Running head: COUNSELOR ETHICS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 1

Counselor Ethics and Responsibilities

Jazmin Quintana

Grand Canyon University: CNL-505

08/11/2020
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Counselor Ethics and Responsibilities

“Confidentiality, which is rooted in a client’s right to privacy, is at the core of effective

therapy; it is the counselor’s ethical duty to protect the private client communication” (Corey,

Corey, Corey & Callanan, 2014, p. 206). Confidentiality and privacy are an important aspect of a

counselor’s job ensuring what the clients discloses in therapy is protected and repeated to others.

Although privacy is extremely important there are ethical situations which may occur resulting in

the need for confidentiality to be broken. When working with people situations are not black and

white there are many gray areas a professional may find themselves having to work through and

questions themselves on where their responsibility lies and what is the correct way to respond

without violating the code of ethics. A counselor possess a long list of duties and must consider

aspects such client rights, responsibility to warn, client records, self-care, advocacy, and one’s

own values to be able to determine and provide services which will benefit the client and protect

their privacy and rights.

Client Rights

Working in the counseling field there are many principles and processes incorporated to

ensure client rights are maintained, such as the five principles of ethical practice which include

autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and fidelity. These principles are guidelines for

counselors to review helping to provide clarity to difficult situations counselors are forced to

confront (Forester-Miller & Davis, 2016). A counselor may not face the same issues when

working with clients from different backgrounds ethical principles provide a starting point on

ways to respond, but are not always clear and to the point using these five principles can provide

counselors with a way to break the problem down and ensure the solution does not violate the

rights of the client. Counselors incorporate autonomy into their sessions through helping guide
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and respecting their clients ability of freedom of choice through encouraging clients to act on

their own values when appropriate, as well as helping the client perceive how their decision can

impact them (Forester-Miller & Davis, 2016). Justice calls for counselors tailoring their services

to the clients needs while still maintaining fairness amongst all clients in the way they are treated

by the counselor such as demonstrating respect for all clients (Forester-Miller & Davis, 2016).

Beneficence is incorporated when working with client as the counselor’s responsibility to

contribute to the welfare of the client, ensuring the client is safe through prevention of harm

when possible (Forester-Miller & Davis, 2016). Nonmaleficence is an important aspect, this

principle helps counselors guide clients weighing their options on a potential decision looking at

if it will harm themselves or others, and what benefits are present (Forester-Miller & Davis,

2016). Fidelity is the final principle to consider focusing on the relationship between the client

and the counselor, one which fosters trust between the client and the counselor ensuring the

counselor is faithful, loyal and honors their commitments to the client (Forester-Miller & Davis,

2016). These principles focus on the client and demonstrating a support role which aide in

clarifying difficult situations due to a counselor’s ability to check off if the solution meets these

guidelines and do not harm the client or others. These guidelines are in place to help support and

provide another way to address difficult situations.

Counselors provide informed consent documents which provide clients with information

regarding their rights and how these documents protect their rights. HIPPAA notices of privacy

provide clients with information providing how the counselor or agency handles release of

confidential medical/mental health information and how the client can access their information

(Walsh & Dasenbrook, 2005). Professionals must disclose information in order to obtain

payment for services from a client/patient in which invoices are limited to the minimum that is
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necessary to achieve payment to the client or to the clients insurance company (Corey, Corey,

Corey & Callanan, 2014). Clients have the right to privacy regarding mental health and medical

documents which HIPAA information documents help provide clients with the information on

situations which would not require consents such as requesting payment from the client or the

insurance provider, mandating reporting, emergencies, or required by law, and situations which

require the client to sign consent forms for release of information (Walsh & Dasenbrook, 2005).

It is important that a professional outline and provide clients with the notice of privacy practice

document to the client to ensure they are aware of their rights and limitations of privacy.

Discussing limitations to privacy is extremely important to ensure clients understand the

potential cases confidentiality may be broken.

Duty to Warn and Protect

Situations in a counseling setting can be a cause for alarm and may require a professional

to disclose information to the proper authorities in order to protect and prevent harm. In the state

of Arizona duty to protect/warn is mandatory if the client has disclosed or condition indicates a

clear and imminent danger to the client or others, a professional must report this information to

the proper authorities (Hanson, 2018). It is the responsibility of a counselor to adhere to these

guidelines set forth by the ACA code of ethics and report the potential harm of the client or

others to help prevent and protect those who could be harmed. It is important if a professional is

on the fence they consult with their supervisor if unsure of what to do or how to proceed.

Protecting clients from harm if aware is a very serious matter and should be handled properly by

notifying the proper authorities.

Client Record-Keeping
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Working in the mental health field requires professionals to maintain and protect

confidential records. Counselors are to maintain intake, evaluation and progress notes, as well as

termination notes which help reduce the risk of responsibility in the duty to protect/warn

jurisdiction (The Duty to Record: Ethical, Legal, and Professional,2020). It is important that

counselors maintain up to date and accurate notes and documentation for clients in the event

client records are subpoenaed or audited by supervisors. Records are also to be held onto for a

minimum of six years for adults and minimum of three years past the clients 18th birthday or six

year depending on which is longer (The Duty to Record: Ethical, Legal, and Professional,2020).

It is important counselors maintain client records as well as keep them for the standard length of

time if a client needs to request records or potentially receives care professionals are able to

request these documents. Maintaining proper records protects the counselor as well as outlines to

type of care the client received ensuring the client is receiving the standard of care deemed fit by

the agency. It is imperative counselor protect themselves through maintaining detailed records,

but counselors also need to protect themselves by practicing self-care.

Self-Care

Working in a profession such as counseling can be a difficult field to manage due to the

high case load, the nature of the business which can be hard for individuals such as myself to

separate work and personal life. The ACA Code of Ethics states “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” (ACA Code of Ethics, 2014, p.8). It is so

important to maintain a balance between work in life in this type of field, due to the high chances

of experiencing burnout if one does not take care of themselves. I plan on maintaining healthy

balance by working to create a clear line between the two such as possibly no work at home
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while my children are awake to be able to unwind and enjoy family time. I have engaged in

activities such as exercising, reading, spending time outside with my family to help destress from

different jobs and will continue to use these resources. One aspect I would like to include in my

self-care activities is to journal more as well as incorporating more physical self-care such as

face masks, facials items such as these to truly relax and detox. Red flags for myself are agitation

towards my family, sadness, anxiety as well constant dreams of work those are flags I begin to

notice when I am becoming too overwhelmed in work or my studies. I think it is great for

counselors to be counseled, I have personally sought counseling and will continue to use it after I

become a school counselor. In Tucson there are many resources available such a COPE, La

Frontera and private practices which allow individuals to seek counseling services. Maintaining

care of one’s self is very important to ensure we are capable of providing appropriate services to

others, if we can’t manage to care for ourselves how can we as counselors uphold our duty to

others or provide them with services to the best of our abilities. Advocating for ourselves and

ensuring we are mentally, and physically healthy helps ensure we are capable of advocating for

others on a larger scale.

Advocacy

Advocating for counseling resources for Elementary and Secondary School Counseling

Act is the advocacy campaign I found more interesting and closer to my passion. I am working to

becoming a School counselor, it is important that children can seek help. This bill will allocate

funds in the education system to hire more school counselors and lower the staffing ratios for

school counselors. It is important students can seek one on one time with a school counselor and

develop relationships to help identify potential needs and areas of focus. School counselors

sometimes have multiple schools they are responsible for eliminating an available counselor to
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students every day. I can get involved by voting for higher funding for schools, as well as

participating within the ACA organizations take action campaign. Identifying one’s passion is

extremely important and allows individuals to really consider their values when working with

different populations.

Counselor Values

a) Abortion. (A 19-year-old rape victim wants an abortion, but her parents are vehemently
opposed to abortion on religious grounds and have stated that they will no longer
consider her their daughter if she proceeds. The young woman is firm in her plans but
wants your help in changing her parents’ attitudes.)

d) Extramarital affairs. (Both spouses in a couple you are counseling are having affairs,
which they claim are not contributing in any way to their current marital difficulties.
They want your help in strengthening their marriage, but they are both committed to the
“open marriage” concept that does not require sexual monogamy.)

My values and attitudes towards abortion are very open and believe it’s the individual’s decision to

make and do what they feel is best for themselves. Considering the young girls’ circumstances regarding

consummation of the pregnancy it may be difficult for her to love and care for the child or form a

motherly bond with the child. In this situation I would suggest a family counseling to help the client state

her decision, unfortunately I am not able to change the minds of her parents or her because I have respect

their values and religious views, but helping the client have a discussion with her family in a safe

mediated environment may allow them to have an open discussion and potentially come to terms with

decision of the client. I would utilize the foundational principles to help guide the client in weighing all

options of her decision, as well as her parent if family counseling was an option (Forester-Miller & Davis,

2016).

In the second scenario every relationship is different, and each relationship is able to decide what

works for them. If the couple wishes to be in an open relationship it really comes down to identifying

other causes of the problems. My attitudes and values would be to help the couple identify and come to

terms with what is wrong in their relationship, although I believe it may be a good idea to identify their
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problem prior to continuing their open relationship I need to respect their decision to continue working on

their romantic relationship while continuing to have an open relationship and not impose my own views

on the clients (ACA Code of Ethics, 2014). For this couple I would try talk therapy with them and work

to identify issues which have been present in the couple’s relationship prior to their open relationship

started.

Conclusion

Identifying client rights, a counselor’s responsibility to warn and protect, proper record-keeping,

a counselor’s responsibility for self-care, advocating for different populations, as well as counselor values

when working with clients to ensure they are receiving adequate services. It is important when working

with client’s counselors provide all the necessary information such as privacy, confidentiality, and its

limits to ensure these clients understand their rights. Counselors will be faced with difficult situations and

need to understand their views and ways to prevent themselves from imposing their views on the client

when helping them work through problems. As a counselor understanding the position and ability to

influence people and organizations is beneficial to help advocate for populations which need additional

resources and help.

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References

ACA Code of Ethics. (2014). Retrieved

from https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/2014-code-of-ethics.pdf?

sfvrsn=2d58522c_4

Corey, G., Corey M.S., Corey, C. & Callanan, P. (2014). Issues and ethics in the helping

professions  (9th ed.). Retrieved

from http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/cengage/2014/issues-and-ethics-in-the-

helping-professions_ebook_9e.php

Forester-Miller, H., & Davis, T. E. (2016). Practitioner’s guide to ethical decision making (Rev.

ed.). Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/practioner’s-

guide-toethical-decision-making.pdf

Hanson, K. (2018). Mental Health Professionals’ Duty to Warn. Retrieved from

https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/mental-health-professionals-duty-to-warn.aspx

The Duty to Record: Ethical, Legal, and Professional ... (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from

https://www.apadivisions.org/division-31/publications/records/arizona-record-keeping-

laws.pdf

Walsh, R. & Dasenbrook, N. (2005). Meeting HIPPA Requirements. Retrieved from

https://www.counseling.org/Kaplan/hipaa.pdf