity include not only the basic expectation that we are honest in our professional interactions, but also in the area of informed consent. Counselors must be honest with clients concerning all areas of treatment, including the responsibilities for reporting certain information to parents or the authorities. The client must be made aware that counselors are accountable to the client, but legally as well.
They should be sensitive towards the client’s emotions and not be judgemental. Approach should also be developmentally and culturally appropriate and interaction void of any prejudice and discrimination (see ACA E.5.b. Cultural Sensitivity (in Diagnosis of Mental Disorders) & E.6.c. Culturally Diverse Populations (in Instrument Selection)). For example, while counselling a child, counsellor must be able to understand the perception of the child which may involve elements of immaturity and fantasy and not seek to correct the child’s worldview to match that of an adult. Such behaviour will diminish the child’s self-esteem and stress the child, causing harm instead of
HS 43 Term Paper 4 Core functions of a Substance Abuse Counselor By Roslyn Smith Introduction This paper will discuss the following 4 Core Functions of a Counselor: Case Management, Client Education, Crisis Intervention, Referral and their primary purposes. Discussion Case Management According to IC & RC, Case Management is defined as, “activities intended to bring services, agencies, resources, or people together within a planned framework of action toward the achievement of established goals.
The Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors (2017) last updated the scope of practice for Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) in 2010 and defined counselors as applying mental health, therapeutic, and developmental principals to facilitate development and change through prevention, assessment, evaluation of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Counselors in Texas achieve congruence through evaluation and assessment, establishing goals, forming and implementing treatment plans utilizing counseling, assessing, consulting, and referring. Counselors practicing in Texas must not only follow the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics but also the Code of Ethics in Texas (Texas
In case study of Zora (age 14), the decision of whether to keep the information shared during the session confidential or disclose it to the parents is a daunting ethical challenge that requires the psychologist to balance tensions between the obligations to protect the welfare of the adolescent. The confidential rights of minors and adolescents ages 12-16 can be confusing to many professionals that are treating this age group due to the laws and guidelines every state has pertaining to this age group (Fisher, 2013). Even though adolescents are considered to have more mental capacity for decision making than that of younger children, but they are not considered to be adults (Fisher, 2013). There are many specific areas that are needed to consider in regards to consent and confidentiality that are difficult for teens, parents, health care professionals, and lawmakers
This model identifies five moral principles which are: justice, autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and fidelity. These fundamental guidelines are used to clarify issues that involve any given situation. Ethical guidelines may not address all situations, but will allow a counselor to explore ethical dilemmas and conflicting issues. Counselors are responsible to encourage clients to make their own appropriate decisions and to act on their own values. Two important things to consider when counseling client are: autonomous encouragement helps clients understand how their decisions and values that may or may not receive within the context of the society; they live in or may impinge on the rights of others (Kitchener,
Professional ethical conduct is essential to the success of any client, whether it is in individual counseling or in a group setting. Professional psychologists, therapists, counselors, social workers or others in the field of human service or help have the duly responsibility to continuously become aware of their professional responsibilities, and manage their practice based on areas of ability. This paper will research ethics within groups and individual counseling, and compare their similarities and their differences.
In order to be an effective counselor, one must remember to keep the client(s) in mind. The goal is to assist the client(s) in living the best life possible for that particular person or persons. With that being said, one cannot forget that they have their own set of morals, values, ideas, and the like. Social workers have to keep in mind that there will be cases that are complex and a favorable outcome may not be possible. In the instance that I am confronted with an issue that conflicts with my religious beliefs, I plan on assisting the client as much as possible by adhering the National Association of Social Work Code of Ethics, NASW standards for the Practice of Clinical Social Work, and discussing my concerns with my supervisor while
“Counselors’ greatest asset is their empathy. It is also their greatest liability. Counselors may show signs of traumatization, experience fear and pain and personal distress by their exposure to the client’s trauma story” (Shallcross, 2012). It’s recommended that counselors work with a trained therapist or guided supervision before working with a traumatized client. Counselors should develop a self-care routine; maintain clear boundaries; have self-awareness; take time for thy self and relax as needed (Shallcross,