Counselling is a profession that makes it possible for the counsellor and the client to come together with the aim of helping the clients find lasting solutions to their problems. During counselling procedures, the counsellors are usually required by the law to observe some ethical standards when relating with other professionals in the same organizations in which they work. They also need to observe ethical provision that governs their encounter with clients as well as those that concerns disclosure of information. However, sometimes the professionals experience various dilemmas in their line of practice. The case study used for this assignment makes it possible for a person to discuss some of the ethical dilemmas that counsellors can face in their line of duty.
After reading the case study provided, it is clear that the three ethical dilemmas presented are the dilemma of relating with other professionals, confidentiality and privacy, as well as informed consent in the counselling relationship between the client and the counsellor. All these three ethical issue presented in the case have different nature and dimensions to the case. The dilemma of relating to other professionals occurs when a counsellor aims to form a relationship with one of the professionals working in the organization. New counsellor usually works under the guidance of experience counsellor working in their chosen institutions. The counsellors are required to maintain a professional relationship that will help them develop the knowledge and skills that can allow them to improve their practices.
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However, some counsellors usually find this a challenge especially when they have to relate to their former mates. For example, in the case study James states that he is happy because he will be supervised by his ex-girlfriend and this will provide an opportunity for them to catch up on old times. The ACA code of ethics states that counsellor are prohibited from having counselling relationships with the people they have had sexual or romantic relationships in the past especially if this type of relationship may sway their objectivity (American Counselling Association, 2005) . On this case, James seems to have a different objective in his intention to relate with his ex-girlfriend who is going to be his supervisor.
The second dilemma presented in the case is the dilemma of privacy and confidentiality. With the aim of observing privacy and confidentiality the counsellor needs to discuss with the client when, how, and why their private information should be shared with third parties (American Psychology Association, 2010) . Moreover, the counsellors should respect the privacy of current and prospective clients and only request private information only if it is relevant to the solution of the ongoing case. The ACA code of Ethics (2014) also requires that the counsellor should aim to protect the confidential information provided by the current and prospective clients. However, the case study does not show any situation where James aimed to establish privacy and confidentiality requirement with Lisa. He did not explain when, how, and why he can be compelled to share the private information shared with him by Lisa (Younggren & Harris, 2008) . Moreover, he did not promise the client any level of confidentiality before the start or even during the counselling session. This brought the problem that James might share the private information given to him by Lisa during the sessions.
The third dilemma in the case refers to informed consent. A research study by Fisher and Oransky (2008) states that informed consent refers to the fact that the counsellor should respect the client’s right to self determination and has the ability to initiate meaningful contribution to the counselling session by establishing rapport, building trust, and facilitating a sense of ownership during the counselling process (Fisher & Oransky, 2008) . Informed consent is an ethical provision that requires the counsellor to provide the client with the ability to make an informed decision to engage in psychotherapy or counselling sessions. However, in the case, James did not go through the initial intake document procedure that would have made it possible for him to provide the client with an informed consent of engaging in the counselling sessions. He did not explain to the counsellor how they will conduct the sessions neither did he give the client a chance to speak out about some issue of concern to him which would have led to creating rapport, initiating mutual trust and paving away that will make the counselling session a success.
Ethical code numbers and definitions
Section 4 of the American Psychology Association requires that counsellor observe the ethical practice of maintaining privacy and confidentiality during the counselling session. Similarly, section B of the ACA code of ethics also requires that counsellors should be able to observe confidentiality and privacy with their clients. All these two documents state that counsellors should be able to create good rapport and mutual trust with the client, which leads to the client gaining confidence with their counsellors and hence leading positive outcome of the counselling sessions. The articles require that the counsellors should respect the privacy of the clients and only request private information from the patients if the information has significant importance of the counselling session. Section A of the ACA codes of ethics (2014) provide the ethical standards that counsellors must observe when relating to both clients and other professionals.
Similarly, section 3 of the American Psychology Association also spells out some guidelines for relationships between the counsellor, the clients, and other professionals. Section 3.02 of APA states that the counsellor should refrain from engaging in any relationship or behaviour that is demeaning or harassing to the person with whom they interact with in their work based on sexual relation, ages, fender, and race of the person. Thus, James should have observed this ethical requirement before engaging with his ex-girlfriend and the supervisor. Section 3.10 of APA and section A.2 of the ACA code of ethics require he counsellor to obtain informed consent from the client to disclose or share private information and the proceeding of the counselling session with other people not involved directly in the process.
Since the dilemma of relationship already exist, the counsellor should consult an experienced supervisor who can help him gain the necessary skills and knowledge in his career, he should also refer to the code of ethics spelt out in the APA and the ACA to help him understand how he should form effective relationships with his supervisors. Moreover, James should refer to the provided codes of ethics and utilize them in ensuring that he makes it possible for the patient to obtain confidentiality and privacy in the process of the counselling session. The counsellor should also ensure that he covers all the intake documents with Lisa so that he prides her with the opportunity for confidentiality, privacy, and informed consent.
The implication of using the provided rules and regulation as per APA and ACA codes of ethics to conducting self analysis to help him focus on the right path to take to ensure that he gets the best out of the supervisory process by his ex-girlfriend will make it possible for him to get the best results. The limitation is that he might not lose the chance of working with an experienced supervisor. The importance of consulting ethical standards will make it possible for James to understand the ethics fully and create good relationship with the clients. The benefits of going back to the intake documents will help him create a positive outline with the client but might make him appear as incompetent to the client and this might hurt their relationship.
The best course of action for James to take is to consult a supervisor to help him sole the ethical issue that he currently face in his practice (American Counselling Association, 2005) . This is because; seeking the guidance of an experienced counsellor in the organization will make it possible for him to understand how the profession works. The experienced professional will also ensure that he or she takes James through the specified codes of ethics that all counsellor and psychotherapist need to observe in their professions to ensure positive outcome as well as help him start a fresh with the client without appearing incompetent before her. The ethical decision making model used in arriving to the decision relies on the concept that all counsellor need to abide by the codes of ethics provided by the APA and ACA codes of ethics to ensure that they conduct effective counselling sessions to their clients.
Many people taking counselling as a profession usually look forward to having a free and easy ride in their line of study. However, they come to reality when they take their first internship course. It is important for counselling student to be well acquainted with the codes of ethics as provided in APA and ACA codes of ethics to help them follow the right procedures to for counselling. The above case study shows that the counsellor overlooked some of these ethics and encountered different dilemmas. Some of the dilemmas that exist in the case include confidentiality and privacy, informed consent, and professional relationships with colleagues. The best method to overcome and resolve the dilemma is by consulting an experienced counsellor to help him get on the right truck without losing confidence from the client.
References
American Counselling Association. (2005). ACA codes of ethids . American Counselling Association.
American Psychology Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and codes of conduct. American Psychology Association.
Fisher, C. B., & Oransky, M. (2008). InformedConsent toPsychotherapy:Protecting the Dignity. Journal of clinical psychology: in session, Vol. 64 Issue 5 , 576-588.
Younggren, J. N., & Harris, E. A. (2008). Can You Keep a Secret? Confidentiality in Psychotherapy. Journal of clinical psychology: in session, Vol. 64 Issue 5 , 589-600.
