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DB 1 17 minutes ago

Jeffrey H

RE: Code of Ethics

In the case of Zinermon v. Burch, Darrell Burch was found walking along the highway in Florida, he was bruised and disoriented. He was found on the side of the highway by a person driving along the road and brought to a private mental health center (Isaac & Brakel, 1992). Burch was identified by the private mental health center to have paranoid schizophrenia and transferred to Florida State Hospital for five months. Both the mental health center and the Florida State Hospital Burch signed voluntary admission form for him; however, shortly after being released from the hospital, Burch filed a complaint that his constitutional rights were violated (Isaac & Brakel, 1992). Burch’s lawsuit reached the supreme court. This court case involves E.3. Informed Consent in Assessment in the ACA code of ethics. The main ethical issue in this case involves voluntary admission versus involuntary admission due to a person’s mental condition that could make them incapable of giving consent. The question then becomes what makes a person capable or incapable of giving consent, and where does one draw the ethical line? As a mental health provider, it is important to identify if a person is alert and oriented to person, place, and time. Providers have the ethical responsibility to assess and identify if a person has the capacity or does not have the capacity to consent to treatment in their current psychological state.

Reference 

American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA Code of Ethics.https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2014-code-of-ethics-finaladdress.pdf

Isaac, R. J., & Brakel, S. J. (1992). Subverting good intentions: A brief history of mental health law reform. Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, 2(1), 89-119. Subverting Good Intentions: A Brief History of Mental Health Law Reform (cornell.edu)

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17 minutes ago

Omowunmi F

RE: Code of Ethics

The In re A.C., 573 A.2d 1235 (N.J. 1990) case had a significant impact on the professional counselors' code of ethics. In one instance, a youngster (A.C.) who had experienced sexual abuse from her father sought help from a certified professional counselor (LPC). The LPC urged A.C. to confront her father about the abuse rather than reporting it to the authorities as required by law. The LPC continued to advise A.C. without disclosing the abuse until A.C. confronted her father, who denied the abuse. The matter was brought to the Supreme Court of New Jersey, which ultimately decided that the LPC was compelled by law to make the mandatory report of the abuse. In addition, the court decided that the licensed professional counselor (LPC) was responsible for maintaining the privacy of A.C.'s counseling sessions, as stipulated by the ACA Code of Ethics. The implication on the code of ethics that is under a microscope is with regards to race, ethnicity, gender, disability, age, and the aforementioned sexual orientation, (Standard C.5.) of the ACA Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2005, p. 10). This case had a significant impact on the ethical responsibilities of counselors because it established that counselors have a duty to report child abuse, even if the victim does not want the abuse to be reported. This case also established that counselors have a duty to report sexual abuse of a client, even if the client does not want the abuse to be reported.

The decision of In re A.C., which was decided by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1990 and received 573 A.2d 1235, had a significant impact on the code of ethics for professional counselors. In one particular instance, a young girl by the name of A.C. was subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of her father, and she subsequently sought help from a qualified professional counselor (LPC). Instead of complying with the legal need to disclose the abuse to the proper authorities, the licensed professional counselor (LPC) advised A.C. to confront her father about the abuse. The next step was for A.C. to face her father, who denied any wrongdoing, and the LPC proceeded to advise A.C. without reporting the abuse. The matter was brought to the Supreme Court of New Jersey, which ultimately decided that the LPC was compelled by law to make the mandatory report of the abuse. In addition, the court decided that the licensed professional counselor (LPC) was responsible for maintaining the privacy of A.C.'s counseling sessions, as stipulated by the ACA Code of Ethics. This case had a significant impact on the ethical responsibilities of counselors because it established that counselors have a duty to report child abuse, even if the victim does not want the abuse to be reported. This case also established that counselors have a duty to report sexual abuse of a client, even if the client does not want the abuse to be reported.

The following ethical responsibilities in relation to the reporting of child abuse are included in the ACA Code of Ethics: More specifically, Section B.2.a states, “confidentiality does not apply when disclosure is required to protect clients or identified others from serious and foreseeable harm or when legal requirements demand that confidential information must be revealed” (ACA, 2014).  "In compliance with the rules of the state and the locality, counselors are required to report any suspicions of child abuse or neglect to the proper state or local authorities" (Section 2.01). It was established in the case In re A.C. that counselors have a legal responsibility to disclose child abuse, even if the victim does not want the abuse to be recorded. This is a major development that makes the case important. This case demonstrated once again how essential it is for counseling sessions to be kept private, as the court found that the licensed professional counselor (LPC) had a responsibility to maintain the secrecy of A.C.'s sessions.

References


American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/Resources/aca-codeof-ethics.pdf 

American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

DB 2 Kirstie L

RE: Model of Professional Practice

As a future counselor it is important to understand your strengths and weaknesses before getting started. There are going to be challenges throughout this career choice. The model of professional practice provides the building blocks on being a professional counselor. One challenge that this author may have been understanding the different laws and regulations that may come into effect with the client. It is important to keep the client protected but also know where the law can come into play. This author may have trouble understanding when law enforcement or other agencies that may get the client in trouble. A counselor’s room is a safe space for the client but there is some information that if shared needs to be told to the proper authorities. This may be a challenge for this author because she would not want to tell her supervisor or the authorities’ information that should have been protected in the safe space. This author would want to make sure that she understands what is protected under confidentiality agreements before meeting with clients so that it does not ruin her career. If she tells information that should not have been shared then the client will lose trust in her skills and it could lose her other clients as well. This author would read over the Code of Ethics and meet with her supervisor to make sure that she understands it all before being provided clients. She would look up what information does not need to stay confidential in a therapy session so that she knows that the information needs to be shared. (Reamer, 2013)

Reamer, F. (2013). Social Work Values and Ethics. 4th Ed.

Elyse M

RE: Model of Professional Practice

The models of professional practice outline the values and beliefs that guide the profession and how counselors may work with clients and colleagues. Ultimately, there are core values that exist within the field that professionals are expected to uphold to act and practice in an ethical and moral manner (Frost, Robinson, & Anning, 2005). While these beliefs and values are generally shared among professionals, there may be some principles that are more challenging to maintain. For example, one of the values that serves as the model for professional practice emphasizes the importance of human relationships. This writer agrees with the importance of viewing the individual as a function of their social environment. Within this standard, it is also expected that each client is treated with unconditional positive regard (Barsky, 2019).

Throughout this writer’s career in the field of social work and human service, she has continued to make efforts to genuinely understand clients and build a strong therapeutic alliance with clients. Even so, there are times when this notion and expectation may feel more difficult or challenging depending on the population. For example, this writer has primarily worked with court-involved clients in forensic settings. Through this experience, she has encountered cases that can provoke emotions within the counselor depending on the nature or circumstance of the offense. When these emotions arise, it may feel more challenging to be able to enter a case with an objective and unbiased lens. However, this writer has found that awareness and seeking support have been crucial to being able to continue to work with clients as effectively as possible to provide them with necessary services.

Even experienced counselors should continue to seek supervision and even more so when cases could result in more serious adverse outcomes such as the client being negatively affected or vicarious trauma (Pearson, 2006). Ultimately, this writer feels that every counselor is vulnerable to biases and automatic thoughts. Therefore, in order to continue to practice professionally and ethically, maintaining awareness of the counselor’s personal thoughts, emotions, and actions, is a critical component to being able to empathetically understand.

References

Barsky, A. E. (2019). Ethics and values in social work: An integrated approach for a comprehensive curriculum. Oxford University Press.

Frost, N., Robinson, M., & Anning, A. (2005). Social workers in multidisciplinary teams: issues and dilemmas for professional practice. Child & Family Social Work, 10(3), 187-196.

Pearson, Q. M. (2006). Psychotherapy-driven supervision: Integrating counseling theories into role-based supervision. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 28(3), 241-252.

DB 3 Keyoka C

RE: Legal vs. Ethical Decision Making

When it comes to ethical and or legal issues, it is best that a counselor is up to date with any ramifications of many things such as, the code of conduct, when you can break confidentiality, and what protocol to follow in such scenarios. Ethical issues in counseling generally fall on the therapist.  

Example scenario:  

A counselor is working with a family, and in that family each family member has individual counseling as well as group counseling. One of the adult children in individual session disclosed he tried to kill himself and describe somewhat of a believable story, but immediately follow up with “I was just kidding”. In a follow up session, the client discloses “remember when I told you, I tried to kill myself? well it was my sister (another member who is part of the group family therapy), and follows through with “I was just joking”. In this scenario, is what the client stating facts, and do the counselor believe what he is disclosing? If, what he is disclosing is factual, how do the counselor decide if it is the patient or the sibling, or either. While in session with the sister, you notice a slit on her wrist. If the counselor believes that harm is being done in the form of suicide, what are the ethical ramifications, and or legal ramifications allowed by the counselor. In this scenario consulting with a supervisor for the best scenario will assist in concluding the best alternative. Taking action is always the best choice. Counselor followed up with probing questions, and although the clients claim seemed like it did not actually happen, the mention of suicide is serious. A suicide risk evaluation was conducted, and HLOC, to include suicide prevention information to the individual as well as in group as an informational session.  

References 

Allan E. Barsky. (2010). Ethics and Values in Social Work: An Integrated Approach for a Comprehensive Curriculum. Oxford University Press. 

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1 day ago

Jessica F

RE: Legal vs. Ethical Decision Making

In the counseling profession there are times when we are faced with a dilemma which has legal and ethical implications. This writer is a mandated reporter in her job in the school system. Also, as professional counselors we make it clear that if there is any report of abuse or harm either to our client or to someone else, we must report it. If a client discloses abuse during a session, we are obligated to report. For example, a client is talking about their stress and how they are dealing with some anger problems. The client is comfortable speaking because they feel it is confidential. The client expresses situations where their anger got so bad that they abused their child. They disclosed situations where the child was locked in a room all day as well as not being fed. The client is in distress as they speak and even though they admit feeling bad they also understand they are unable to control their anger.  

As a professional counselor it is a duty to protect those children and yet it is an ethical dilema because the client trusts the counselor and felt comfortable disclosing the information. The American Counseling Association, code of ethics B.1.c, states that counselors disclose information only with appropriate consent or sound legal or ethical justification. In this case, the nature of the abuse would be considered sound ethical justification. If a counselor was not sure, they should receive feedback from a supervisor. Furthermore, Code of ethics B.2.b, states that the general requirement that counselors keep information confidential does not apply when disclosure is required to protect clients from harm or identified others from forseeable harm. Counselors should refer to their states guidelines for manated reporting but in most cases the law protects mandated reporters from violating confidentiality (Henderson, 2013). Furthermore, good faith immunity clauses protect counselors from cilvil or legal liability, when they make honest reports based on genuine suspicions that abuse is occuring (Henderson, 2013). There are resources available that will assist a counselor in categories of abuse as well as referring to a superisor for further input if necessary. 

References 

ACA Code of Ethics  

Henderson, K. L. (2013). Mandated reporting of child abuse: Considerations and guidelines for mental health counselors. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 35(4), 296–309. https://doi-org.postu.idm.oclc.org/10.17744/mehc.35.4.x35610245863n034

Explanation & Answer:
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Outline
➢ This paper includes the responses to three discussion questions about Code of Ethics
➢ There are six responses in total responding to six different classmates.
➢ The responses capture the idea of the author in regard to the posts posted by fellow
classmates.


Responses
RE: Code of Ethics
Jeffrey H
Hello Jeffrey. You have articulated the case of Zinermon v. Burch in depth. Indeed, the
question of if there are situations that allows a counselor or mental health provider to consent a
client to treatment without seeking consent from the client is valid. In my view, I think some
psychological conditions might not allow the client to reason or act within his or her normal
health condition. For example, sometimes, the client might be struggling with a severe major
depressive disorder that causes memory impairment. Under that condition, it might be impossible
for a counselor or mental health provider to seek treatment consent from the client. That means
there are boundaries in which a counselor can ask for consent, and under other conditions, the
therapist should act ethically without seeking consent. However, the client should assess the
client, and he the client is incapacitated or cannot think straight, then the counselor should first
seek consent from the client's next of kin. During the assessment session, the counselor should
inquire if the client has a next of kin. That means the counselor should not directly treat the client
without knowing if the client has a support system that includes the next of kin. Most clients who
come for therapeutic or counseling services have a support system or circle. Therefore, as a
professional counselor, it is critical to inquire about the client's support circle. However, if the
client does not have a next of kin or support circle and he or she has memory impairment or
cannot think for himself, then the counselor can admit the client and subject him or her to
treatment without consent.
According to ACA (2014), the counselor should always work on saving the client's life.
Therefore, the counselor cannot risk a client's life or harm the client. In that case, the counselor

needed to act ethically by admitting Burch to the clinic even without her consent. This is
because, under the codes of ethics, it was the counselor or mental health provider's responsibility
to save Burch's life. In my view, the mental health provider acted within the code of ethics;
therefore, Burch should not have sued the mental health provider (Kaplan, 2014). On that note, I
concur that the Providers have the ethical responsibility to assess and identify if a person has the
capacity or cannot consent to treatment in their current psychological state. Moreover, it is
essential to note that counselors should respect the client's rights to confidentiality and privacy.
That means in situations where the counselor consents to treatment without asking; the client
should still uphold confidentiality and privacy. Also, the counselor should be having a consent
form that should give the client during the initial interview or assessment session to sign.
References
American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics: As approved by the ACA
governing council. [Electronic version].
Kaplan, D. M. (2014). Ethical implications of a critical legal case for the counseling profession:
Ward v. Wilbanks. Journal of Counseling & Development, 92(2), 142-146.

Omowunmi F
Hello Omowunmi. I am impressed with how you have analyzed the case of AC. Indeed,
the Licensed Professional Counselor has the responsibility to act ethically. I believe
confidentiality and privacy are two critical components of the counseling profession. That means
no one should compromise the privacy and confidentiality of the client. However, there are limits
to which the two componen...


Anonymous
Really helpful material, saved me a great deal of time.

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