Counselor Ethics and Responsibilities Assignment Guidelines

Directions: Follow the directions below to write a paper of 1,500-1,750 words on counselor ethics and responsibilities.

For this paper, write from the perspective that you are a professional counselor in the field. Provide a thoughtful response to each of the following four sections, including specific, concrete examples to illustrate your ideas. Use the section headings provided below to separate each section of your paper.

Your final deliverable should be one cohesive paper addressing all four sections along with an introduction and conclusion.

Section 1: Counselor Values

1) Select two of the following issues you feel strongest about and describe your personal values and attitudes toward them.

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.)

b) Gay adoption. (John and Bill, after living in a committed relationship for seven years, decide that they want to begin a family. They have differing opinions about whether to use a surrogate mother or adopt a child.)

c) Assisted suicide. (Eleanor, an 87-year-old with terminal cancer, has decided to end her life but is undecided about how to discuss this with her family, or if she should discuss it with them at all. She seeks your guidance in this decision, but is not interested in revisiting her decision to end her life.)

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.)

2) Describe how you would counsel the client in each situation you selected. HINT: Make sure you reference ethical codes from ACA, NBCC, or NAADAC.

Section 2: Client Rights

1) Describe how you will incorporate the following five principles of ethical practice in order to maintain your clients' rights.

a) Autonomy

b) Nonmaleficence

c) Beneficence

d) Justice

e) Fidelity

2) Discuss the informed consent process and how it protects client rights including:

a) Billing

b) Right to Privacy

c) HIPAA compliance

d) Compliance with credentialing board requirements for incorporating informed consent into practice.

Section 3: Responsibility to Warn and Protect

Identify the factors that you will consider in order to determine your "duty to warn" and "duty to protect" responsibilities as a counselor. Be sure to consider ethical guidelines as well as the laws pertaining to the "duty to warn" and "duty to protect" in the state in which you plan to practice.

Section 4: Client Record-Keeping

Discuss the role of client record keeping in protecting the following:

a) a client's right to a professional standard of care

b) the counselor from liability