The Oxford dictionary defines an ethical dilemma as “a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two courses of action, either of which entails transgressing a moral principle.” It is not uncommon to face such predicaments in the workplace but few occupations present more ethical dilemmas than that of a school counselor. Although jobs in counseling and social work often present ethical dilemmas, having to maintain confidentiality, share information with parents and bypass consent all while maintaining an honest relationship with the student seems almost impossible to accomplish. Deciding whether or not to breach confidentiality in order to help a minor student can seem like an unnerving task. Essentially, the final decision …show more content…
As such, they cannot legally give consent to be counseled. It is still a counselor’s duty to hold the same confidentiality rules to protect the information shared by the minor. The fact that the student is a minor would not nullify the confidentiality statute that would normally take effect upon consent during any other counseling session. After assessing the magnitude of the issue(s) at hand, the school counselor would then decide whether or not to involve the parents or other school educators who can help. This action is solely a professional judgment call and does not adhere to any pre-set rules or regulations on how to take action. There is no umbrella category that specific behavior or confidential conversations would fall under as every circumstance is different. “It is all-important to remember that practical or moral rules are only general an always admit of exceptions.” (TEXTBOOK p 51). The final call will be based on the best interest of the minor student with or without explicit …show more content…
The school setting makes this task quite daunting since “a culture of open communication regarding student information is quite common among educators in school settings” (ARTICLE P337). Even so, it is important to disclose only the most vital information so as to not jeopardize one’s job duties nor compromise one’s ethics. When taking in a situation in its entirety, a school counselor must dissect all of the information given and only release what is absolutely necessary in order to take action – if any action is needed. The relationship of trust between the school counselor and the minor student must be kept intact and remain unaffected at all cost. Releasing too much information would create mistrust and separation between the two, leaving the student with no one else to turn to. It is imperative that this does not occur as the influx of information from a student to an adult is necessary for the child’s
...rt of the medical profession, the therapists are expected to maintain the confidentiality of their clients. A psychologist must be able to acquire a client’s trust in order to keep quality confidentiality amongst the two parties. Only on seriously occasions should the patient’s records be shared, under certain other conditions the psychotherapy records of a minor can be reviewed by others without prior written consent. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), psychologists can usually give way the patient records to parents or legal guardians. Some of the ethical rules that apply to the practice of child and adolescent psychiatry are clear and generally agreed upon For example, rules against sexual contact or harsh or abusive treatment are encoded as boundary violations. A psychotherapist must be able to respect the boundaries of the client.
Huey, W. C. (1986). Ethical Concerns in School Counseling. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 64(5), 321.
The ASCA reminds school counselors that they are to guide and assist students who are victims by supplying appropriate services (ASCA, 2016). When abuse is suspected, a guidance counselor must personally report the abuse to child protective services (CPS). Cuff vs. Grossmont Union High School District reminds us how vital it is to follow all reporting procedures. In the state of Virginia, teachers, and those working in public and private schools, are mandated reporters and must report within 24 hours of the suspected neglect or abuse; even if the abuse occurred in the past (DSS.VA.GOV). Failure to report will result in criminal actions. Although school counselors are held to confidentiality terms, cases such as these warrant a duty to warn and an ethical obligation to protect. The American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) state that as Christian counselors, one should always disclose confidential information when a life is endangered, this includes events such as suicidal ideations, bullying, and abuse (AACC, 2014). Although the ASCA and the AACC provides guidance to crisis responses, there are still legal and ethical issues that may not be
Children, young people and adults need to know confidentiality will be honoured unless their, or other's safety and well-being is threatened, a crime has or is likely to be committed, and a professional's knowledge of and access to the child, young person or adult's information will not be abused, in the same way that it is important for professional's to understand how important shared information is, where and how it's stored, transported and disclosed to other appropriate professionals.
Ethics is the judgement and the moral actions used in interactions with cultures and society and its focus is on the client well-being. Ethics is defined by Remley and Herlihy (2010) in the counseling field as “professional behavioral and interactions” (p.4). Counselors do rely and are guide by Codes of Ethics. The role and relevance of the ethical principals, the ACA and AMHCA Code of Ethics are the base of the counseling profession. Without them this career would not have a guide on how the professionals should act and react professionally in all the different situations that are faced in this field.
During this particular scenario, the major issue being raised is confidently. When working with middle school or high school students, trust is gained and is an important quality to them. In this case, the counselor is being asked to disclose information on a student without her knowledge.
High school counselors advise students on an assortment of topics. Counselors help from advising students about colleges and requirements to helping students deal with social, behavioral and personal problems. School counselors do not always interact with students individually; they will also work with small groups of students or even an entire class, depending on the topic. According to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), high school is a time for students to transition into adulthood and the work of work, begin separating from their parents, and exploring and defining their independence. They need guidance in making concrete and compounded decisions. This is where school counselors come in to help these students guide them with information.
A counselor should always keep their thoughts to themselves and remain open-minded about the situation. The only time a counselor should share their thoughts is if it helps the client with their situation that they are dealing with. “Counselors must practice only within the boundaries of their competence (Standard C.2.a.), and, if they “determine an inability to be of professional assistance to clients” (Standard A.11.b.), they should facilitate a referral to another provider. (Kocet, M. M., & Herlihy, B. J. (2014). Addressing Value-Based Conflicts Within the Counseling Relationship: A Decision-Making Model. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 92(2), 180-186 7p. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00146.x).” Keeping your thoughts to yourself is
Ethical issues in a counseling practice lay the foundation of a therapist in practice. Ethics are at the center of how the counseling process functions and operates in a successful manner for the clients who seek help in such a setting. In order for the counseling profession to be ethical and hold professional recognition, there are many facets that need to be examined and outlined to make sure all counselors and practitioners are functioning at the highest level and withholding their duties required by the counseling profession. The first introduction so to speak of the area of ethics also happens to be one of the first steps in counseling, which is the informed consent. The informed consent provides the basis of what happens or will be happening in a counseling setting and serves to inform the client to their rights, responsibilities, and what to expect. Most importantly, the informed consent is in place for the client’s benefit. It also is important to understand that culture and environment play a role in the treatment of a client and how theories can positively or negatively impact this treatment. Therapists need to understand how to work within the context of a theory while being able to understand the individual in their own environment. Although theories are put into place to serve as a framework, there are also alternative ways to approach counseling, one example being evidence-based practice. Such an approach is very specific, which presents a series of solutions for counseling as a whole, but also brings forth many problems. Every approach or theory introduces ethical concerns that need to be taken into consideration by the entire counseling community and how each can positively and negatively affect clients and the pr...
The topic of this paper focuses on the battles school counselors face as the law and ethical standards collide. School counselors face a number of legal and ethical issues and recognizing a clear decision isn’t always easy. School counselors have to work with a large number of students, parents, and administrators while conforming to ethical codes, state laws, and school board guidelines. This topic is of great relevance to me as I will be going into the school counseling profession. It is also a meaningful topic to me because life-changing decisions are made every day in reference to legal and ethical issues. Researching this topic has shed some light on the difficulty for school counselors to fulfill both legal and ethical requirements. The main reason for this is that laws and ethical codes may sometimes provide differing and contradictory messages regarding the same subject. This can lead to legal ramifications, even while following ethical norms as we will look at in the example case of Woodlock v. Orange Ulster B.O.C.E.S. (2006/2008).
#1 For a situation to be considered ethical dilemma, there are 3 conditions that should prevails. First, the clients must make a decision on the course of action that should be taken. However, uncomfortable situations that do not require choice are not considered ethical dilemma. The second condition is that several course of action should be available for the psychologist to choose from. The last condition that qualifies a situation an ethical dilemma is that no matter the course of action taken, some ethical principles will be compromised no matter (no perfect solution).
professional’s standpoint: “Legally, it seems that adolescents’ right to consent and confidentiality depends on their capacity to exercise it. Ethically, professionals have a duty to respect and enhance adolescents’ evolving capacity to make health care choices and respect their confidentiality, provided that doing so does not produce harm to adolescents or to others.” In this context, although adolescents need an increased role in decision
I will need to consider both the parental rights and the minors’ rights in my decisions. Confidentiality is an ethical standard set forth by a profession, whereas privileged communication is granted by law (Ledyard, 1998). Hendrix (1991) stated that the law supersedes ethics in three mental health situations for minors: reports of being abused, reports of harm to self, or reports of a plan to do harm to another person. As part of the ASCA Ethical Standards school counselors are to inform parents/guardians and/or the appropriate authorities when a student poses a serious and foreseeable risk to self or others. So, it is my duty as a school counselor to report that Rachel is cutting herself to the appropriate individuals and to her
Privacy Ethical counselors abide by privacy guidelines. The role of the school counselor is to support students’ right to privacy and protect confidential information received from students, the family, guardians, and staff members (ASCA, 2010) Americans with Disabilities As with any population, counselors must strive to recognize the diverse experiences Americans with disabilities experience.
“‘Minors consent laws are extremely important’, argues Abigail English, director of the center for Adolescent Health and the Law. ‘They encourage young people to seek health care services they need and enable them to talk candidly with their providers’” ( Boonstra and Nash n.pg.). Abigail English, focuses her research on what is best in the world of healthcare, she found that giving minors medical privacy has proven to have more positive results. Studies have shown, “of physicians surveyed, seventy-five percent favored confidential treatment for adolescents” (Loxterman n.pg.). Doctors understand that the information their patients share is often embarrassing or touchy so they strongly feel the need to keep it private. They fear if they do not, the patient will be hesitant to share what is actually going on. Also, a study done by the American Medical Association found that doctors more heavily support medical privacy for a minor than the general