Chapter 3
Ethical and Legal Aspects of
Counseling
Ethical or Unethical
• 1.) You are a successful counselor. One of your clients
tells you that you have been very, very helpful to him,
and in order to show his appreciation to you, he gives you
a $10,000 diamond ring as a gift. You accept the ring.
• 2.) A client cannot afford to pay for one of her counseling
sessions with you. In lieu of payment, you ask her to
babysit your 2-year-old son at your home a few times.
• 3.) One of your clients feels sexually attracted to you, and
tells you this. Immediately following the termination of
counseling, you and the client mutually agree to start a
dating relationship.
Ethical or Unethical
• 4.) You and your friends have a dinner at your home. One
of your friends tells you that he is emotionally disturbed
by some conflict in his marriage. You take your friend
into the next room and provide him with a brief
counseling session there.
• 5.) You go to lunch with another counselor. In the
restaurant, you each talk about some of your cases to
learn from each other. Neither of you mentions the names
of any of your clients.
Definitions
• Ethics
– “Making decisions of a moral nature about people and
their interactions with society”
– “A philosophical discipline that is concerned with
human conduct and moral decision making”
– Professional behavior
• Morality
– “Judgment or evaluation of action”
– Right and wrong behavior
• Law
– “The precise codification of governing standards that
are established to ensure legal and moral justice”
– Government behavior
Common Unethical Behaviors of
Counselors
• Violation of confidentiality
• Exceeding one’s level of professional
competence
• Negligent practice
• Claiming expertise one does not possess
• Imposing one’s values on a client
Common Unethical Behaviors of
Counselors
•
•
•
•
Creating dependency in a client
Sexual activity with a client
Dual relationships
Questionable financial arrangements (i.e.,
charging excessive fees)
• Improper advertising
Professional Codes of Ethics and
Standards
Why should counseling professionals abide
by ethical codes and standards?
• Good for clients?
• Good for counselors?
Reasons to Abide by Ethical
Codes
• To protect client’s rights while identifying
expectations of practitioners.
• To professionalize organization.
• To allow a profession to regulate itself and
function autonomously.
Reasons to Abide by Ethical Codes
• To control internal disagreements and thus
promote stability of a profession.
• To protect practitioners from the public
(i.e., malpractice lawsuits).
• To promote public trust toward the
profession.
ACA Code of Ethics and Standards of
Practice (ACA, 1995)
•
•
•
•
•
Section 1: The Counseling Relationship
Section 2: Confidentiality
Section 3: Professional Responsibility
Section 4: Relationships with Other Professionals
Section 5: Evaluation, Assessment, and
interpretation
• Section 6: Teaching, Training, and Supervision
• Section 7: Research and Publications
• Section 8: Resolving Ethical Issues
Limitations of Ethical Codes
• Do not address every possible situation
• Conflicts within ethical codes
• Applicability of the code in today’s
society?
• Insensitivity to cultural diversity
• Some conflicts between ethical and legal
codes
Making Ethical Decisions
Ethical Principles:
• Beneficence
• Nonmaleficence
• Autonomy
• Justice
• Fidelity
Other Guidelines for Acting
Ethically
•
•
•
•
Act with personal and professional honesty
Act in the best interest of clients
Act without malice or personal gain
Justify an action “as the best judgment of
what should be done based upon the
current state of the profession” (Swanson,
1983, p. 59)
Ethical Decision-Making Models
• Pgs. 66-67
Use Corey, Corey, & Callanan’s
model to solve the problem
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. Identify the problem
2. Identify potential issues involved
3. Review relevant ethical guidelines
4. Review law
5. Obtain consultation
6. Consider possible course of action
7. Enumerate consequences of various decisions
8. Decide on best course of action
• Case study: A client with a previous
history of child abuse reported that she
recently went through a great deal of stress
from work. She revealed that she felt she
was losing control and got angry easily
with her 10 year old daughter at home.
She indicated that on those occasions, she
was on the verge of exploding on her
daughter.
• Case Study: An elderly male client with a
history of chronic pain reports feeling
down and no friends or family to talk to.
He discussed feeling as though life isn’t
worth living with his constant pain and that
no one would miss him anyway. He stated
that he has a full bottle of prescription pain
medication at home, which would be the
easiest way to commit suicide.
Dual Relationships
• Having sexual or romantic relations with a client during
therapy
• Having sexual or romantic relations with a member of the
client’s immediate family during therapy
• Having sexual or romantic relations with a client or a
member of the client’s immediate family after the termination
of therapy
• Buying goods or services from a client, or entering into a
business agreement with a client (in addition to counseling)
• Employing a client, or providing therapy to an employee
• Providing therapy to a friend or relative
• Going out to eat with a client after a session
• Inviting clients to a personal party or social event
• Providing counseling to a supervisee or student
• Being a part of the same organization as a client, or going to
the same church/temple
Working with Counselors who
may act unethically
• Prevention:
1. Identify the problem
2. Apply ACA/APA ethical code to
problem
3. Approach informally
3. File an ethical complaint
The Law and Counseling
• Iowa Law Review Note (1971)
– Counselors are legally-recognized professionals
• Weldon v. Virginia State Board of Psychologists Examiners
(1974)
– Counseling is a distinct profession from psychology
• Tarasoff v. Board of Regents of the University of California
(1976)
– Counselors have a duty to warn if an identifiable person is
in danger
• Ramona trial (1993)
– Counselors have a duty to care – a legal obligation not to
act negligently
• Jaffee v. Redmond (1996)
– Communications between licensed psychotherapists and
their clients are privileged and do not have to be disclosed
in cases held in federal court
Civil and Criminal Liability
• Liability:
1. Civil liability
“Acting wrongly toward another or…failing to
act when there [is] a recognized duty to do so”
person  person
2. Criminal liability
Acting “in a way the law does not allow”
state  person
Civil and criminal liability
• Negligence
– the departure from acceptable professional
standards
• Malpractice
– the harm to a client resulting from negligence
The Law and Counseling
• Confidentiality
– is the ethical duty to fulfill a contract or promise to
clients that the information revealed during therapy
will be protected from unauthorized disclosure.
• Privacy
– is a legal concept that recognizes individuals’ rights to
choose the time, circumstances, and extent to which
they wish to share or withhold personal information.
• Privileged communication
– regulates privacy protection and confidentiality by
protecting clients from having their confidential
communications disclosed in court without
permission.
Exceptions to Confidentiality
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
When a client is a danger to self or others
In cases of child abuse or neglect
When vulnerable adults are being abused
When a client is considering committing a crime
When a client has been a victim of a crime
During court-ordered psychological evaluations
For the purposes of involuntary hospitalization
When a client raises the issue of mental condition
in legal proceedings
• In client-counselor disputes
Tarasoff v. Board of Regents of the
University of California (1976)
Prosenjit Poddar
Tatiana Tarasoff
Tarasoff v. Board of Regents of the
University of California (1976)
• Prosenjit Poddar told the student health center
that he wanted to kill Tatiana Tarasoff. The
psychologist told the supervising psychiatrist,
who told campus cops, who detained Poddar but
then let him go. Poddar killed Tatiana two
months later. Her parents sued for “failure to
warn.” The Trial Court said that no such duty
existed. The CA Supreme Court cited Simenson
v. Swensen and ordered a trial. The case was
heard twice:
– Tarasoff I: “Privilege ends where public peril begins”
– Tarasoff II: A therapist has an obligation to use
reasonable care to protect potential victims
Guidelines for Implementing
Duty to Warn Requirements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Get informed consent
Plan ahead through consultation
Develop contingency plans
Obtain professional liability insurance
Involve the client
Obtain a detailed history
Document in writing
Implement procedures to warn
Legal Issues involved when
counseling minors
• Parental consent
• Limitation of confidentiality
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA)
– Allows parents access to their children’s
records
– Allows children access to their own records
Codes of Ethics
• ACA Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice
(1995)
– http://www.counseling.org/Files/FD.ashx?guid=ab7c1
272-71c4-46cf-848c-f98489937dda
• APA (2002) Ethical Principles of Psychologists
and Code of Conduct
– http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.pdf
• ASCA (2004) Ethical Standards for School
Counselors
– http://www.schoolcounselor.org/files/ethical%20stand
ards.pdf