What are the two ethical issues which are likely to be the most concerning for you personally in your counselling work? Include a discussion of: 1. why each is important in your counselling work, or...

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Ethical Issues in Counseling

Introduction:
Counseling implies a process of supporting people through scientific techniques to
make constructive change in their lives. It is likely to involve developing a better
understanding of people about themselves. In other word, it is used to support people
in adjustment with new life situations through proper understanding of themselves
and situations, logical decision and desirable actions. The services of counseling
could be either professional or voluntary in nature. A qualified and skilled counselor
should have the personal characteristics of empathy, unconditional positive regard,
genuineness, commitment, integrity, courage, competence, resilience, wisdom and
humility (BACP, 2011). The effective counselors must have a through understanding
of behaviour of individual/client in their own social and cultural contexts. In addition,
the professional counselors should be able to apply such understanding along with
ethical guidelines to the particular set of problems or circumstances of the client.
Within the given limit, the present essay is aimed at elaborating and discussing
personally significant two ethical issues in my own professional services.
Ethical Issues in Counseling:

Ethics signifies a set of principles, responsibilities and obligations which is based on
moral standards of rights and wrongs towards regulating and controlling the conduct
of the professionals or group, in line with culture, values and social norms. It guides
direction of counseling services with the aim of welfare of clients and clinicians, as
well as, sanctity of profession. Similar to other professions, the domain of counseling
services does have its own ethical principles which have been determined by the
American Psychological Association (APA, 2002) and heartedly accepted and
incorporated by the other relevant international professional societies. The ethical
practice in counseling implies providing counseling services with care and
conscientious efforts, for which the professional expert has been appropriately trained.
The important ethical principles determined by the APA are as follow:
(1) Respecting Autonomy: It means paying respect to client’s right to self-
governance
and determination, right to think and act freely with personal choices.
(2) Beneficence: A commitment of the counselor to do all good and promote client’s
well-being through professional skills.
(3) Non-maleficence: It means avoiding harm to the client. The counselor is not
supposed to make the client worse by intention, reckless action or incompetence.
(4) Justice: Clients must be treated equally and without any stereotypes, attitude and
discrimination.
(5) Fidelity: It indicates mutual confidentiality, trust-making and encouraging self-
disclosure.
(6) Self-respect: It means fostering counselor’s knowledge to self and care as well
without diminishing oneself.
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Personally Concerned and Most Significant Two Ethical issues

Although, I have not worked as a qualified counselor so far, but do have some sort of
similar experience in dealing with people as a professional in public relations and
human resources. So, I have not encountered ethical dilemma as such in counseling,
however, perceived the same from a proximal distance in professional practice. Based
on my professional experience and current undergoing training in counseling, I would
suggest the following ‘two ethical issues’ as the most significant in practice of
professional counseling:
(I) Fidelity: It implies confidentiality between the counselor and client or among
all, provided the ‘significant other/s’ of the client is also being included in counseling.
As to me, being confidential or reliable is the fundamental to understanding the client
and regulating the counseling processes in desirable direction. It involves sharing of
secrets, and secrecy stands for tendency to conceal. In other words, fidelity is referred
to premise that what the client says to the counselor, always stays with him/her (the
counselor) without a fear of being leaked (Barnard, 2008). It is a very important part
of establishment of counseling relationship and successful proceedings of its
processes towards therapeutic goal. For the purpose, clients must understand that the
information to be shared with the counselor would not be disclosed directly or
indirectly to any third party without their consent and permission. Psychologist,
Counsellor and other medical professionals should always respect the privacy of their
clients and make serious efforts to protect their dependence. The counselor’s efforts
to make any communication in accordance with consent of the client is not considered
as a breach of fidelity, and the same is considered as an ethical and justful way of
reconciling possible dilemma pertaining to confidentiality (BACP, 2010). It includes
looking after all personal details and sensitive information shared with the clinician as
well as proper carefulness to the details of all counseling sessions.
Reasons behind: The ethical practice of fidelity is important for several reasons in
counseling services. This is a pivot of counseling which attracts people toward such
health services without any side effects (as compared to pharmacological treatment)
and itself works as a good support system on the part of counselor to the client along
with progress of the counseling process. The confidential approach of counselor
provides an opportunity to the clients for expressing suppressed feelings and emotions
helpful towards getting insight into their problem and difficulties which is the ultimate
aim of such intervention. It helps in defining goals, planning and action that could
improve client's situation; develops motivation and abilities required to implementing
change; and thus constructs new ways of looking at their situation (AAMFT, 2001).
Confidentiality also helps clients in dealing and adjusting with 'stigma' and 'double
stigma'. The 'Stigma' refers to identification and recognition of a bad or negative
characteristic in a person or group of persons and their treatment with less respect or
worth than they actually deserve due to this characteristic. The 'double stigma' refers
to 'terminal illness' and 'sexually transmitted disease' (E.g., HIV / AIDS). It means
that 'double stigma' signifies the kind of stigma attached to 'deviant', 'unnatural', or
socially undesirable activities such as men having sex with men, or prostitution,
miscarriage (Alonzo and Reynolds, 1995). Experiencing stigma may lead to low self-
esteem, severe anxiety and depression in the clients, reduced willingness for treatment
and support and increased difficulties in sharing worries with clinicians, friends and
relatives. Personally, I have seen an incident that a woman with a history of
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miscarriage became under severe stress, when her gynecologist leaked the
information of her second conception, ultimately lost the same again. It was because
miscarriage has a socially stigmatic impression in her society and culture in the
eastern part of globe.
The well trained and skilled counselors, to accomplish the task and goal of
counseling, proceed and work with the clients in accordance with the level of faith
and confidentiality placed onto them. As a result, the counselors do realize an extent
to which the clients’ expectations have some logical bases to be considered and met
(ACA, 1995). They give due importance to mutual agreement and promises as an
obligatory response and voluntarily restrict leakage or disclosure of any confidential
matter towards development and purposes of counseling process. Alternatively, if
required, an essential reveal of client’s confidential matters must be undertaken by the
counselor in ways which could protect the client’s respect, welfare, and autonomy in
the best way possible (Bosede, 2010). The counseling sessions could be bound to be
failed in...