suitability and other indicators relevant to their specific practice or specialty. The most important indicators involve whether technology assisted counseling will be beneficial to the client based on their needs, preferences, values, desired outcomes, and any risks to their care. This is the perfect scenario to apply a decision-making model to evaluate the client, environment, setting, and media platforms to determine the suitability of technology before adopting these methods of practice. The following are some questions to answer that might help clarify the decision on technology -assisted practice: ● Which clients might benefit the most from a technology approach and why? Which clients would not be suitable for technology-assisted counseling methods and why? ● Would technology-assisted practice be effective as a stand- alone methodology for some clients, and what criteria would be important when making that decision? ● What clients might benefit most from traditional methods or when might a flexible approach using both traditional and technological methods be indicated? As technology-based counseling is rapidly expanding and becoming more preferred by some clients, the counselor will
need to decide whether to include these methods in practice. It is their responsibility to ensure they can implement technology programs while maintaining the highest quality of professional practice. This involves following state and federal legal and ethical regulations and practice within the framework of professional values, principles, and standards. A review of responses on the use of technology-assisted counseling showed almost equal numbers of provider acceptance and rejection of the method. The information from the study presents many points for consideration when a counselor is deciding whether to adopt telemental health methods. The arguments on both sides include responses that correlate with Texas legal regulations and association codes for ethical practice to ensure confidentiality and informed consent, avoid fraudulent or misleading statements, and maintain appropriate boundaries with clients. These studies may provide information to aid in developing plans and procedures when implementing technology in practice and explaining the risks and benefits to the client. This includes the process of informed consent, based on thorough understanding of the counseling plan and the client’s role as an active participant.
COUNSELOR HEALTH AND WELLNESS
One area that is often overlooked in the discussion of ethical practice is the health and well-being of the counselor. This is a critical factor in maintaining competency, which involves energy, stamina, critical thinking, communication, judgement, and decision-making ability needed to maintain ethical practice. In Texas, there is a shortage of mental health care professionals to meet the ever-increasing demand for services partially due to the pandemic of COVID-19. Counselors may encounter caseloads that contribute to physical and emotional stress, leading them to feel frustrated, exhausted, and overwhelmed. Professional practice may involve complex, disturbing, or life- altering issues clients bring to the counseling relationship that may have a profound effect on the counselor. Counselors must be able to identify when the demands of practice interfere with their health leading to feelings of anxiety, depression, insomnia, or physical ailments related to stress. Ethical practice begins with the professional responsibility to follow the framework set by the national and state association codes of ethics. All counseling specialty areas share basic principles, values, and standards that guide ethical practice, and all professional counselors aspire to follow these codes. The highest quality of ethical practice is ruled by Texas state statutes and administered by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors and the National Board for Certified Counselors that regulate licensure of counselors in Texas. Federal regulations of HIPAA, HITECH, and FERPA regulate counseling practice in areas of confidentiality, informed consent, and electronic transmission of protected health information among agencies. State regulations defer to these federal rules and directives administered by the judicial system. The legal statutes and ethics codes cannot address every ethical conflict that may occur in practice. The counselor will need to apply a sound decision making-process that relies on professional knowledge, experience, understanding of the law, ethical standards, and resources to assist in their decisions. Counselors work to promote the welfare of clients and assist them to become confident and self-reliant to make decisions and build skills for autonomy. This involves engaging clients in planning their counseling process based on needs, preferences, values, and desired outcomes. This involves working together
Continuing to work when experiencing mental or physical challenges can impede ability to deliver effective services to clients. Impaired judgement, inadequate decisions, miscommunications, and failure to follow procedures and regulations may result in practice that falls short of ethical
standards and regulations. As stated by the ACA (2014):
Counselors must take care of their wellness, which may affect their relationships with clients and their competency to practice. As stated in the ACA Code of Ethics section on the responsibilities of the professional counselor, “Counselors engage in self-care activities to maintain and promote their own emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being to best meet their professional responsibilities.
CONCLUSION
through a shared decision making-process that delineates the course of their care. The most common ethical conflicts include issues surrounding confidentiality, informed consent, boundary issues, and misrepresentation or fraudulent statements, often due to conflicts of interest. Some ethical conflicts can be traced to the lack of knowledge concerning the legal statutes or ethical codes and others may be due to a lapse in judgement influenced by inappropriate relationships with clients or their associates. Specific regulations apply to minors, disabled, and elderly clients that may not be able to consent to participate independently in their care. Finally, the counselor has the obligation to maintain their competence for professional practice by adhering to law and ethics codes, updating skills and knowledge, reviewing current research, and maintaining their physical and emotional wellness. Though ethical conflicts arise in all counseling practice, the licensed professional should be confident to successfully navigate these issues. Counselors practice within their area of competence based on their knowledge of standards, codes of ethics, legal regulations, decision-making skills, and the availability of resources to assist them in delivering the highest quality of ethical practice.
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Book Code: PCTX1324
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