Describe the key differences between legal and ethical standards that surface in counselling when making decisions that reflect best practice.
Ethics are the moral rules or principles that govern the manner in which an individual or a group conduct their activities. The term ethics is drawn from the Greek ethos, which means character, custom, or habit. Ethics are used in the counselling field to reinforce the nature and direction of actions that the counsellor takes. Just like other helping professionals, counsellors are expected to behave and operate in a particular ethical manner. By nature of their profession, all that a counsellor does should be at the best interest of their client, protect the client’s rights, minimize harm, promote their goals, and maximise good. Ethics provide ethical principles and codes to strike a power balance and ensure that all the actions of the counsellor are for the good of the client. The characteristic power between a counsellor and their clients further broadens the ethical expectations.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
While the operations of counsellors are guided by a Code of Ethics, there are certain cases when these professionals are required to follow the Law, which is different from the moral principles. Unlike ethical standards, Laws tend to be more prescriptive because they are incorporated into the code and they bear greater penalties or sanctions upon failure to comply. In a situation where the law and ethics are in conflict with each other, then the professional counsellor is expected to try and resolve this conflict in a responsible and fair manner ( Welfel, 2015) . Laws come with greater penalties compared to the Code of Ethics, and this means that the counsellor is expected to follow a legal course of action as long as the client does not get harmed.
The professional orientation of the counselling field comes with a number of key components:
Confidentiality : Confidentiality is closely linked to the legal issues in the counselling field, and it is crucial in defining the communication between the counselling professional and their client. In this case, trust is the key foundation to fostering a therapeutic relationship between the two parties. Confidentiality is one of the key causes of ethical dilemmas. Counsellors sometimes find themselves in situations where they have to make difficult decisions regarding the same ( AIPC, 2019) .
Bad Practice : Power and privacy are two issues in a counselling session that tend to be prejudicial as far as unethical practice is concerned. A counselling session is private by nature, and this results in a ‘gap for unsupervised operation,’ which makes the sessions hard to assess.
Safety and Negligence : These are matters of key concern for counsellors in practice. The relationship between a counsellor and their client is very delicate, and it is the responsibility of the counsellor to ensure that there is a safe environment during the counselling session. A breach of safety and confidentiality is called negligence, and it is the duty of the counsellor to eliminate such occurrences as much as possible ( AIPC, 2019) .
Professional recognition and Training : Most countries have not regulated the counselling practice, yet proper training and recognition are required to ensure that the counsellors have all the needed skills to operate professionally.
The law and ethical policies are used to guide and direct a counselling professional and ensure that they follow the proper moral guidelines. These policies are in line with my values and moral beliefs as a professional counsellor because I believe that every action that I take should be backed by an ethical and legal statement. By so doing, all my actions as a counsellor will not just be for myself but also or the best interest of my clients. Since there are regulations in the counselling field that form the society’s social pillar, I will uphold ethical standards. In self-disclosure, I might consider sharing my personal experiences and views with the client at a limited level. I will do this purposefully to improve the client’s mental state and general wellbeing. I will follow the ethical and legal standards and principles that are based on the counselling field when building a rapport with my clients to help them feel more comfortable. One of the ethical responsibilities that I take very seriously as a counsellor is a power that I have with my relationship with the client and the best way for me to follow the laid down values and objectives is by maintaining objectivity at all time.
References
AIPC. (2019). AIPC Article Library | Ethics and Counselling. Retrieved from https://www.aipc.net.au/articles/ethics-and-counselling/
Welfel, E. R. (2015). Ethics in counselling & psychotherapy . Cengage Learning.
