Ethical Decision Making for the 21st Century Counselor

Donna S. Sheperis, Stacy L. Henning, Michael M. Kocet

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781452235493
• eBook ISBN: 9781483322339
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Education Counseling
• Index: Social Sciences

Ethical practice is an essential aspect of counselor training. In order for counselors to competently work with clients, they must be well versed in ethical codes, ethical decision making, and legal issues impacting the profession. Ethical Decision Making for the 21st Century Counselor provides the fundamentals of ethical practice, with emphasis on ethical decision making and is structured to facilitate the development of these skills and understanding and applying them. Individuals will be able to incorporate ethical practice into their understanding of the counseling process and integrate ethical decision making models into their counseling practice. This unique approach differs from existing texts because of its strong emphasis on practical decision making and focus on understanding the process of applying a standard ethical decision model to any ethical scenario. Students build a foundation in how to evaluate an ethical situation and feel confident that they have applied a set of decision models to reach the best decision.  

Ethical Decision Making for the 21st Century Counselor is part of the SAGE Counseling and Professional Identity Series, which targets specific competencies identified by CACREP (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs).

Chapter 1 Introduction to Ethical Decision Making and Ethical Practice

I am a good person, so that will make me a good counselor. I always have had values and morals and know what it takes to live a good life. I shouldn’t have any problems, right? I mean, ethical decisions are just taking what I know is right and applying it to the client’s situation. So if an adolescent tells me she is thinking about having sex with her boyfriend, I tell her parents. Wait, I mean that I keep her confidence and help her make good choices. Now what do I do?

Chapter Overview

This chapter introduces the reader to the roles and functions of professional codes of ethics. The foundational ethical principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and fidelity undergird all ethical practice in professional counseling. These principles are manifested in the various codes of ethics developed by professional organizations that counselors join. This chapter helps readers explore their personal values, morals, and ethics that influence how they ethically practice as counselors. These personal considerations have to be integrated into professional considerations, typically through the use of an ethical decision-making model (EDM). As such, the basics of ethical decision making are described. Finally, the intersection between ethics and law is introduced.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter you will be able to do the following:

1. Describe the foundational ethical principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and fidelity.
2. Differentiate between mandatory and aspirational ethics.
3. Analyze your personal ethics and values using the Counseling Ethics Audit (CEA).
4. Evaluate each step in the ethical decision-making process.
5. Examine ethical challenges, and apply ethical codes to each situation.

CACREP Standards

CACREP Core Standards

• G.1.j. Ethical standards of professional organizations and credentialing bodies and applications of ethical and legal considerations in professional counseling.

CACREP Clinical Mental Health Standards

• A.2. Understands the ethical and legal considerations specifically related to the practice of clinical mental health counseling.

Introduction

Welcome to the world of ethical decision making and ethical practice in counseling. As counselors, we are reliant on ethical codes and models of decision making that help us serve our clients. This chapter will focus on the foundational purpose of codes of ethics, the principles that guide our practice, how ethical decisions are made, and how ethics works in tandem with law to inform our professional identities.

Being a professional counselor means that we honor the code of ethics put forth by our primary professional organization: the American Counseling Association (ACA). We may find that we also fall under other codes such as those established by the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA), the American School Counselors Association (ASCA), and others. Our professional memberships help us determine the codes we fall under, but even if we do not join a professional organization, we are bound to the codes that are considered to be the gold standard of our profession: those of the ACA.

Foundational Ethical Principles

We will begin our discussion of ethics by talking about some of the foundational principles that underscore an ethical approach to counseling. While various elements of ethics have been discussed, debated, and clarified since the beginning of time, the counseling profession looks to the foundational principles established by Kitchener (1984). Those principles are autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and fidelity.

Autonomy

Autonomy means to have will or freedom to make independent choices. Essentially, we value autonomy as ethical counselors because we view the clients as having the right and ability to make their own decisions. Autonomy is also reflected in the way we perceive values. The overriding values honored in the session are those of the client. Of course, not all individuals are able to express or even determine their own values, and part of the process of counseling is to assist them in this development (Fisher & Oransky, 2008).

You might be thinking something like this: What do we do if the client’s choices are not in their best interests? Of course we may have differing opinions, but we need to remember that is because we have differing values. Our role is to value what the client values. If choices have negative consequences, we help clients see the big picture, so they can adjust their choices accordingly. Overall, we recognize that clients have the right to make their own choices, and we support them in making the best decisions for their situations. If competency is in question, then we may have a different duty, but for the most part, our role is to support the concept of independence in the client.

Nonmaleficence

Most of us have heard of the concept of nonmaleficence, but we have not always heard this formal term. Nonmaleficence simply means to do no harm. You likely have heard of this related to the Hippocratic oath that physicians take. We should never act with malice or intent to harm clients. Rarely, if ever, do counselors intend to harm clients. However, there may be times when we might unintentionally harm clients if we do not thoroughly consider the impact of our decisions (Jennings, Sovereign, Bottorff, Mussell, & Vye, 2005).

In relation to our profession, nonmaleficence also refers to our duty to avoid using ineffective treatments. This becomes important when we select certain theoretical approaches or treatment strategies. We must not use treatments we know to be ineffective (Whitman, Glosoff, Kocet, & Tarvydas, 2006). In addition, our ethical codes require that we share with clients when we are considering new or untested treatment approaches. When considering these approaches, the risks of treatment (harm) must be understood in light of the potential benefits. Ultimately, the previous concept of autonomy comes into play as the client must decide whether the potential benefits outweigh the potential harms.

Beneficence

While doing no harm is certainly important, it seems even more important that as professional counselors we also provide a benefit to clients. Beneficence, in its shortest form, means to do good. Our approaches to treatment should result in an ultimate benefit to the client (Cesta, 2011). We operate from this principle when we work proactively to benefit our clients and help avoid any harm to them. While all principles are important, beneficence seems to direct everything that we do as professional counselors and thus carries significant weight in our decision making.

Justice

The relative equivalent of the word justice is fairness. Another synonym is impartiality. But the term justice when applied to counseling ethics does not mean that we always treat clients the same way. As a profession that values the uniqueness of individuals, we recognize that it is impossible to be completely equal with all clients. Rather, justice is a compassionate means of treating all with fairness and integrity in relation to their respective circumstances and inherent context (Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996).

Fidelity

So often when we hear the word fidelity, we think of faithful, romantic relationships. There certainly is an element of faithfulness in the word. In relation to counseling, counselors must be mindful to the interests of our clients and keep those in mind first above all others. Fidelity requires that we maintain the trust and confidence of our clients. It further requires that we, as counselors, do what we say we are going to do for our clients (Randall & Biggs, 2008).

In addition to doing what we say we are going to do, fidelity implies that the client is able to trust the counselor. The counselor is responsible for creating a safe environment for clients. One of the core aspects of a safe environment is trust, which is encapsulated in this ethical principle of fidelity. As you can imagine, clients must be able to trust that their counselors will keep their confidences. It is also important that clients trust that their counselors can be helpful. Thus, fidelity is crucial to the relationship.

Mandatory Versus Aspirational Ethics

We have discussed the foundation of ethics, but how do we use ethics? As counselors, we know we are bound by codes of ethics. However, we may not ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Publisher Note
• Acknowledgements
• Half Title
• Publisher Note
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Brief Contents
• Detailed Contents
• Sidebar List
• Editors’ Preface: Introduction to the Series
• Authors’ Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Acknowledgements
• About the Authors
• Chapter 1 Introduction to Ethical Decision Making and Ethical Practice
• Chapter 2 Ethical Decision-Making Models
• Chapter 3 Cultural Competency and Ethical Decision Making
• Chapter 4 Relational Ethical Decision Making
• Chapter 5 Ethics and the Counseling Relationship
• Chapter 6 Informed Consent
• Chapter 7 Confidentiality and Record Keeping
• Chapter 8 Ethical Decision Making and Managing Professional Boundaries
• Chapter 9 Minors
• Chapter 10 Ethics in Family and Group Counseling
• Chapter 11 Counselor Education and Supervision
• Chapter 12 Challenges to Ethical Practice in the 21st Century
• Chapter 13 Resolving Ethical Issues
• Chapter 14 Social Justice and Advocacy
• Epilogue: From the Authors’ Chair
• Index