Ethical considerations in working with minors
Ethical considerations in working with minors
Lindsey Rasmussen
Client Rights, Confidentiality, & Ethics
Ethical considerations in working with minors
Professional counselors must abide by ethical principles, codes of conduct, agency rules
and regulations, and all of this within the scope of various laws and statutes. However, when
working with minor clients, the law does not provide much in the way of guidance, aside from
addressing the issue of mandatory reporting, and in many instances, actually conflicts with
some of the basic ethical principles of the counseling profession. Therefore, the counselor who
works with minors has to find an appropriate balance within these ethical and legal boundaries.
In theory and in practice, every ethical principle to which the professional counselor is
bound by applies to each and every client. However, there are four particular issues that seem
especially important for the counselor to consider when working with clients. These ethical
considerations are as follows: counselor competence, informed consent, confidentiality, and
mandatory reporting (Lawrence & Robinson-Kirpius, 2000).
The counselor who specializes in working with minor clients must complete specialized
training and education as it relates to children and/or adolescents. According to Brooks (2010),
advanced training in theoretical models relevant to the particular clientele is required, and
furthermore, all aspects of counseling need to be developmentally appropriate. In other words,
a counselor who specializes in working with adult clients cannot counsel children and/or
adolescents if they haven’t completed specialized training and education for this age group
because this would be practicing outside the scope of one’s competence.
Another important consideration in working with minors is the issue of informed
consent. Minors generally cannot consent to counseling; a parent or guardian must consent on
their behalf, though there are a few circumstances in which this consent is not required.
Ethical considerations in working with minors
However, even though a minor cannot give complete informed consent, the counselor must still
seek the minor’s assent to treatment. This assent implies the counselor will involve the minor in
decisions about their care by considering the minor’s preferences and most importantly, what
is in the minor’s best interest (Corey, Schneider-Corey, & Callanan, 2011, p.188-189).
The third consideration in working with minors – the issue of confidentiality – is in many
ways the most important and challenging to define and discuss. Confidentiality is the
foundation of the therapeutic relationship; the ACA even states that clients have the right to
expect confidentiality (Luther-Pitcairn & Phillips, p.71). However, at the same time, the minor’s
parent/guardian has a legal right to information pertaining to the minor’s counseling.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the counselor to balance the minor’s ethical right to
confidentiality with the parent’s legal right to information.
At the outset of treatment, the counselor must discuss the issue of confidentiality with
the minor client and their consenting parent/guardian to define the limits of disclosure. The
counselor cannot promise the minor absolute confidentiality nor should the counselor disclose
every detail to the minor’s parent. In general, the counselor should disclose only what is
necessary for the parents to fulfill their parental responsibilities (Koocher, PowerPoint, slide 9).
Secondly, the counselor should seek the minor’s assent for disclosure to the greatest extent
possible, so the minor feels a sense of control and to help diminish the chances of trust being
damaged when disclosure is necessary (Luther-Pitcairn & Phillips, p.72). This then leads to the
fourth major consideration when working with minors.
Ethical considerations in working with minors
The counselor is a mandatory reporter. Therefore, despite the fact that the minor is
entitled to a certain amount of confidentiality, there are specific instances which demand that
the counselor disclose information; ultimately this is for the minor’s protection, another
example of the counselor doing what is in the best interest of the client. In general, the
counselor may breach confidentiality without the minor client’s assent if and when the minor is
in “clear and imminent” danger of causing harm to themselves or others. This is typically
referred to as the counselor’s “duty to warn” and is often based on the counselor’s best
judgment and consultation with qualified professionals. Likewise, the counselor has the
responsibility to disclose privileged communication as it relates to suspected, implied, or
evidenced abuse of the minor. Again, for the protection and well-being of the minor client who
may not be able to protect themselves, or who may not realize the severity or seriousness of
their circumstances.
Overall, the counselor who works with minors needs to make some important decisions
regarding the ethical issues of competence, informed consent, confidentiality, and mandatory
reporting. Specifically, the counselor needs to decide how these principles, in the context of all
other governing codes, rules, regulations, laws, statutes, etc., will be applied to minor clients.
Furthermore, the counselor must explain these special applications to the minor client and their
consenting parent/guardian. And, lastly, the counselor must always strive to do what is in the
best interest of the minor, while balancing the minor’s rights with those of the parent, and then
consider all of this within their professional boundaries and chosen applications.
Ethical considerations in working with minors
References
Brooks, K. (2010, August 5). Ethical issues to consider when counseling minors (Blog). Retrieved
from http://try-therapy.com/2010/08/05/ethical-issues-to-consider-when-counselingminors/.
Corey, G., Schneider-Corey, M., & Callanan, P. (2011). Issues and ethics in the helping
profession (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks & Cole, Cengage Learning.
Koocher, G. Ethical issues in working with children and families [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved
from http:// www.oup.com/us/ppt/pdr/ChilrenandFamilies.ppt.
Lawrence, G. & Kirpius, S. (2000). Legal and ethical issues involved when counseling minors in
non-school settings. Journal of Counseling and Development 78 (2). 130-136. Retrieved
from http://www.eric.ed.gov.
Luther-Pitcairn, S. & Phillips, K. Ethics, laws, and adolescents: Confidentiality, reporting, and
conflict. VISTAS Online. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/Resources/Library/
VISTAS/vistas05/Vistas05.art14.pdf.