U nlike social media, scams aren’t something new brought on by the advent of technology and the internet. Con artists, swindlers, charlatans, grifters — whatever you might call them — have existed since the dawn of humanity. What is new, however, is that these purveyors of fraud can carry out
Tag: Ethics & Legal Issues
Ethics & Legal Issues
I f you have given even a cursory observation to the advertisements that appear on Facebook, during Google searches or on many of the websites that you visit, you will have noticed that these advertisements are targeted at you. The ads might be related to web searches you have performed,
As a counselor educator, I could have done more to prepare counseling students for involvement with the court system. Pertinent discussions were usually limited to child custody, records, privileged communication, subpoenas and counselors’ vulnerability in the courtroom. I had experienced depositions and had written clinical summaries, but I had never
As a counselor in a group supported by a church, I regularly encounter clients who want to discuss spirituality, or who even want spiritual guidance, assuming that because the counseling department is located within the church building, all the counselors are equipped to be spiritual leaders. The situation can cause
Counselor educators are responsible for ensuring that students are sufficiently prepared for entry into the counseling profession. It is challenging for counselor educators to include all areas of preparation because numerous content and curriculum standards must be met. One topic that often gets neglected is preparing counselors for testifying in
This past year, the American Counseling Association Governing Council endorsed formal competencies for the practice of animal-assisted therapy in counseling. The authors of the standards, and the coordinators of ACA’s Animal-Assisted Therapy in Mental Health Interest Network, contend that the competencies (available at counseling.org/knowledge-center/competencies ) represent a key step forward
Standard A.4.b. of the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics notes that “counselors are aware of — and avoid imposing — their own values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors” in an ethical practice. Counselor educators and students often need a practical approach for accomplishing this goal when it comes to conflicting religious
In April, the Tennessee Legislature passed a bill, which the state’s governor then signed into law, allowing counselors to refuse to see any client if counseling that client involves “goals, outcomes or behaviors that conflict with the sincerely held principles of the counselor or therapist.” The law, which is in
When Anne Marie “Nancy” Wheeler and Burt Bertram took over the authorship of The Counselor and the Law: A Guide to Ethical and Legal Practice in 2007, four editions of the title had already been published. Like the profession itself, counseling’s legal and ethical standards are a moving target, an
John Duggan spends the majority of his workdays talking counselors through the challenges that inevitably confront them in their jobs. From insurance paperwork to licensure issues, questions run the gamut, says Duggan, the American Counseling Association’s manager of professional development. Duggan, a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and licensed clinical professional