Ethics Flashcards
What is the purpose of the Counselor -Client Relationship?
To earn that trust a counselor must keep always the client’s privacy sacred. A counselor must also respect the background of a client while being aware of their own background and biases.
What are some potential issues to keep in mind when it comes to the counselor/client relationship?
- Worry about personal needs and concerns distracting from helping the client
- Too much focus on symptoms or disorders while neglecting relationship-building
- Failing to protect confidentiality
- Lack of self-reflection to check for personal biases
- Overlooking the potential impact of personal beliefs
- Feeling obligated to give reduced rates to help in financial crisis
What are some recommendations & resolutions for the counselor-client relationship?
- Consider the client’s best interest and potential impact of any of the counselor’s actions
- Use the counselor/client relationship to model healthy interactions
- Treat clients with respect
- Earn trust by protecting privacy
- Consider the role and impact of personal beliefs and values
- Consider the role of diversity
- Attempt to give time for pro bono work
What is client welfare?
the primary responsibility of the counselor. In order to keep client dignity at the forefront, the counselor needs to keep the client’s interest in focus.
What are some recommendations & resolutions for the welfare of the client?
- Consider the impact of client interactions
- Communicate respectfully at all times
- Double check all your actions to ensure that they are consistent with best practices
- Communicate with the client on their terms
What are some potential issues?
- The counselor focusing on their own needs and interests at the expense of the client
- Temptation to disrespect the client when facing a tense or argumentative situation
- Lack of attention to the client’s background or cultural diversity
What are some potential issues when it comes to records and documentation?
- Temptation to delay documentation, letting memories fade
- Failure to anticipate the multiple uses of records
- Adding notes that were not part of session, failing to stick only to the facts
- Disposing of records prematurely
What are some recommendations and resolutions when it comes to recommendations and resolutions?
- Create, keep, and protect records at all time
- Consider all potential uses
- Pay close attention to confidentiality issues
- Note the process clearly without additions or omissions (if amendments must be made to a record, these must be made in accordance with agency or institutional policy)
- Include the rationale for treatment
How are counseling treatment plans made?
Together by the counselor and client and should be reviewed and revised as regularly as treatment progresses.
What are some potential issues when it comes to counseling treatment plans?
Failure to assess the client’s needs, strengths, and goals
- Setting unreasonable goals
- Selecting goals and developing a plan without involving the client
- Failure to reassess and update the plan
What are some recommendations and resolutions when it comes to counseling treatment plans?
- Goals should be thoroughly assessed at the beginning of the relationship and be constantly re-evaluated
- Plans should be constantly re-assessed, working with both the counselor’s and the client’s needs and strengths into account
- Developing a plan should be a collaborative process that takes the client’s and the counselor’s wishes into account
- Constantly attend to factors that may affect the process, including motivation, level of support, and financial factors
Should you include the client’s support network in treatment?
Involving the client’s support network can make or break the treatment process.
When possible the counselor should enlist aid from the client’s network, facilitating the building of relationships.
What are some potential issues regarding the client’s support network?
- Assuming the counseling relationship is all that the client needs
- Failure to help clients reach out for other support
- The temptation to assume how the relationships in a client’s life will affect them
- Becoming defensive about the involvement of other relationships
What are some recommendations and resolutions when it comes to the client’s support network?
- Consider the support network as a means for buffering the counseling relationship
- Openly discuss resources and how to enlist help from others
- Monitor the effectiveness and value of the support network
- Only contact support with the client’s permission
What is informed consent?
It gives clients the freedom to choose throughout the counseling process. It is the counselor’s job to make sure the client has accurate information and documentation throughout the process.
It is a continuous process and lets clients make decisions with all the information in front of them.