Psychology
Ethics in Counseling
Ethics is paramount in all aspects of professional and personal life. However, on the subject of counseling in which a professional interventionist would interact in close proximity with the client’s personal life, ethics is like a golden currency. In the article by LeBeauf et al. (2009), ethics was explored under the concept of multicultural discourse. This is where counseling adopts the diversity in client’s culture and the approach that counselors need to practice in dealing with a variety of clients. There are cases in which counselors defy the ethical values of their profession in favor of personal perspectives. This includes refusing to provide counseling to a homosexual client for the reason that the counselor is a devout Christian and believes that homosexuality is morally wrong. In LeBeauf et al. (2009), multicultural diversity is the focus of the study in which cultural differences were explored to create a model that will encompass an ethical standard to avoid conflicting views between the counselor and the client.
The study uses RESPECTFUL Cube in assessing potential conflicting views between the clients and the counselor (LeBeauf et al., 2009). This approach encompasses a set of skills that will enable the counselors to adapt to client diversity. Furthermore, the ethical issue that the approach tends to resolve is the apparent neglect that counselors commit for the reason that they do not have the skills and understanding of diversity. This lack of multicultural skills insinuates another ethical dilemma of discrimination of the client’s ethical and racial background. In addition to discrimination of sexual orientation, racial discrimination is also imminent in the counseling profession. For instance, a traditional Caucasian American refusing to render counseling service to an Asian client due to cultural differences is an ethical issue, which the article by LeBeauf et al. (2009) was able to discuss. The article concluded with the reinforcement of skills that counselors should develop to avoid issues of ethical violations in counseling.
References
LeBeauf, I., Smaby, M., & Maddux , C. (2009). Adapting Counseling Skills for Multicultural and Diverse Clients. In G. R. Walz, J. C. Bleuer, & R. K. Yep (Eds.). Compelling counseling interventions: VISTAS 2009, 33-42.
