Abstract In counseling or coaching injured athletes, far more than their physical condition must be taken into account. Coaches and other counselors are charged, as well, with attending to the psychological, mental and even spiritual needs of the athlete. Because of this, there are ethical issues inherent in the coaching or counseling relationship. The paper explains that for such reasons, the American Counseling Association and the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology have both put into place codes of ethics that can be used to help prevent abusive counseling/coaching relationships with injured athletes. The paper assesses how coaches and counselors can best assist injured athletes and avoid conflict of interest or other unethical considerations, by looking at the requirements of each code.
Paper Outline:
Introduction
Ethics and Standards
American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice
Ethical Principles and Standards of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology
Conclusion
References
From the Paper "While one researcher noted that coaches were prone to act unethically in sending injured players back to the game too soon, it appears more likely that any ethical dilemmas facing athletes and coaches/counselors revolve around coaches failing to understand fully the injuries they might have to deal with regularly, and also failing to exercise the compassion the students in the Sherman study and other expressed a need for. The fact that coaches were seen, in one study, as distant makes it all the more important that we change our minds about what constitutes ethical dilemmas."
