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ETHICAL & LEGAL ISSUES IN COUNSELING:Keeping Relationships Professional

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Theory and Practice of Counseling - PSY632
VU
Lesson 07
ETHICAL & LEGAL ISSUES IN COUNSELING
Two important ethical issues in the practice of counseling are described below:
a) Keeping Relationships Professional
·  Dual relationships
·  Bartering
·  Multiple clients
b) Professional Responsibility
·  Advertising & Soliciting Clients
·  Credentials
·  Evaluation, Assessment, and Interpretation
Keeping Relationships Professional
Dual Relationships:
· Dual relationship refers to professional's assuming two or more roles simultaneously or sequentially with
the person seeking help, such as friendship and business deals. Judgment is likely to be affected, impaired,
as the relationship of counselors and clients in power and status are unequal, thus exploitation may occur.
· Emerged from debates in the 1980s in the nature of client-counselor sexual relations.
· Questions were raised about other types of relationships in 1990s.
· Conflict of interest and exploitation can occur even in harmless relations. Such relationships are
inherently exploitive as reciprocity element applies here that we desire to return the favour because human
relationships are assumed to be reciprocal.
· Counseling is also avoided in Superior/ subordinate relationships because of unequal status of both.
· Studies about time limit for establishing relationships with current and former clients were conducted. In
this reference, Salisbury & Kinnier (1996) surveyed 500 therapists. A minority (33%) of counselors surveyed
and believed that sexual relationships with former clients might be acceptable after 5 years, while the
majority (70%) accepted such a relationship after 2 years. In another study, majority did not hold the
opinion of "once a client, always a client" in nonsexual relations with the former clients.
· Although apparently it appears that the rates of sexual relationships are declining with the passage of time,
obtaining accurate data on prevalence of such an issue is difficult.
Bartering
· The practice of counseling for goods or other services, cleaning house, secretarial service, etc.:
· This is an accepted practice in some cultures and subcultures.
· Even if the helper's intention is good it has the potential for conflicts.
· Case example: An unemployed client offers counselor's car service. Car's engine fails due to chance or
inferior work of the client, what will happen to helping relationship?
· Though some behaviors have potential are not by themselves dual relationships, e.g., accepting an
invitation, accepting a small gift, engaging in nonerotic touch when appropriate during counseling. Such
behaviors will be the boundary crossing rather than violation ­ boundary crossing is departure from
standard practice, while violation is a serious breach that causes harm to the clients.
Although there is a considerable disagreement on this issue, blending of relationships is not recommended
by most of the professional agencies. Recent codes of ethics (APA, ACA) deal more specifically with setting
appropriate boundaries. However, in small communities helpers are more likely to be involved in multiple
relationships like the local pharmacist, physician, carpenter, or beautician might be the clients. Thus dual
relationships are inevitable.
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Theory and Practice of Counseling - PSY632
VU
Research on Dual Relationships
Herlihy and Corey's decision-making model:
Herlihy and Corey have suggested a few guidelines to deal with dual relationship issues:
·  Secure informed consent of clients
·  Seek consultation
·  Document and monitor this practice
·  Obtain supervision
Borys & Pope (1989):
Borys and Pope described in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice the results of a survey of 4800
psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers. That survey was conducted to understand the beliefs and
behaviors of mental health professionals about dual relationships. The results are described below:
1= no client, 2 = few clients, 3= some clients, 4 = most clients, 5 = all clients
Accepted a client's invitation to a special occasion
1
2
3
4
5
64.0
28.0
3.3
2.4
1.4
Accepted a service or product as payment for therapy
82.6
13.9
2.8
0.2
0.1
Became friends with a client after termination
69.0
26.5
3.2
0.2
0.3
Provided therapy to an employee
87.5
9.3
1.7
0.3
0.2
1
2
3
4
Engaged in sexual activity with a client after termination
95.3
3.9
0.0
0.0
Went out to eat with a client after a session
87.4
10.5
0.9
.2
Disclosed details of current personal stresses to a client
60.1
30.7
7.4
.2
Bought goods or services from a client
77.6
20.5
1.1
0.1
Provided individual therapy to a relative, friend, or lover of an ongoing client
38.0
36.0
21.6
2.1
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Theory and Practice of Counseling - PSY632
VU
Multiple Clients:
Marital and family therapy
When the counselor is seeing multiple relatives in a family, he should clarify his relationship with each
member. He should also be clear how to deal with disclosure by a family relative. For example, if husband
has AIDS, it is essential that the wife is informed about that fact. Similarly, if an adolescent son is taking
drugs and he confides in the counselor, it is pertinent for the counselor to inform the parents about his
drug-taking because of the likely serious consequences. Some counselors believe that secrets within a family
are counterproductive, while others do believe that the information should be kept private and confidential.
The decision really depends on the gravity of the situation and the likely consequences of confidentiality.
Group work
When the counselor is working in a group, he/she should clearly inform the group members to respect
confidentiality of each other and to maintain group-ground rules. On the first place, the counselor should
select group members with compatible needs and goals. He must also ensure that reasonable precautions
are taken to protect the clients from any physical or psychological trauma from other members of the
group.
Legal Recognition of Counseling
Counseling gained professional recognition and acceptance through the legal system. As early as 1960,
counseling did not have enough identity as a profession to be recognized legally.
In 1960 a debate on legal issues started on the decision of a judge that a PhD counselor can not be held
responsible for a client's suicide if trained in a Department of Education. The 1974's definition of
counseling stated it to be different from psychology and it was basically a process through which a trained
counsellor assists an individual or group to make satisfactory decisions concerning personal, educational,
and career development. A restriction on practice of counseling for all except doctoral level psychologists
has been imposed in some states of USA. However, according to Swarson (1983), counseling is often seen
as a generic profession, which may be adopted by people working in health settings after obtaining some
theoretical and practical training.
Professional Responsibility
Knowledge of Standards
Counselors practicing the profession should have knowledge about the following:
·  Knowledge about standards code of ethics.
·  Professional competence: The counselor should have professional competence to practice the
profession. Following competencies are required in this respect:
o  Boundaries of competence: A counselor should work within boundaries of his/her
competencies, i.e., education, experience, personal awareness, skills, specialty areas, etc.
o  Seek out peer supervision to evaluate their efficacy.
o  Monitor effectiveness: seek out peer supervision to evaluate their efficacy.
o  Continuing education is essential to get oneself up-dated in the field.
o  Impairment: refrain from professional service when their problems (emotional, unfinished
business) could harm the clients.
Advertising & Soliciting Clients
·  Accurate advertising
·  Testimonials: Advertising should accurately state one's educational background and experiences.
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·
Statements by others if quoted somewhere should be realistic and accurate to one's credentials.
·
Products and training advertisements should be clearly stated and advertised to potential clients.
·
Professional association involvement: The counselor should have a membership of professional
associations and also advertise it correctly.
Credentials
Inspection
An agency periodically examines the practice of profession.
Registration
Submission of information to the concerned authority is required for getting oneself registered as a
practising counsellor.
Certification
Last two of the credential requirements (certification and licensure) have considerable prestige. The person
meets the minimum skills necessary to engage in that profession. To get a certificate in counseling, a person
has to usually pass a competency test and also submit some letters of reference. Minimum of 48 semester
hours of graduate study from an accredited institution is usually required, in which a person has to usually
study the following courses: growth, group work, research, theories, ethics, etc. Moreover, minimum of two
academic terms' supervised experience is required. It may consist on 100 hours of face to face supervision
plus 3000 client contact hours.
Licensure
Licensure is required for title protection. This requires similar educational and practical experiences as
described above for certification. A person must get license for practicing legally once licensure
requirements are established. This is usually required by some agencies or organizations in which a person
desires to practice.
In Pakistan, so far not any specialized courses or trainings are available in counseling.
Counseling as a subject is taught at M.Sc. and M.Phil. levels, however no legal criteria have
been established for the practice of this profession.
Evaluation, Assessment & Interpretation
· Competence to use and interpret tests.
· Explanations to clients: If the counselor will be well aware about the important tests used in counseling,
he/ she will be able to explain and thus satisfy their clients.
· Diagnosis of mental disorders
· Test selection
· Knowledge about diversity in testing is required. Moreover one needs to have sufficient knowledge
regarding use of psychological tests across cultures.
· Test scoring and interpretation
Teaching, Supervision & Research
Teaching and Supervision:
·  Relationship boundaries: Boundaries with students and supervisors should be well-understood and
respected.
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Theory and Practice of Counseling - PSY632
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·
Contributions to research: Give credit to students for participating in research
·
Close relatives: Do not accept close relatives as students.
·
Serve as role model for ethical behavior.
Research and Publication:
· Use of human subjects: Fulfill all the legal and ethical requirements (e.g., informed consent,
confidentiality, etc.) while working with human clients and research participants.
· Principal researcher responsibility: Principal researcher has the responsibility to be very careful regarding
all legal and ethical issues, e.g., Informed consent, voluntary participation, deception, confidentiality,
minor or incompetent participants, etc.
· Informed consent & related issues
· Reporting results: One must report results of research to scientific community through conference
presentations, publications, etc.
· Duplicate submission: Avoid Duplicate submission of research.
Guidelines for Acting Ethically (Swanson, 1983)
· Personal & professional honesty.
· Acting in the best interest of clients (Evaluation, Assessment, and Interpretation).
· Act without malice or personal gain.
· Action based on best judgment of what should be done based upon the current state of the profession.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION:Counseling Journals, Definitions of Counseling
  2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND COUNSELING & PSYCHOTHERAPY
  3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 1900-1909:Frank Parson, Psychopathic Hospitals
  4. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:Recent Trends in Counseling
  5. GOALS & ACTIVITIES GOALS OF COUNSELING:Facilitating Behavior Change
  6. ETHICAL & LEGAL ISSUES IN COUNSELING:Development of Codes
  7. ETHICAL & LEGAL ISSUES IN COUNSELING:Keeping Relationships Professional
  8. EFFECTIVE COUNSELOR:Personal Characteristics Model
  9. EFFECTIVE COUNSELOR:Humanism, People Orientation, Intellectual Curiosity
  10. EFFECTIVE COUNSELOR:Cultural Bias in Theory and Practice, Stress and Burnout
  11. COUNSELING SKILLS:Microskills, Body Language & Movement, Paralinguistics
  12. COUNSELING SKILLS COUNSELOR’S NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION:Use of Space
  13. COUNSELING SKILLS HINTS TO MAINTAIN CONGRUENCE:
  14. LISTENING & UNDERSTANDING SKILLS:Barriers to an Accepting Attitude
  15. LISTENING & UNDERSTANDING SKILLS:Suggestive Questions,
  16. LISTENING & UNDERSTANDING SKILLS:Tips for Paraphrasing, Summarizing Skills
  17. INFLUENCING SKILLS:Basic Listening Sequence (BLS), Interpretation/ Reframing
  18. FOCUSING & CHALLENGING SKILLS:Focused and Selective Attention, Family focus
  19. COUNSELING PROCESS:Link to the Previous Lecture
  20. COUNSELING PROCESS:The Initial Session, Counselor-initiated, Advice Giving
  21. COUNSELING PROCESS:Transference & Counter-transference
  22. THEORY IN THE PRACTICE OF COUNSELING:Timing of Termination
  23. PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES TO COUNSELING:View of Human Nature
  24. CLASSICAL PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH:Psychic Determination, Anxiety
  25. NEO-FREUDIANS:Strengths, Weaknesses, NEO-FREUDIANS, Family Constellation
  26. NEO-FREUDIANS:Task setting, Composition of Personality, The Shadow
  27. NEO-FREUDIANS:Ten Neurotic Needs, Modes of Experiencing
  28. CLIENT-CENTERED APPROACH:Background of his approach, Techniques
  29. GESTALT THERAPY:Fritz Perls, Causes of Human Difficulties
  30. GESTALT THERAPY:Role of the Counselor, Assessment
  31. EXISTENTIAL THERAPY:Rollo May, Role of Counselor, Logotherapy
  32. COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO COUNSELING:Stress-Inoculation Therapy
  33. COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO COUNSELING:Role of the Counselor
  34. TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS:Eric Berne, The child ego state, Transactional Analysis
  35. BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES:Respondent Learning, Social Learning Theory
  36. BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES:Use of reinforcers, Maintenance, Extinction
  37. REALITY THERAPY:Role of the Counselor, Strengths, Limitations
  38. GROUPS IN COUNSELING:Major benefits, Traditional & Historical Groups
  39. GROUPS IN COUNSELING:Humanistic Groups, Gestalt Groups
  40. MARRIAGE & FAMILY COUNSELING:Systems Theory, Postwar changes
  41. MARRIAGE & FAMILY COUNSELING:Concepts Related to Circular Causality
  42. CAREER COUNSELING:Situational Approaches, Decision Theory
  43. COMMUNITY COUNSELING & CONSULTING:Community Counseling
  44. DIAGNOSIS & ASSESSMENT:Assessment Techniques, Observation
  45. FINAL OVERVIEW:Ethical issues, Influencing skills, Counseling Approaches