Ethical Issues of Counselors

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, while, the majority of psychologists and counselors would never intentionally harm their clients, they are often put in positions in which the morally correct answer is not entirely cut and dry. The author points out that, in these instances of ethical ambiguity, counselors must make snap decisions in which no action is entirely without its drawback; furthermore, counseling is not an exact science and therefore the counselor must be careful not to do more harm than good. The paper relates that many psychological counselors take a risk management approach to their practice because counselors are constantly faced with situations that challenge their ethics and must always be wary of even the appearance of acting in an unethical manner.

From the Paper:

"These situations may apply to a broad range of aspects of the counselor's practice. For instance, a counselor may face an ethical dilemma on a strictly professional level. For example, if the counselor went of vacation and left the hiring of an office assistant to his partners, only to return to discover that the person hired was a former client. This situation may or may not present a professional conflict of interest. There are also situations in which the ethical dilemma is more on a personal level. For example, if the counselor's sister had a troubled son who refused to be counseled by anyone but the counselor himself. This situation would have the potential to have lasting repercussions on the relationships between the counselor and his nephew and sister. A counselor may also face ethical dilemmas which challenge the relationship with the client. For example, a female client who is so overcome by the excitement of having just passed the bar exam comes toward the counselor with open arms and lips puckered. On the one hand, the counselor would want to validate the client's excitement while at the same time avoiding doing anything that might be misconstrued at a later time. Counselors may also be faced with situations that could have legal repercussions."

More papers on Ethical Issues of Counselors:

• Research Paper # 64731 : "Ethical Issues in Counseling"
• Research Paper # 75393 : "School Counselors"
• Book Review # 133317 : "Ethical Standards": Corey, Corey and Callanan (2007)"

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