Ethical Issues In Counseling

Abstract

Client gift giving either during therapy or upon termination often evokes uncomfortable feelings for counselors.  However, various studies have ascertained that gift accepting is rather the norm than the exception among practicing therapists, and that more often than not, harm may be done due to the therapist’s uncertainly in assessing the meaning of the gift thereof. A gift such as a single flower may hold a symbolic meaning of appreciation, and what is required is the counselor’s awareness in considering the client’s history, culture and overall sensitivity, before she is inclined to refuse it.  Although there is no specific guidance regarding the ethical standards associated with gift accepting, a clear policy regarding ‘gifts’ at the onset of therapy may alleviate both client and counselor from embarrassment and misunderstanding.

Psikolojik danışmanlar, meslek hayatları boyunca etik karar vermeyi gerektiren durumlarla sıklıkla karşılaşmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, özel kurum ve kuruluşlarda psikolojik yardım hizmeti veren danışmanların meslek etiği konusunda bilgi ve tutumlarını incelemektir. Araştırma kapsamında, aktif olarak psikolojik danışma hizmeti vermekte olan gönüllü 16 danışmanla nitel görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Danışmanlara yöneltilen yarı yapılandırılmış sorular, danışmanların meslek etiğine yönelik uyması gereken kurallara dair bilgi düzeyini; yaşadığı etik ikilemleri; etik ikilemlerle karşılaştığında başvurduğu kaynakları; gizliliği ihlal etmesi gereken durumlar hakkındaki bilgi düzeyini ve danışanla çoklu ilişkilere dair tutumlarını belirlemeye yönelik oluşturulmuştur. Katılımcıların cevapları içerik analizi ile değerlendirilmiştir. Sonuçlar, en önemli mesleki etik ilkenin gizlilik olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Etik ikilem yaşanan konuların da en çok gizlilik ve yetkinlik konularında olduğu; etik ikilem yaşandığında süpervizyon gruplarından ve meslektaşlardan yardım arandığı saptanmıştır. Hayati tehlike arz eden durumlarda danışan gizliliğinin ihlal edilebileceği ileri sürülmektedir.

After a short note on the state of bioethics and of its crisis, two ways out are
proposed. Both of them are person-centred (respectively on the person as citizen
and on the person as patient) and both of them are strongly characterised by an
emphasis on the critical thinking. Thus, on the one hand, an account of deliberative
bioethics and, on the other hand, and account of ethical counselling are developed
and proposed.

This is an interview with Robert Rocco Cottone accomplished by Stephen Southern, the editor of The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families. It was published in 2020.  Cottone addresses issues including (a) Radical Social Constructivism (RSC); (b) applications of social theory to ethics and psychotherapy; (c) diagnosis from the perspective of RSC; (d) the scientific method in psychotherapy from the perspective of RSC; (e) social constructivism ethical decision making; and (f) a systemic theory of vocational rehabilitation.

In this scenario I am a school counsellor who has received the referral of a 15 year old pupil. She has admitted that she is around 8 weeks pregnant, wants a termination and does not want her family to know. The father is also 15, and she doesn’t want to tell him either. The key dilemma is that the schools Child Protection Policy states that I must inform the Head of Year, who may take it to the Head Teacher, which could result in the pupil’s parents being informed.

In this work I aim to assess my own reaction to this kind of ethical scenario and how I would work with it - within the legal and ethical frameworks available to me.

Background and Aim: In order to minimize ethical problems in the work of psychologists, the code of ethics have established rules for psychologists' behavior by specifying ethical codes. Examining the code of ethics in other countries is helpful in determining the weakness points of the ethical codes of an association in which a psychologist works. The purpose of this study is to compare the code of ethics in three countries of Iran, United States and Germany.
Materials and Methods: First, the professional code of ethics in all three
countries were extracted from their relevant organizations. In the second
step, their differences and similarities were examined in terms of the code structure. Finally, all three code of ethics were analyzed in terms of content and executive procedures.
Findings: The structural analysis of the code of ethics showed that the
introduction and general principles are common in all three code of ethics. In the German code of ethics, a separate section is devoted to the ethical codes for research and publication, and other ethical codes, which have been raised in other two code of ethics in the form of ethical standards, are listed in the separate section under the heading "Psychology in practice". Also, the content comparison of code of ethics showed that general principles of the Iranian and United States code of ethics point to ideal goals that are underpinned by ethical standards and, in their turn, are not enforceable rules, while in the German code of ethics, the general principles are the conditions and regulations that a psychologist has for have a professional identity in the German Professional Psychologists Association.
Ethical Considerations: Integrity and honesty in reporting, documenting
and citing of resources were observed.
Conclusion: The differences between the codes of ethics can be explained by the difference in the research priorities of the relevant organizations, multicultural and multi-national of these countries and the differences in their technological advances.

An overview of the historical sources of ethical reasoning, giving clinical practitioners a structured method for analysis of ethical dilemmas and moral pluralism typically encountered in the practice of psychiatry. This review will appeal to the psychiatric practitioner who is faced with ethical decisions about which reasonable practitioners may and do disagree, while providing tools and sample cases that facilitate the process of analysis and justification of decision-making.

The concept of distributed moral responsibility (DMR) has a long history. When it is understood as being entirely reducible to the sum of (some) human, individual, and already morally loaded actions, then the allocation of DMR, and hence of praise and reward or blame and punishment, may be pragmatically difficult, but not conceptually problematic. However, in distributed environments it is increasingly possible that a network of agents, some human, some artificial (e.g. a program) and some hybrid (e.g. a group of people working as a team thanks to a software platform) may cause distributed moral actions (DMAs). These are morally good or evil (i.e., morally loaded) actions caused by local interactions that are in themselves neither good nor evil (morally neutral). In this article, I analyse DMRs that are due to DMAs and argue in favour of the allocation, by default and overridably, of full moral responsibility (faultless responsibility) to all the nodes/agents in the network causally relevant for bringing about the DMA in question, independently of intentionality. The mechanism proposed is inspired by, and adapts, three concepts: back propagation from network theory, strict liability from jurisprudence, and common knowledge from epistemic logic.

This article was written as a research on guidance and counseling profession developing in schools in the Republic of Ireland. It contains information about the short history of guidance and counseling in the world and the development of it in schools. In the Republic of Ireland, the history of the developmental process of guidance and counseling has been carried off, then entering the profession guidance and counseling school, education of counselors and ethical issues in school counseling have been discussed in detail.

One important aspect of workplace diversity is the multiple generations it contains. Career service providers have an ethical obligation to assist both individual clients and organizations in recognizing the impact of their own generation's experiences and values and how they may interact with those from other generations on workplace environment and outcomes.

Cancer treatment is the most frequent cause of reduced fertility in cancer patients, with up to 80% of survivors affected. None of the established or experimental fertility preservation methods can assure parenthood, rather they may provide a future opportunity to overcome treatment induced sterility. Around 70-75% of young cancer survivors are interested in parenthood but the numbers of patients who access fertility preservation techniques prior treatment are significantly lower. Moreover, despite existing guidelines, healthcare professionals do not address fertility preservation issues adequately. Lack of time and knowledge about existing options, delay in potentially useful treatment, patient's age, partnership status, existing children, sexual orientation and socioeconomic situation are the main barriers to effective fertility preservation. Patient's fears, expectations and priorities shaped by personal values have to be addressed in the framework of medical necessities, realistic survival probabilities, socio-cultural environment and resources availability. We call for a need of patient centred fertility counselling within a framework that should include patients understanding of medical aspects of their cancer, realistic fertility preservation options, preferences based on personal values and goals. Optional support services could also include legal guidance, psychological and spiritual support and financial counselling.

Background and Aim: In order to minimize ethical problems in the work of psychologists, the code of ethics have established rules for psychologists' behavior by specifying ethical codes. Examining the code of ethics in other countries is helpful in determining the weakness points of the ethical codes of an association in which a psychologist works. The purpose of this study is to compare the code of ethics in three countries of Iran, United States and Germany. Materials and Methods: First, the professional code of ethics in all three countries were extracted from their relevant organizations. In the second step, their differences and similarities were examined in terms of the code structure. Finally, all three code of ethics were analyzed in terms of content and executive procedures. Findings: The structural analysis of the code of ethics showed that the introduction and general principles are common in all three code of ethics. In the German code of ethics, a separate section i...

Cancer screening and cancer prevention currently constitute the most promising way of tackling cancer in clinical practice and the public health domain. Cancer screening aims to find early signs of the disease in asymptomatic individuals so that it can be treated early. Although early detection has been shown to be beneficial for several conditions, it is also associated with the possibility of false-positive test results, and an increased number of insignificant abnormal findings (that is, overdiagnosis), which usually leads to unnecessary and harmful treatment with no benefits for the patient.  Moreover, it has been shown that patients find it challenging to understand risk in terms of probabilities and percentages, which constitutes a serious obstacle to making a well-informed choice. We suggest that dedicated counselling could help patients better to understand the benefits and risks related to cancer screening and, therefore, enhance the decision-making process, and trust in healthcare professionals.

SEHR GEEHRTE KOLLEGINNEN UND KOLLEGEN,
das Curriculum Klinische Ethikberatung wird seit einigen Jahren erfolgreich vom Fachbereich Ethik der Katharina Kasper Akademie in Zusammenarbeit mit Dozenten der Universitätsmedizin Mainz angeboten.
Es basiert auf dem Modell der Rekonstruktiven Klinischen Ethik, das auf der Grundlage – auch internationaler – wis- senschaftlicher Kooperationen entwickelt wurde und sich seit Jahren in der Praxis bewährt hat.
Die stete Fortentwicklung des Curriculums sichert nicht nur seine Aktualität, sondern leistet auch einen Betrag dazu, dass klinische Ethik nicht mehr nur allein auf der Grundlage lokaler, kontingenter Kenntnisse und Kompetenzen prakti- ziert wird, sondern sich an nationalen und internationalen Standards in der klinischen Ethik messen lassen kann.
Wir freuen uns auf Weiterbildung und Begegnung mit Ihnen!

Despite the numerous benefits related to the improvement of diagnostic tools, treatments and preventive measures, the use of genomic information for purposes other than research or therapy has raised many ethical, legal and social issues. More particularly, access and use of genetic information by third parties such as employers and insurers have raised concerns about the possibility of a discriminatory practice whereby individuals or groups could be imposed a differential treatment based on their genetic characteristics whether actual or perceived. The phenomenon referred to as genetic discrimination has prompted many governments to adopt laws or policies to prevent or prohibit such practice. In Canada, where no such specific protection currently exists, sharing genomic data outside of the clinical and research contexts may have some important social, familial, ethical and legal implications worth considering.

Regulatory board-sanctioned supervision is intended to enhance the practice of disciplined counselor licensees and to protect the public. A qualitative research design was used to assess the perceptions of four supervisors who provided board-sanctioned supervision. The themes greater board-generated communication and ethics-related considerations were identified. Suggestions for state counseling regulatory boards are discussed.