Summary of Unethical Behavior
Joe has exhibited unethical behavior by letting his personal opinions and feelings interfere with his work as a counselor to Jill. Accordingly, he used his religious background in judging Jill’s same-sex attraction. He also allowed his own untested opinion on the effectiveness and applicability of the European technique for erasing memories govern his judgment on whether it would be applicable for Jill or not. He also wanted to test the technique even if Jill did not give him her consent. Also, Joe is not sensitive to the cultural background of Jill during the counseling process. Moreover, he let his intimate feelings influence their counselor–counselee relationship. Lastly, Joe uses his own opinion on whether he must shift from general counseling to marriage or family counseling. All in all, Joe seems to be self-centered – he cares more about himself more than he would for his client, Jill.
Violation of the ACA Code of Ethics
Joe’s behavior has violated almost all the subsections of Section A of the ACA Code of Ethics. The particular subsections are:
Section A: The Counseling Relationship
A.1 Client Welfare
A.1.c Counseling Plans –mandates counselors to come-up with a plan with the help of the counselee (ACA, 2014, p. 4). Joe did not consider Jill’s disapproval of the European technique. He also did not listen to Jill about his sexuality issue which could have been considered in a creating a sound counseling plan. This is also in violation of the APA standard of ethics Section 3: Human Relations; 3.10 Informed Consent, which states that a treatment or therapy should be mutually approved by the client and the practitioner (APA, 2010, p.6).
A.2 Informed Consent in the Counseling Relationship
A.2.a Informed consent – the counselee must be fully aware and has given his or her consent on the counseling or treatment technique (ACA, 2014, p. 4). Joe was still adamant to use the European technique even when Jill manifested her disapproval. This is also in violation of the APA standard of ethics Section 3: Human Relations; 3.10 Informed Consent, as discussed above (APA, 2010, p.6).
A.2.c. Developmental and Cultural Sensitivity – the counselor must communicate with the counselee appropriately by considering the latter’s culture (ACA, 2014, p.4). Joe felt that he did not need to learn about the different cultural backgrounds of his clients like Jill. This ethical standard is comparable with APA’s Ethical Standards under Section 3. Human relations subsection 3.01 Unfair Discrimination. This APA standard notes that the client’s culture should not be used to discriminate a client (APA, 2010, p.5). Note that thinking that the client’s culture is not important is a form of discrimination.
A.3. Clients Served by Others
A.4.b. Personal Values – counselors must not impose their own values to counselee (ACA, 2014, p. 5). Joe imposed his religious values to Jill when he counseled her to repent of his sexuality issue. This behavior also violates Section 3, 3.01 Unfair Discrimination of the APA ethical standards which prohibits practitioners to be bias against other’s sexuality.
A.5. Prohibited Non-counseling Roles and Relationships
A.5.a. Sexual and/or Romantic Relationships Prohibited – Counselors should not engage with intimate or sexual relationships with the counselee (ACA, 2014, p.5). Joe had a sexual relationship with Jill. This is also in violation of the APA ethical standards Section3: Human Relations, 3.02 Sexual Harassment, which states that the practitioner should not make sexual advances (APA, 2010, p.5). It might also in violation of 3.06 Conflict of Interest, which states that the practitioner should not engage in a professional role if there is any personal, financial, etc. issues that could interfere with the objectivity of the relationship between the client and the practitioner.
A.6. Managing and Maintaining Boundaries and Professional Relationships
A.6.d. Role Changes in the Professional Relationship – counselors could not just arbitrarily change from general or individual counseling to family or marriage counseling and vice versa (ACA, 2014, p. 6). Joe wanted to shift from general counseling to family or marriage counseling.
Joe’s behavior as also violated one of the ACA’s Code of Ethics under Section B. Accordingly:
Section B. Confidentiality and Privacy
B.1. Respecting Client Rights
B.1.c. Respect for Confidentiality – counselors should not divulge any information about the counselee and the counseling service afforded by the latter without prior consent (ACA, 2014, p. 7). Joe called the bank where Jill worked and informed her supervisor about the counseling process.
Similarities between ACA and APA Ethics Standards
Based from the previous discussions it is clear that both ACA and APA ethical standards focus on the professionalism of the counselor or practitioner when dealing with patients. Both standards emphasize on avoiding personal or intimate relationships in order to maintain the objectivity of the counseling relationship. There is also a great focus on mutual consent. There is no room for forcing clients or counselees to undergo certain treatment without their consent – if they are capable on giving such consents. Moreover, both standards focus on confidentiality and privacy of information that is elicited during the counseling or treatment sessions. Lastly, both standards focus on the competencies of the counselors or practitioners so as to make sure that they have the necessary background and knowledge to carry out their obligations and tasks.
Ethical Decision Model
Fortunately for counselors, there are ethical decision models that can be used in order to make ethical decisions. One of these models was prescribed by Forester-Miller and Davis (1996); they called it, “The Ethical Decision Making Model.” This model was derived from the seminal works in counseling from the late 1980s up to the early 1990s. The model is composed of seven steps:
1. Identify the problem;
2. Apply the ACA Code of Ethics;
3. Determine the nature and dimensions of the dilemma;
4. Generate potential courses of action;
5. Consider the potential consequences of all options then choose a course of action;
6. Evaluate the selected course of action; and
7. Implement the course of action (Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996, p.4).
If I were to apply this model on Joe’s dilemma or issue on Jill’s sexuality, I would begin by identifying the real problem. If I were to apply the first step, I would first ask, is the issue on sexuality indeed a problem for Jill and if it is, do I have the proper and sufficient knowledge in giving her the counsels she needs? Perhaps the answer to these two questions are; no, same-sex intimacies may not be the real problem but how she perceives this natural feeling; and yes, I am qualified to provide counsel since such cases are within the scope of roles of general practitioners. I would then check if there are particular cautions in the ACA Code of Ethics that I should be aware of in order to maintain the objectivity of my counseling work. Next, I would need to determine the nature and dimensions of the dilemma. I need to know if the issue on sexuality affects her main problem, which is depression. I also need to know if there is a need to different stakeholders to participate. I will then generate the possible course of actions – whether to proceed in handling the case or not and whether I would need to the help of other institutions or not. Then I would need to assess the possible consequences of actions – again with the aid of the ACA code of ethics. This means that I need to come-up with a plan that is approved by the counselee. At the 6th step, I and the counselee would decide on which curse of action we should take. Lastly, I need to implement the course of action keeping all necessary records and taking notes of possible adjustments to the plan.
References
American Counseling Association, ACA (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Retrieved from: <http://www.counseling.org/docs/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=4>.
American Psychological Association (2010). Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Retrieved from: <https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/principles.pdf>.
Forester-Miller, H. & Davis, T. (1996). A Practitioner's Guide to Ethical Decision Making. Retrieved from: <https://www.counseling.org/docs/ethics/practitioners_guide.pdf?sfvrsn=2>.
