7. Professional evaluations: Marriage and family therapists aspire to the highest of standards in providing testimony in various contexts within the legal system. 8. Financial arrangements: Marriage and family therapists make financial arrangements with clients, third- party payors, and supervisees that are reasonably understandable and conform to accepted professional practices. 9. Advertising: Marriage and family therapists engage in appropriate informational activities, including those that enable the public, referral sources, or others to choose professional services on an informed basis. The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Code of Ethics addresses the professional responsibility of the counselor using many of the same components as that of the ACA. The AAMFT professional responsibilities includes responsibilities to clients and the community, and commitment to service, advocacy, and public participation as follows (AAMFT, 2015): American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Referring to the stated purpose in ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors (2022) a reference to values can be found: Marriage and family therapists are defined by an enduring dedication to professional and ethical “ Inform all educational stakeholders, including but not limited to students, parents/guardians, teachers/ staff, administrators, community members, legal professionals, and courts of justice, regarding the ethical practices, values and expected behaviors of the school counseling professional .” Though the ASCA does not specifically list professional values in their document School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies, they do include mindset standards that represent beliefs counselors hold in common. Mindset standards correspond to behaviors and competencies that can be measured. Mindset standards (ASCA, 2019) are described as follows: The mindset standards include beliefs school counselors hold about student achievement and success. Although it may be possible to measure these beliefs, the mindsets are more readily recognized through the behaviors a school counselor demonstrates as a result of the implementation of a school counseling program. Therefore, the mindset standards do not have correlating competencies. School counselors believe: ● Every student can learn, and every student can succeed. ● Every student should have access to and opportunity for a high-quality education. ● Every student should graduate from high school prepared for postsecondary opportunities. ● Every student should have access to a school counseling program. ● Effective school counseling is a collaborative process involving school counselors, students, families, teachers, administrators, other school staff and education stakeholders. ● School counselors are leaders in the school, district, state, and nation. ● School counseling programs promote and enhance student academic, career, and social/emotional outcomes.
excellence, as well as the commitment to service, advocacy, and public participation. The areas of service, advocacy, and public participation are recognized as responsibilities to the profession equal in importance to all other aspects. Marriage and family therapists embody these aspirations by participating in activities that contribute to a better community and society, including devoting a portion of their professional activity to services for which there is little or no financial return. Additionally, marriage and family therapists are concerned with developing laws and regulations pertaining to marriage and family therapy that serve the public interest, and with altering such laws and regulations that are not in the public interest. Marriage and family therapists also encourage public participation in the design and delivery of professional services and in the regulation of practitioners. Professional competence in these areas is essential to the character of the field, and to the well-being of clients and their communities. The ASCA (2022) has developed standards that are the “ethical responsibility of all school counseling professionals.” The ASCA includes the following definitions in their document, ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors: ● Ethics : The norms and principles of conduct and philosophy governing the profession. ● Ethical Behavior : Actions defined by standards of conduct for the profession. ● Ethical Obligation : A standard or set of standards defining the course of action for the profession. ● Ethical Rights : Fhe fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory. The ASCA (2022) “specifies the obligation to the principles of ethical behavior necessary to maintain the highest standards of integrity, leadership and professionalism,” and states that counselors “have a primary obligation to the students, who are to be treated with dignity and respect as unique individuals.” The American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2022) Ethical Standards for School Counselors provides standards in six categories that represent and clarify the ethical responsibility of professional school counselors. The standards, detailed in subsections, list 12 responsibilities to the student, 11 to parent/guardian, 18 to the school, 14 to duties for intern supervision, and 13 to self. Additional responsibilities in the standards are to the legal/court process, the community, and the profession at large. The purpose of the ASCA ethical standards document is to, “Provide support and direction for self-assessment, peer consultation and performance appraisal regarding school counselors’ responsibilities to students, parents/guardians, colleagues and professional associates, school district and employees, communities, and the school counseling profession.” The ASCA ethical standards should be reviewed and studied in their entirety.
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Book Code: PCTX1325
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