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Counselor Ethical Boundaries and Practices

BreAnn Denson

Department of Psychology, Grand Canyon University

CNL-505-0506 Professional Counseling, Ethical, and Legal Considerations

Julius A. Austin, PhD, LPC, NCC

September 8th, 2021

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Counselor Ethical Boundaries and Practices

As a counselor, there are expectations and standards in place to ensure that, as a growing

professional, a counselor is doing no harm to the individuals served. Counselors should be

mindful of boundary issues and not knowingly engaging in dual relationships due to the harm

that can be done. Counselors should always seek professional collaboration with other

professionals to help continue growth and access to resources. Counselors do not know

everything and seeking professionals that work in a different scope can help with the therapeutic

process. Making sure a counselor maintains a positive relationship with supervisors and

colleagues can enhance a counselor’s development in the field. A counselor must seek

development at every opportunity, even if there are small opportunities. A counselor should be

willing to continue learning and developing themselves as a provider.

Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships

Counselors must be cognizant of crossing boundaries and engaging in dual relationships

with the clients they provide services for. Being a support system for clients, these issues may

present themselves even when a counselor is doing everything correctly. According to an article

that was reviewed, most counseling practitioners, educators, and supervisors will encounter these

types of situations at some point in their professional lives. (Shiau 2008) It can be hard to

determine if boundary crossing or dual relationships can be ethical. Boundary crossing can be

acceptable depending on the situation and if it does not harm the client. Counselors must

consider the benefits, as well as negatives of crossing those boundaries and if the relationship

will be harmed. In extending these boundaries, counselors take appropriate professional

precautions such as informed consent, consultation, supervision, and documentation to ensure

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that judgment is not impaired, and no harm occurs. (ACA Ethics Code 2014) It is known that

counselors should avoid engaging in dual relationships as best as possible due to potentially

doing harm to the therapeutic process. Avoiding dual relationships also helps to prevent

malpractice lawsuits from happening that a client may file. Although most ethical codes express

the negatives of dual relationships and how they should not happen, ethics code also expresses

how some dual relationships can be unavoidable. A counselor must consider if the dual

relationship will harm the client, exploit the client and if the counselor can remain objective with

no bias in the relationship.

There are dual relationships that may be unavoidable and still be beneficial to the client

served. For example, multiple relationships cannot be avoided in military and forensic settings,

and Zur (2008) states that multiple relationships are common, inevitable, unavoidable, normal,

and a healthy part of communal life in many settings. (Corey, Corey, Corey & Callahan 2019).

Living in small communities can make it hard for dual relationships not to develop and be

avoided. A counselor attending church while living in a small community may make it hard not

to engage in dual relationships due to most individuals attending the same church. In extending

these boundaries, counselors take appropriate professional precautions such as informed consent,

consultation, supervision, and documentation to ensure that judgment is not impaired, and no

harm occurs. (ACA ethics Code 2014) Having a client that may be physically attracted to the

professional can be a difficult situation to be in as a provider. Although the provider did nothing

wrong, the client can take things the wrong way and disrupt the therapeutic process. Providers

must be cautious not to offend the client when expressing the client behavior is not acceptable.

Even having an individual seek counseling just to see the provider can be harmful due to

diminishing the relationship and potentially causing harm. Roll and Millen (1981) state reasons
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for avoiding seeing acquaintances as clients such as loss of friendship, transference

complications, and overemphasis of therapist grandiosity. (Geyer 1994) A family friend or

acquaintance may want counseling but only want to work with the provider they are familiar

with and feel they can trust due to knowing their family.

Professional Collaboration in Counseling

Counseling can be challenging at times, especially when a counselor has never

encountered certain situations and may not know how to handle the situation at hand.

Collaboration with professionals is a great resource to use and a great learning experience as

well. Asking for guidance on cases without revealing the client to other professionals can be a

way to ensure quality client care. Information shared in a consulting relationship is discussed for

professional purposes only. Written and oral reports present only data germane to the purposes of

the consultation, and every effort is made to protect client identity and to avoid undue invasion

of privacy. (ACA Ethics Code 2014) Utilizing supervision to monitor work and make sure as a

counselor quality service is being provided is also a great way to ensure quality care. Knowing

when to refer clients to other professionals as well when a counselor feels there may be a risk of

harming the therapeutic process.

As a counselor, having access to resources are important and being able to steer a client

in the right direction. Counselors should work with other professionals in other disciplines to

help ensure the client gets the help that is needed. Counselors acknowledge the expertise of other

professional groups and are respectful of their practices. (ACA Ethics Code 2014) Working with

social workers, substance abuse counselors and marriage and family counselors would all be

individuals that would be included in the team. As just a general counselor it would be beneficial
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to have access to other disciplines just in case clients need to be referred for other services for

continued development. Counselors who are members of interdisciplinary teams delivering

multifaceted services to clients remain focused on how to best serve clients. They participate in

and contribute to decisions that affect the well-being of clients by drawing on the perspectives,

values, and experiences of the counseling profession and those of colleagues from other

disciplines. (ACA Ethics Code 2014) Knowing when to refer a client is essential for client

growth and to prevent counselors working out of their scope, which can result in negative

consequences.

Relationships with Supervisors and Colleagues

Counselor supervisors should create meaningful relationships with those who they

supervise. The relationship should be respectful with appropriate boundaries and allow

counselors opportunity to develop. A primary obligation of counseling supervisors is to monitor

the services provided by supervisees. Counseling supervisors monitor client welfare and

supervisee performance and professional development. (ACA Ethics Code 2014) Counselors

should seek supervision for guidance and to ensure quality client care at all times. Supervision

involves a fiduciary relationship, meaning the supervisee trusts the supervisor to work for his or

her best interests; supervision requires clear boundaries to foster trust and best serve supervisees.

(Gu, McCarthy, Eubanks, LeRoy & Callanan 2010) Ethical issues that can arise in a supervisor-

counselor relationship can be a supervisor not giving proper supervision, which can hinder a

counselor from obtaining the hours needed to get licensed. The degree of success obtained in

counseling is determined by the amount of rapport (relationship) established between the

individual (employee) and his counselor (supervisor). (Knowles 1967) Other ethical issues may

include a counselor experiencing sexual harassment from a supervisor, which can happen and be
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overlooked due to fear of losing a job. A supervisor-counselor and counselor-client relationship

have many similarities, such as seeking consultation for personal development. Also keeping a

professional relationship at all times to remain objective and avoid doing any harm. A difference

may be a supervisor-counselor relationship has the opportunity to develop daily instead of once a

week or month. Counselors must also hold their coworkers accountable if they are aware their

coworker is intentionally being unethical. If a counselor notices a colleague making a client

uncomfortable with inappropriate behaviors, they should be reported. Counselors alert their

employers of inappropriate policies and practices. (ACA ethics code 2014).

Development of Your Thinking about Ethics

A counselor must remain objective and remove all biased behaviors when providing

services. It can be hard to remain objective when an individual is passionate about certain topics.

Learning my boundaries with counseling was a tough realization due to feeling like I can handle

anything. I realized I still need to develop my thinking and continue to evaluate myself if I want

to be a counselor. Topics like rape, abuse and discrimination are all topics I felt I could handle

but I learned I still need to work to be able to remove my bias beliefs. Things become harder to

deal with when you have experienced them and do not want anyone else to experience these

same barriers in life. Counseling someone that believes these topics are acceptable or have no

remorse can be hard for me. I appreciate this course for making me take the time out to evaluate

myself and learn my areas that need improvement. The ethical code is a constant reminder of

how to handle certain barriers you may experience as a counselor. Reading the ethics code

helped me understand a lot more about counseling and how to do no harm to the therapeutic

process.
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Counselors have been constantly developing and will continue learning even after being

licensed. Developing counselors must be mindful of dual relationships to make sure they do not

harm the therapeutic process. Certain situations and environments may make it hard to avoid

dual relationships, but the Ethics code serves as a guide to help resolve some concerns. Having

resources can be a huge help for growing counselors and help them grow into a better provider.

Not becoming too confident and not utilizing the other disciplines can increase a counselor’s

chance of having successful clients. Maintaining positive relationships between colleagues and

supervisors will allow emerging counselors to develop the skills needed to have successful cases.
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References

American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of

ethics. https:// www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2014-code-of-

ethics- finaladdress.pdf

Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Corey, C. (2019). Issues and ethics in the helping professions.

Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd.

Geyer, M. C. (1994). Dual role relationships and Christian Counseling. Journal of Psychology

and Theology, 22(3), 187–195. https://doi.org/10.1177/009164719402200304

Gu, L., McCarthy Veach, P., Eubanks, S., LeRoy, B. S., & Callanan, N. (2010). Boundary issues

and multiple relationships in genetic counseling supervision: Supervisor, non-supervisor,

and student perspectives. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 20(1), 35–48.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-010-9318-9

Knowles, M. E. (1967). The Supervisor’s Role in Counseling. Training & Development

Journal, 21(4), 50.

Shiau, S.-H. (2008). A review of boundary issues in Counseling: Multiple roles and

responsibilities. Counseling and Values, 52(2), 172–174. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-

007x.2008.tb00100.x