Ethics of Counselling
Introduction
There will always be a contradiction or paradox between professional norms of ethics and the ideals that a psychotherapist possesses. However, the counsellor must learn to draw a line between the two and not project his or her own ideas and ethics onto the clients. Although most therapists find it challenging to maintain the boundary since their learning process is often loaded with values. They, like most people, seek answers in black and white, or right and wrong. When it comes to balancing their ideas and values in order to properly advise patients, it is a process of learning and unlearning (Gunetilleke et al., 2011).
Discussion
The struggle that a therapist may face – about their personal and cultural identities, as well as their role in socialization – has a negative influence not only on how they view a conundrum, but also on whether they consider a scenario to be an ethical dilemma (Garcia et al., 2003). The decision maker’s values (personal and societal) are a prominent component that influences how the enigma is evaluated during a therapy session. Their prejudices, which therapists might not always recognize, can affect their decisions and behavior, which has a detrimental effect on the client (Mattison, 2000).
Reflection of Professional Strategies During Therapy: When professional therapists are training themselves, they must go through “philosophical sophistication.” According to Basche and Anderson et al. (2017), most students or future therapists begin graduate programs with long-held beliefs about what is good and wrong, as well as black and white professional behaviors, as part of their cognitive inhibitions.
According to “Social or ethnic acculturation” (Mintz et al., 2009) and Berry’s Model to Berry’s Model (Berry, 2003), professional therapists must use one of the four tactics listed below:
Strategy for Marginalization:
It demonstrates a lack of distinction between modern (professional) and old (personal) cultures. Most of the time, it is either devoid of a strongly established and personally held moral sense or a sense of ethics that is concerned with professionalism (Handelsman et al., 2005).
A Separation Plan:
This method exemplifies a professional with a well-developed, personally held moral sensibility. However, she refrains from applying it to her professional ideals (Handelsman et al., 2005).
For example, a girl or boy may have attempted suicide in order to escape an oppressive household. In such a case, the therapist feels that a person has the right to terminate his or her life at any time since it is his or her life. However, when counselling, the therapist must avoid implying her own beliefs. According to counselling ethics, it is her responsibility to keep the patient positive and psychologically healthy and to prevent him/her from committing suicide (Gunetilleke et al., 2011).
The Assimilation Plan:
Adopting new or professional ethical ideals while rejecting long-held, old ideas and morals is a successful method (Handelsman et al., 2005).
For example, the counsellor thinks she has the right to warn her patient’s parents about his or her suicidal threat, notwithstanding how dangerous the threat might be. In such circumstances, the therapist no longer believes in the ‘right to die’ (Gunetilleke et al., 2011).
Strategy for Integration:
This method indicates accepting new or professional ideals while maintaining personal values that are vital to him/her (Handelsman et al., 2005). In such instances, the therapist typically does not confront a moral quandary since he or she can put aside long-held convictions, values, and/or ethics (Gunetilleke et al., 2011).
According to Bernstein (2008), a professional therapist must practice in the following ways in order to keep his or her personal and old sets of ethics in check and to embrace professionally approved codes of ethics:
While making an ethically complex choice, the counsellor must establish the appropriate standards of ethics, legislation, ethical principles, and personal beliefs.
For an effective decision-making model, professionals might employ a variety of components, such as legislation, ethical standards and principles, and personal beliefs.
They must work toward merging their professional and personal principles.
How one’s values and prejudices may manifest during therapy and how they may affect one’s relationship with the client: Reflection on culturally integrated counselling skills:
This technique incorporates both professional rules of ethics as well as personal cultural and ethical convictions. According to this concept, the therapist must accept both the positive and bad parts of his or her culture.
Recognizing that the therapist sees the world via his or her cultural lens is the most effective approach of increasing self-awareness during treatment. The therapist must acknowledge how his or her worldview affects society and the quality of treatment. It assists the therapist in recognizing his or her cultural, ethical, and moral prejudices. It is essential to recognize his or her racist, sexist, homophobic, heterosexist, islamophobic, ageist, and ableist stigmas and views. The counsellor must understand how oppression, prejudice, and stereotyping impact his or her personality and the quality of counseling. As a result, the counsellor will be able to appreciate all members of society with equal ideals and fairness. And to indicate that the therapist must likewise comprehend the nature of privilege and power disparities in society (Collins & Arthur, 2010).
Furthermore, the therapist must recognize that counselling and psychology are culturally constrained. As a result, he or she must appreciate the client’s cultural background and realize that a monocultural approach cannot be applied to all situations of therapy. As a result, the therapist maintains an open mind while advising the patient on alternate techniques of treatment and healing.
The counsellor or therapist must be able to recognize the influence of cultural diversity, feminism and other cultural diversity movements, and social movements on contemporary professional codes of ethics and treatment ideas. As a result, he or she must be receptive to new cultural systems, beliefs, and practices.
During therapy, it is critical to comprehend the cultural and social differences between the therapist and the client. However, there must be alignment between the therapist’s personal and professional obligations. In the aftermath, he or she must learn to define what culture-infused therapy entails (Collins & Arthur, 2010).
Professional Therapists MUST Reflect on the Following Laws During Therapy:
Therapy Informed Consent:
The therapist must seek the patient’s informed consent to treatment. According to this regulation, the therapist should advise the client/patient about the kind of treatment, the participation of third parties, the projected payment, and how restricted (or wide) the confidentiality of the therapy is. The therapist must ensure that the patient is able to ask questions and get answers.
In addition, the patient must be informed about the therapy’s limits and possible risk concerns, as well as the availability of alternative therapies and the voluntary nature of the participation (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
When counseling a youngster, privacy problems, confidentiality, and legal facilities may be extremely difficult, since the child’s parent has opposing interests. If it becomes evident that the therapist will be called on to perform a potentially contradictory role, he or she must take appropriate measures. When records are subpoenaed, the therapist must be mindful of legal and ethical challenges to confidentiality. In such instances, the counsellor must react appropriately in order to protect his or her young patient’s best interests (Lawrence & Kurpius, 2000).
When treating a kid, there are various considerations that the counsellor must bear in mind before sharing information with the parents (Pathak & Chou, 2019; Dugger & Carlson, 2007), and failure to comply with such terms and conditions may jeopardize the child’s treatment.
Therapy involving couples or families:
According to the legislation, the therapist must notify all applicants engaged who the patient is ahead of time. All of the other laws stated above must be included in this legislation (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
When counseling a youngster who is accompanied by family members, the therapist must be knowledgeable of applicable laws and professional ethical guidelines in order to gain informed permission before treating the minor (Pathak & Chou, 2019; Dugger & Carlson, 2007).
Finally, while treating a family and a kid whose parents are divorcing or separated, the therapist must adhere to ethical problems. There are intercultural implications since divorce and separation are viewed differently in various cultural contexts (Sori & Hecker, 2015).
Group Counseling
When doing so, the psychotherapist must be explicit about the duties and obligations of the persons participating, as well as the limits of the therapy’s confidentiality (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
Giving Therapy to Those Who Have Been Served by Others:
In such circumstances, the therapist must carefully evaluate therapeutic difficulties as well as the welfare of prospective patients. Those matters must be addressed with the patient party or with the one who is legally allowed to speak on the patient’s behalf. The preceding step is conducted to reduce the danger of dispute and confusion. The whole procedure must be approached with prudence and compassion (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
The therapist must not participate in sexual activity with the current patients (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
The psychotherapist must not be involved in sexual relationships with any of the current clients’ family members or partners (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
Ex-sexual Partner(s) Therapy:
A therapist will not accept the chance to treat a former sexual partner (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
Creating Physical Relationships with Former Patients:
Even after treatment has ended, psychologists do not engage in physical relationships with ex-clients for at least two years.
In the most uncommon cases, psychologists do not engage in physical relationships with ex-clients for at least two years. In such scenarios, the therapist must demonstrate that he or she did not exploit his or her partner in any way, given the following conditions (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021):
(a) The amount of time he/she spent with the partner after treatment ended.
(b) The characteristics, intensity, and duration of the treatment.
(c) The reason for the dismissal.
(c) The patient’s personal history of mental health state.
(e) The possibility of harmful consequences on the patient.
(f) Any remark and/or acts made by the counsellor throughout the course of treatment that indicated or welcomed the possibility of the patient’s romantic-sexual or physical relationship being terminated.
Therapy Interruption:
Even after the contract has expired, the therapist takes reasonable attempts to provide acceptable solutions to the patients’ difficulties. Even after treatment has ended, the therapist must follow the law in order to give proper resolution to the patient, with the patient’s welfare as the first priority (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
Therapy Discontinuation:
(a) A therapist may end treatment when it is clear that the patient no longer needs the service because he or she is unlikely to benefit from the service or the therapy is causing more damage than good to the patient (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
(b) The therapist may elect to discontinue treatment if he or she feels threatened by the patient or the patient’s family member, partner, or friend(s) (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
(c) When alternative treatment is more suited for the client, the psychotherapist may discontinue his or her services (“Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct”, 2021).
My Biases and How I’m Addressing Them:
It may be difficult for me to detect intercultural counselling skills at times. I often fail to appreciate living privileges and social capabilities. In addition to these limitations, I had Islamophobic, racist, and sexist sentiments (Collins & Arthur, 2010). I realized that the environment in which I grew up had influenced my ideas. When a person identifies his or her stigma and past discriminatory views, he or she is able to begin working on them (Myers et al., 2021). Such beliefs are no longer a part of me. It has assisted me in being a better therapist (and person) by not insinuating or reflecting them during treatment.
Because of my long-held ideas, which were often impacted by my upbringings and cultural backgrounds, I was first unable to distinguish the personal and professional ethical quandary. I eventually attempted to realize the distinction and draw a line between my own ideals and professional norms of ethics. I did my best to comprehend people from various ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. I engaged with folks from various socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. I attempted to comprehend their own ideas, values, and ethics.
Finally, I attempted to incorporate what I had learned throughout therapy. I learned to appreciate cultural variety, cultural identities, as well as social and religious views (Collins & Arthur, 2010). At the same time, it gave me the ability to perceive the world through the prism of justice and equality. Because I believe that everyone deserves a better life, the basis of psychology must be founded on cultural values, diversity, and, most importantly, empathy and sensibility.
The Problems with Current Theories:
With all due respect, I’d like to point out that we need to educate people on the fact that psychotherapy is more scientific than philosophy (“Science of Psychology”, 2021). I see the importance of philosophy in all areas of education, society, and life. However, we must recognize that neurology, biochemistry, and genetics all play a crucial part in this. Of course, cultural and ethnic variables, as well as socioeconomic hardship and privilege, have an impact on them (Kelly et al., 2018; Bishop, 2015).
Conclusion:
Human psychology is a delicate subject. It is mostly influenced by one’s cultural, social, and socioeconomic background. As a result, it should be approached with caution, patience, and understanding. While treating a patient, the therapist is likely to face a variety of situations. He or she must draw a line between his or her personal convictions and the professional code of ethics. While dealing with the patient, it is vital to reflect the beliefs and rules of professional codes of ethics. Finally, over the course of treatment, his or her therapy must reflect the dynamic changes in society and time.
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