Patrice Hinton Oswalt was flattered upon opening her e-mail and finding an Evite to a client’s long-awaited graduation. Choosing whether to accept or decline the invitation was no simple decision, however. Oswalt was keenly aware that engaging in contact with a client outside of the counseling office could have ethical
Tag: Ethics & Legal Issues
Ethics & Legal Issues
A summons calling a counselor to court brings with it enumerable questions and anxieties. What should you say to the judge? How should you present your credentials? Is it ethical to answer the opposing attorney’s questions? These concerns are enough to make some counselors avoid the court system altogether. But
This past summer, the counseling profession found itself at the center of two legal cases in which tensions between public universities and free speech and between the rights of the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender population and the beliefs of religiously conservative students continued to play out. In July, a federal judge rejected a
I believe sitting in the client’s chair weekly – experiencing exactly what it is like to be the client – would greatly increase beginner counselors’ empathy.
The recent revision of the ACA Code of Ethics significantly changes the ethical guidelines related to dual relationships. Careful review of the specific ethics code language addressing dual relationships is imperative in order to navigate this prevalent ethical issue. Though the 1995 code offered guidance on the topic of dual
Editor’s note : American Counseling Association members received the 2005 ACA Code of Ethics bundled with the December 2005 issue of Counseling Today. Completed over a three-year period, this revision of the ethical code is the first in a decade and includes major updates in areas such as confidentiality, dual
NOTE: This article refers to the 2005 ACA Code of Ethics. A newer, updated version of ACA Code of Ethics (2014) is available here: counseling.org/knowledge-center/ethics. See section A.5, “Prohibited Noncounseling Roles and Relationships” for more on this topic. All ACA members are required to abide by the ACA