ETHICAL ISSUES IN COUNSELING Dwi Nikmah Puspitasari

PRACTICE
THERAPIST/COUNSELOR COMPETENCE, EDUCATION
AND TRAINING
Counselor have the training and experience necessary for the assessments they
make and the interventions they attempt
Counselor become aware of boundaries of their competence and seek
qualified supervision or refer clients when they recognize that they have
reached their limit
They realize that many problems are without clear-cut answerrs, and they
accept the responsibility of searching for appropriate answers
It is important for counselor to have some theoritical framework of behavioral
change to guide them in the practice
Counselor update their knowledge and skills through various forms of
continuing education
Counselor avoid any relationship with clients that are clearly a threat to the
therapeutic relationship
 THE RIGHTS OF CLIENTS
1. The right of informed consent  develop procedures to help them make informed choices,
to know about the limitations of confidentieality before they make such highly personal
disclosures, to promote the active cooperation of clients in their program
2. Factors affecting the client’s desire to enter counseling  the counselor must inform the
client of the purposes, goals, techniques, rules of procedure and limitations that may affect
the relationship at or before the time that the counseling relationship is entered (ex. The
recording of an interview by videotape)
3. Minor’s rights  parental knowledge and consent are legally required for a minor to enter
into a relationship with a health-care professional, allowing children and adolescents to seek
a therapeutik relationship without parental consent is that tey otherwise may not obtain this
crucial treatment (drug or alcohol abuse, family conflict, psysical/psychological abuse, and
pregnancy and abortion counseling)
ISSUES IN THE CLIENT / THERAPIST
RELATIONSHIP
 PUTTING CLIENTS’ NEEDS BEFORE YOUR OWN
A useful question to frequently ask yourself is this: “Whose needs are being
met in this relationship, my client’s or my own?” It takes considerable
professional maturity to make an honest appraisal of how your behavior
affects your clients.
If we are aware of our personal problems and are willing to work through
them, there is less chance that we will project them onto clients.
If certain problem areas surface and old conflicts become reactivated, we
have an ethical obligation to seek personal therapy to avoid harming our
clients.
 SOCIAL AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH
CLIENTS
A special issue is how social and personal relationship mix with
therapeutic ones.
In general, although friendship can be therapeutic, it is difficult to be
primarily concerned with a counseling relationship an at the same
time maintain a personal relationship outside the sessions.
One of the reasons that most counselors cannot counsel members of
their own family is that they are too close to them, and their own
needs interlock with the others’ problems
TOUCHING AS A PART OF THE CLIENT/THERAPIST
RELATIONSHIP
Questions
“How can I tell when touching will be helpful or
not? Is touching for the client or my own benefit?
Do I have to hold myself back from expressinng
affection or compassion in a pshysical way? What
if my touch is misinerpreted by the client?”
The four general categories of appropriate
nonerotic contact were:
1. In counseling socially and emotionally immature
clients, such as those with a history of maternal
deprivation
2. In counseling people in crisis, such as those
suffering from grief or trauma
3. In providing general emotional support
4. In greeting or at the end of a session
EROTIC AND SEXUAL CONTACT WITH CLIENTS
The topic of sexual intimacy between counselor and client
is receiving a great deal of attention in the professional
literature.
All of the professional codes now have some specifoc
statement declaring that sexual relationship with clients are
unethical
Reaseach indicates that sexual misconduct is one of the
majoor causes for malpractice actions againts mental-
health providers