Code of Ethics for Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists __________________________________
Serious and foreseeable : A concept used in negligence tort law to limit the liability of a party to those acts that carry a risk of foreseeable harm, meaning a reasonable person would be able to predict or anticipate the harmful consequence of their actions. Sexual harassment : Unwanted and offensive physical, verbal, or nonverbal sexual conducts in a workplace, professional, or social situation. Social justice : Equity for all people, including the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society to end oppression and to provide access to communities, schools, workplaces, governments, and other social or institutional systems. Social media : Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content, communicate, or participate in social networking. Subpoena duces tecum : A writ ordering a person to appear before the court and bring relevant documents and other tangible evidence for use at a hearing or trial. Telemental health : Counseling and therapy services delivered through two-way electronic communication including but not limited to telephone, videoconferencing, email, text, and instant messaging.
HIPAA Privacy Rule https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/ privacy/index.html International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors (IAMFC) https://www.iamfconline.org National Board for Certified Counselors https://www.nbcc.org
CONCLUSION Clearly the major counseling and therapy associations and regulatory divisions agree on the standards, principles, and guidelines that dictate and govern ethical practice. Today, ethical practice requires competence that goes beyond basic professional foundational standards and involves knowl- edge of ethical decision making, multicultural awareness and sensitivity, self-awareness to address implicit bias including microaggressions, telemental health practices, ethics codes, and state and federal laws that are continuously evolving. It is the counselors’ and therapists’ obligation to stay current with research and revisions in the knowledge, guidelines, and laws that govern their profession. Many resources are available, and the professional must rely on colleagues, supervisors, associations, and state and local agencies for collaboration on decisions to address complicated ethical dilemmas that may arise. There are no codes or guide- lines to address every ethical issue a professional may face, and no decision-making model will apply to all cases. The practitioner must be familiar with the procedures of decision making and include the client when possible to build rapport and participation in the counseling or therapy process. In addition to collaboration with other professionals, there are case studies, legal statutes, state administrative codes, and considerable research to consider when making ethical deci- sions. Always apply tests to evaluate the decision before putting the plan into action. Best practice to ensure the delivery of ethical service relies on the professional acquiring competencies to deliver new meth- ods of telemental health services, continuing self-awareness, knowledge of changing cultures and family dynamics, and culture-fair assessment to inform practice. The professional must continually evaluate their services to ensure they are delivering ethical practice. Every action must be based on the primary focus of client welfare that includes identification of foreseeable harm and taking appropriate measures for prevention.
RESOURCES
American Association of Marriage and Family https://www.aamft.org/AAMFT/Legal_Ethics/Code_of_ Ethics.aspx American Counseling Association https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default- document-library/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf American Mental Health Counselors Association https://www.amhca.org American Psychological Association https://www.apa.org/ethics/code Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling (ACAC) https://acachild.org Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in Counseling (ALGBTIC) https://www.counseling.org/about-us/governance-bylaws/ candidate-profiles/divisions-and-regions/association-for- lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-issues-in-counseling Association for Multi-Cultural Counseling and Development https://www.multiculturalcounselingdevelopment.org
WORKS CITED https://qr2.mobi/CodeEthicsCMFT
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