National Professional Counselor Ebook Continuing Education

INTRODUCTION

Mental health professionals today face complex ethical considerations related to a host of factors. Increasing client diversity, changing family dynamics, and new methods of providing counseling and therapy through digital technology and social media bring new ethical challenges. Ethical practice requires counselors and therapists to reconsider issues of confidentiality, informed consent, multiple relationships, patient privacy, and records security. The practitioner must keep pace with revised ethical standards of practice and the needs of an increasingly diverse population. A working knowledge and daily application of revised ethical guidelines are required of all mental health counselors, therapists, and staff to provide the highest level of service to their clients. ● “Ethics” refers to the beliefs that individuals hold about what is right and what is wrong. ● “Morals” are similar and have been described as a person’s individual values that guide their behavior based on their beliefs of right and wrong. ● “Ethical conduct” refers to the behaviors exhibited by the counselor and the therapist. Good ethical conduct in counseling and therapy is grounded in moral principles, professional standards, decision making skills, understanding ethical codes, and a commitment to client welfare. Both laws and ethical codes regulate the practice of therapists and counselors. Professional organizations do not enforce laws; rather, they develop standards and guidelines to assist the practitioner in delivering services based on ethical principles. Laws are defined and enforced by governmental definitions of the minimum standards of conduct that are acceptable to society. Common types of ethical violations that occur in the counseling profession include errors in informed consent, breach of confidentiality, inappropriate relationships with clients, false or misrepresented statements, fraudulent billing practices, and boundary violations. Historical Perspectives Standards of practice and the idea of accountability can be traced back to ancient Egypt. The code of Hammurabi was established as far back as 2000 B.C.E. It contained a description of physicians’ responsibilities and the consequences and punishments if a patient's health did not improve. The Hippocratic Oath, written in 400 B.C.E., can be viewed as an early example of a code of ethics to guide the practice of medical professionals and define obligations to their profession, practice, and patients. This ancient oath is the foundation for the values and ethical principles in our current codes of ethics. The writings of Aristotle concluded that ethics provided guidelines for virtuous and moral action. In his rule, the “Gold Mean,” Aristotle defined an ethical choice as one that falls in the middle of two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency (Elgridge, 2023). After World War II, the American Psychological Association (APA) saw the need to develop a code of ethics due to a change in the type of professional activity requested of its members. Psychologists were called to address the mental health needs of soldiers returning home from the war and were responsible for developing psychological assessments to determine eligibility for the draft. A committee was formed to identify ethical issues to effectively guide psychologists’ practice. It covered

In order to educate and guide counselors and therapists, professional associations have developed codes of ethics as resources, as well as processes to review ethics complaints to protect clients. Recent revisions to these codes will be discussed, with policies and procedures to address ethical complaints if a violation is alleged. The “Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information,” or the Privacy Rule, establishes a set of national standards to protect health information. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the Privacy Rule to implement the requirement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The Privacy Rule addresses the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information by professionals subject to the Privacy Rule (HIPAA, 1996). The major goal of the Privacy Rule is to ensure that health information is properly protected while allowing the flow of information to promote quality healthcare and protect the public’s health. The HIPAA Privacy Rule and the codes of ethics for mental health practitioners complement each other and were developed to ensure privacy, confidentiality, and the well-being of individuals and society. This course reviews the codes of ethics and guidelines from several different organizations, including: ● The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) ● The American Counselors Association (ACA) ● The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) ● The Association of Marital Therapy Regulatory Board (AMFTRB) The codes and guidelines for each of these associations will be summarized. Some codes have been recently revised, and all should be reviewed in their entirety on their respective websites included in the resource section at the end of this course. concepts that included the psychologists’ responsibilities when treating clients, training students, and consulting colleagues as well as ethical research practices (Hobbs, 1948). Throughout the years, other mental health organizations developed codes of ethics and enacted subsequent revisions to address the continuing changes in society and the needs of their clients. The ACA can trace its roots to 1952 when independent member associations held a joint convention. These associations included the National Vocational Guidance Association (NVGA); the National Association of Guidance and Counselor Trainers (NAGCT); the Student Personnel Association for Teacher Education (SPATE); and the American College Personnel Association. They established the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) to form a professional group that united all counselors. A Code of Ethics was first developed and adopted in 1963. In 1983, the association adopted the name American Association of Counseling and Development. It was changed again on July 1, 1992, to the American Counseling Association (ACA). This new membership association unified the various counseling professions into one entity that reflected shared goals, purpose, and commitment to ethical practice.

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Book Code: PCUS1525

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