Self-Assessment Question 2 ● NBCC: Certified counselors and candidates demonstrate their commitment to ethical behaviors by demonstrating, and representing to their clients, sensitivity to multicultural issues, avoiding discrimination, oppression, and/or any form of social injustice. ● ACA: Honor diversity and embrace a multicultural approach in support of the worth, dignity, potential, and uniqueness of people within their social and cultural contexts. Promote social justice. ● AAMFT: Excellence in service to members. Diversity, equity, and excellence in clinical practice, research, education, and administration. Integrity evidenced by a high threshold of ethical and honest behavior within Association governance and by members. The statements above represent: a. State statutes b. Core values
c. HIPAA regulations d. Association laws
ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING
Ethical decision-making is a process that involves the informed judgment of the therapist or counselor. There are many situations where simple answers are not available for ethical questions, or where the complexity of the situation crosses several standards with different possible interpretations. Ethics related to diversity, discrimination, privacy, confidentiality, privilege, informed consent, dual relationships, and duty to warn may overlap as these are all areas where ethical violations may occur. The practitioner should consider how the issues would be judged in a peer review process where ethical standards would be applied. In all cases, the practitioner must review values, principles, and ethical standards relevant to the situation. They should have thorough knowledge of ethics codes for their organization or employer, and applicable state and federal statutes. Again, even when codes do not contain specific guidelines covering a particular issue, the practitioner is responsible for making correct ethical decisions. If practitioners are faced with ethical dilemmas that are difficult to resolve, they are expected to engage in an ethical decision-making process that aligns with ethics codes. This process may involve consulting outside resources and collaboration with other professionals. Reasonable differences of opinion may exist among individual counselors or therapists in respect to values, principles, directives, and how standards would be applied when they conflict. There is no specific ethical decision-making model identified to be most effective. Professionals should be familiar with evidence-based models of decision-making that involve a professional team and will stand up to public scrutiny. In the absence of a clear answer to the particular ethical issue, or when conflicts arise among the team concerning interpretation, the team must implement an ethical decision- making model. Through the decision-making processes counselors and therapists can make ethical decisions for the welfare of clients. Most decision-making models include the following components in some form: 1. Identify the problem and ethical issue(s). 2. Consult relevant professional association and organizational codes of ethics for guidance. 3. Review state and federal statutes that regulate ethical practice.
4. Consult professionals from several sources to obtain multiple, objective perspectives. 5. Identify relevant client communications or concerns. 6. Brainstorm potential strategy options, considering all suggestions and opinions. 7. Discuss potential outcomes or consequences for each option. 8. Develop the action plan with roles, responsibilities, and timelines for stakeholders. 9. Be sure the plan aligns with all ethics codes, legal statutes, and regulations. 10. Implement the plan and assess progress. 11. Revise the plan as needed. After the team has agreed on a course of action and a plan to move forward, they should review the plan to see if it presents any new considerations involving ethics and client welfare. Stadler (1986) suggests applying three simple tests to the course of action to be sure it is appropriate. These tests are referenced in current ACA guidelines (Forester- 1. Justice: This test assesses fairness by asking if the decision and treatment would be extended to other clients in similar situations. 2. Publicity: Would the practitioner allow the ethical decision or course of action to be reported by the press? 3. Universality: Could they recommend the same decision and course of action to another counselor in the same situation? If the team believes that they can meet these three tests, they should feel confident that their decision is ethically sound. The practitioner can then move forward with the client. When one or more of the tests cannot be answered in the affirmative, the team should analyze the reasons why the decision has failed in that test. They can then revisit the decision-making process to review the part of the test that has not been met and identify the part of the plan that is not just, would not meet public scrutiny, or lacked universality, for example. Miller& Davis, 2016). The three tests are: If the course of action presents new ethical issues, the counselor or team will go back to the beginning and reevaluate each step of the process to address that issue.
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