Diversity Issues In Counseling

Diversity Issues To have a supportive and therapeutic relationship with Taneka the counselor must understand biases and assumptions that can influence the counseling relationship. In the case of Taneka, the counselor and student are of different age, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and may have different sexual orientations. Since the counselor and student are different ages, the counselor and student may be under the assumption that the counselor is the authority figure in the relationship. This could affect the relationship because the student may feel that the counselor should tell her what to do. Further, because of racial differences the counselor and client may be working from different beliefs and values, thus, they may be working

Since Taneka is a minor she does not have the legal right to consent to career counseling services. Both the National Career Development Association ([NCDA] 2015) and the American School Counselor Association ([ASCA] 2010) support gaining consent from parents while recognizing the rights of the minor, NCDA ethical code A.2.d and ASCA ethical code A.2.d. At the beginning of every school year the counseling department sends home a consent form for parents to sign, consenting for their child to receive counseling services as needed to support their child’s academic, social-emotional, and college and career development. The counselor has already checked to make sure that Taneka’s consent form is signed so that counseling services can continue with her. However, since her future plans are a big decision, the counselor would talk with Taneka about including her mother in the decision making process. Also, it would be ethical to take the student’s culture into account as it may play a large role in any decision. For instance, some families may be more collectivistic or individualistic and decisions about future plans may be based on this. Another ethical consideration that must be taken into account is abandonment of services, NCDA (2015) ethical code A.10.a. As an employee of the school, the counselor has vacation and sick leave. In the event that the counselor is going on vacation and would miss appointments with Taneka it would be necessary to reschedule them, or a better option would be to obtain coverage from another counselor at the school. In this way the counselor could ensure that Taneka was still receiving services, such as meeting deadlines for college entrance exams, while the counselor was away. This would also bring up another ethical concern of confidentiality. Information would need to be shared with the other counselor in order to provide services