Ethics in Counseling
~QUOTE OF THE DAY~: "Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do."-Potter Stewart
During your B.A. training in psychology, you may hear professors talking about ethical practice. Well, as you move to the M.A. or PhD level, you will hear more and more about ethics as it pertains to internship/practicum, publications, client confidentiality, false representation (professional experiences), research practices, advertisement, counseling, supervisory methods, etc. Students at any academic level should take the time to read through both the American Counseling Association's (2014) Code of Ethics and the American Psychological Association's (2010) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. In this post, I also provide the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy's (AAMFT) (2015) Code of Ethics for those who want to look at the ethics requirements for that specialty.
Bottom line is-You do not want to find yourself in an unethical quandary before your career even begins. These ethics codes cover important topics that you are responsible for knowing, whether or not your professor covers it in class. Additionally, students who will go on to seek licensure on the A.A. (substance abuse), M.A. (professional counseling, social worker, marriage and family counselor, rehabilitation counselor, etc.), or PhD level (psychologist) will have to abide by these ethical principles.
Breaking amendments in these ethics codes could mean license administrative penalties (fees, which differ by state and license), reprimand, surrendering one's license, suspension, and revocation. The scary part of these disciplinary actions is twofold: many states will actually list your name, license, penalty, city of residence, and date of action taken on their website, while also pinning the disciplinary action to your license history, so that others who check your background can view what action was taken against you. No one wants future employers visiting a state licensing website and reviewing disciplinary action taken against them. Be smart. Educate yourself on ethics now!
Actually, human service workers that do not have a license must still abide by these regulations in their work settings. Do not give yourself any reason to not have to abide by these regulations, as deviation could mean the end of your career.
Violation Fact:
The top ethical violation in most states is inappropriate sexual contact/discussions/relationships-it does not matter who initiated the relationship. Therapists that commit such behavior are open for malpractice suits (for recent or previous infractions), which the practitioner usually loses when sexual contact has occurred between them and client. Remember be smart, be careful, and do your homework on what is expected of you as a professional and student! See your state licensing board for more details on ethics by state and license type.
These documents may seem lengthy, but just read a few sections at a time. You will be glad to know what your rights are as a student, intern, future supervisor and private practice owner. Enjoy!
American Counseling Association (2014) Code of Ethics:
http://www.counseling.org/docs/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=4
American Psychological Association (2010) Ethics Code:
http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (2015) Ethics Code:
http://aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/Content/Legal_Ethics/Code_of_Ethics.aspx
Recommended Text on Ethics:
http://www.amazon.com/Issues-Ethics-Helping-Professions-Updated/dp/130538945X
http://www.amazon.com/Decoding-Ethics-Code-Practical-Psychologists/dp/1412997607/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421142539&sr=1-3&keywords=ethics+in+psychology
http://www.amazon.com/Counseling-Practicum-Internship-Manual-Resource/dp/0826118321/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421142625&sr=1-1&keywords=practicum+and+internship+in+counseling
http://www.amazon.com/Ethical-Professional-Issues-Counseling-Titles/dp/0132851814/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421142658&sr=1-5&keywords=ethics+in+counseling
During your B.A. training in psychology, you may hear professors talking about ethical practice. Well, as you move to the M.A. or PhD level, you will hear more and more about ethics as it pertains to internship/practicum, publications, client confidentiality, false representation (professional experiences), research practices, advertisement, counseling, supervisory methods, etc. Students at any academic level should take the time to read through both the American Counseling Association's (2014) Code of Ethics and the American Psychological Association's (2010) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. In this post, I also provide the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy's (AAMFT) (2015) Code of Ethics for those who want to look at the ethics requirements for that specialty.
Bottom line is-You do not want to find yourself in an unethical quandary before your career even begins. These ethics codes cover important topics that you are responsible for knowing, whether or not your professor covers it in class. Additionally, students who will go on to seek licensure on the A.A. (substance abuse), M.A. (professional counseling, social worker, marriage and family counselor, rehabilitation counselor, etc.), or PhD level (psychologist) will have to abide by these ethical principles.
Breaking amendments in these ethics codes could mean license administrative penalties (fees, which differ by state and license), reprimand, surrendering one's license, suspension, and revocation. The scary part of these disciplinary actions is twofold: many states will actually list your name, license, penalty, city of residence, and date of action taken on their website, while also pinning the disciplinary action to your license history, so that others who check your background can view what action was taken against you. No one wants future employers visiting a state licensing website and reviewing disciplinary action taken against them. Be smart. Educate yourself on ethics now!
Actually, human service workers that do not have a license must still abide by these regulations in their work settings. Do not give yourself any reason to not have to abide by these regulations, as deviation could mean the end of your career.
Violation Fact:
The top ethical violation in most states is inappropriate sexual contact/discussions/relationships-it does not matter who initiated the relationship. Therapists that commit such behavior are open for malpractice suits (for recent or previous infractions), which the practitioner usually loses when sexual contact has occurred between them and client. Remember be smart, be careful, and do your homework on what is expected of you as a professional and student! See your state licensing board for more details on ethics by state and license type.
These documents may seem lengthy, but just read a few sections at a time. You will be glad to know what your rights are as a student, intern, future supervisor and private practice owner. Enjoy!
American Counseling Association (2014) Code of Ethics:
http://www.counseling.org/docs/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=4
American Psychological Association (2010) Ethics Code:
http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (2015) Ethics Code:
http://aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/Content/Legal_Ethics/Code_of_Ethics.aspx
Recommended Text on Ethics:
http://www.amazon.com/Issues-Ethics-Helping-Professions-Updated/dp/130538945X
http://www.amazon.com/Decoding-Ethics-Code-Practical-Psychologists/dp/1412997607/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421142539&sr=1-3&keywords=ethics+in+psychology
http://www.amazon.com/Counseling-Practicum-Internship-Manual-Resource/dp/0826118321/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421142625&sr=1-1&keywords=practicum+and+internship+in+counseling
http://www.amazon.com/Ethical-Professional-Issues-Counseling-Titles/dp/0132851814/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421142658&sr=1-5&keywords=ethics+in+counseling
