Value Objectivity Paper

The ethical guidelines for human service professionals mandate that, “Human service professionals respect the integrity and welfare of the client at all times.” (Freeman, S. J. 2000)

The American Counseling Association and the American Mental Health Counselors Association Codes of Ethics both provide guidance and direction in making ethical decisions for their members (ACA, 2005) (AMHCA, 2010). Both the ACA and the AMHCA Codes of Ethics cover a wide range of moral and ethical situations that could present themselves to mental health professionals. Both of these codes of ethics have significant impacts on the counseling profession. The tools provided by these codes of ethics ensure that mental health professionals are able to conform to the regulations set forth. They address common concerns from varying points of view. Understanding these codes of ethics is essential to all mental

In the past, counselors have lacked the knowledge and skills to interpret ethical guidelines in multicultural counseling. The ethical guidelines dictate how a counselor should have the necessary tools when conducting a counseling session. There is a shortfall of training and education when dealing with race, ethnicity, and cultural backgrounds in today’s society. Ethics is a hot topic for counselors, partially because there are so many different situations that can be affected by ethical behavior. These situations can range from betraying the clients trust to injustice. There tends to be a lot of ambiguity for how to handle a situation ethically since there are a lot of

The American Counseling Association has also developed a Code of Ethics that all counselors are bound to follow to uphold the integrity of the profession. The Code of Ethics has a specific area devoted solely to research and how procedures should be handled. First and foremost, researchers should follow all federal, state, and local laws pertaining to research with human subjects (ACA, 2005). The Code of Ethics also explains that researchers are responsible for the well being of their subjects and they should take special precautions to avoid harm in any way, including physical,

One trend that is developing with ethical decision making models are that the models are becoming specialized and geared toward the counselors specific population, or on a particular ethical issue (Deroche, Eckart, Lott, Park, & Raddler, 2015). As a result, once careful consideration has been applied to the ethical dilemma, more than likely the counselor will still ask the question “How can I know whether I’ve done the right thing?” The ethical decision making model is not a cure all to the dilemmas we will face as a counselors, the decision making model does however, offer a concise, set of steps, scenarios, explanations and on how to resolve counselor, and client related ethical dilemmas.

Both the American Psychological Association (APA) and National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) have codes of ethics to guide professionals in their practice. APA’s ethical code governs school, counseling, and clinical psychologists; thus, APA’s ethical code is broader than NASP’s ethical code. NASP’s ethical code is specific to school psychologists and thus includes a greater focus on minors and school-based practice. Beyond level of specificity, the ethical codes also have other notable differences. Specifically, NASP emphasizes a proactive role in social justice and creating healthy school, family, and community environments (Merrell, Ervin, & Peacock, 2012). APA, on the other hand, sets forth an expected minimum standard in these

Every day people make decisions that may have profound effect on their personal and/or professional lives as well as the lives of others. The decision people make have a foundation on their personal, cultural, and perhaps organizational values. When these values are in disagreement, an ethical dilemma occurs.

The 2014 ACA Code of Ethics provides structure that protects clients. Responsibilities that counselors to be aware of is avoid imposing their own values, attitudes and beliefs on clients (Ethics, 2014). Developing a relationship with clients requires providing counseling in a culturally sensitive manner (Ethics, 2014). Counselors respect the diversity of clients take measures to ensure that they are not of risk of imposing their values onto clients (Ethics, 2014).

From job-related experiences, when I am placed into situations with individuals who have different ethics from me, I cautiously take steps to determine ethical dilemmas choices without violating the rights or opinions of all involved. In addition, the experiences working with teams at work, have taught me to carefully view the opinions of others before entering into open disagreement over a given course of action. I strongly believe, apart from the ethical position,. an individual has his or her individual right to express their opinion. The results of my EAI, combined with my experiences throughout school and work, have educated me that all ethical decisions require cautious thought. I firmly believe, in order to achieve the best results, one needs to take numerous factors including but limited to culture, into consideration while also allowing for future implications of any action dictated by ethical decisions I make.

Counselors need to be guided by the ethical standards set forth by the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics. These standards define ethical conduct in the counseling profession, and provide guidance for maintaining professionalism in any situation. I have become familiar with many of the sections included in the ACA Code of Ethics from the research and assignments completed in this class. Garnering an awareness of the ACA Code of Ethics as it pertains to informed consent, confidentiality, professional responsibility, and resolving ethical issues, has given me confidence to discuss and evaluate the legal issues and ethical obligations associated with this profession. The section regarding professional responsibility of this document resonated with me the most, and elicited a feeling of confidence about counseling ethics and law, that was not present before this class. Professional responsibility sets the tone for everything else we do. As counselors, we must be guided by professionalism and high standards. Standard C.1 of the ACA Code of Ethics (2014) states that counselors have a responsibility to read, understand, and follow the ACA Code of Ethics, and abide by all applicable laws and regulations. While there are a plethora of legal and ethical issues that may arise for professional counselors throughout their careers, I feel that this class has given me a broad overview of how to be proactive and use appropriate decision-making tools to work

According to the ACA code of ethics (A.4.b.) counselors need to be aware of their values and avoid imposing them onto their client (American Counseling Association, 2014). Counselors may find this difficult when their religious or own personal values do not match those of their client. For example, the counselor who was seeing a family where the father was abusing his wife. The counselor after a session was beginning to let her own personal values take over and wanted to refer the family to a different counselor. However, after discussing with a colleague she began to see the father's side of things and realized the transition from a Middle Eastern Country to the United States would be difficult due to the two cultures

Ethical issues in the mental health professions will arise in a counselor’s profession. Therefore, in order to keep clients and or patients safe, as a mental health profession it is important to understand the primary purpose of a code of ethics. These guidelines are incorporated to safeguard the welfare of clients by providing what is in their best interest. Nonetheless, these codes and guidelines are also designed to safeguard the public and to guide professionals in their work so that they can provide the best service possible (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 1998, p. 539)

It is critical counselors are competent in assessments as it is an integral part of counseling (Whiston, 2013). Those practicing in the counseling field must be aware of the applications and limitations of the assessing instruments that they are using with clients. Counselors should consider that they are responsible for the proper purpose and the competency of the assessment that they are using with their clientele is appropriate for the situation. The American Counseling Association ([ACA], 2014) Code of Ethics standard E.1.a. Assessment stated “The primary purpose

This segment of the ACA Code of Ethics (COE) is wide-ranging and encompasses 13 capacities. There’s a selection of the material in the COE is comparable to the RUST report and Standards for Qualifications of Test Users, predominantly among the high opinion to counselor aptitude, apparatus compendium, supervision, recording, understanding, and consideration to variety. In spite of this, concerning the additional summarizing of accountabilities for counselors, the COE also covers the rights of clients, incorporating well-versed permission, proclamation and safekeeping of valuation statistics.

In the growing area of life coaching, there are many boundaries and considerations a psychologist would have to consider. Life coaching can grow in areas of inter-based connections or one-on-one sessions in an office. The safety considerations would be has to be diligently placed in the policies of the life coach to abide by and possibly initialing the references of the policies in the informed consent. The American Psychology Association advises on some aspects of what could happen in a life coaching services for psychologists. The International Coach Federation (ICF) is another avenue of referencing. ICF does not cater to the psychologists, although they have people who have had prior experience of coaching and education that provide professional areas of coaching Code of Ethics (Anderson, Williams, and Kramer, 2012). Using some references provided by the ICF or the APA could lead to some better solutions for ethical issues that may arise.