Counseling
Relationship and Confidentiality
Relationship and Confidentiality
The document client's sign before entering into counseling with adequate information about the counseling process and the counselor.
Informed Consent
Counselors practice only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, and professional credentials.
Boundaries of Competence
Counseling supervisors do not condone or subject supervisees to sexual harassment.
Sexual Harassment
Counselors who use distance counseling, technology, and social media understand that they're subject to laws and regulations of both the location of the counselor and client.
Laws and Statutes
Counselors do not initiate, participate in, or encourage ethics complaints that are retaliatory, made with reckless disregard or willful ignorance of facts that disprove the allegation.
Unwarranted Complaints
The counselors will respect the dignity and promote the welfare of clients.
The primary responsibility
Counselors are respectful of other approaches grounded in theory and/or have scientific foundation.
Different Approaches
Counselors who do assessment, scoring, and interpretation services to process confirm the validity of interpretations.
Assessment Services
Counselors clearly explain the benefits, limitations, and boundaries of the use of social media.
Social Media as Part of Informed Consent
Counselors assist in the process of enforcing the ACA Code of Ethics.
Cooperation With Ethics Committees
Counselors consider the risks and benefits of accepting as clients that they have had a previous relationship with.
Previous Relationships
Counselors alert their employers of inappropriate policies and practices.
Negative Conditions
Counseling supervisors clearly define and maintain ethical professional, personal, and social relationships with their supervisees.
Extending Conventional Supervisory Relationships
Counselors who use of distance counseling develop knowledge and skills regarding technical, ethical, and legal considerations.
Knowledge and Competency
When counselors are faced with an ethical dilemma, they use and document, appropriate decision making.
Ethical Decision Making
Confidentiality does not apply when disclosure is required to protect clients or identified others from serious and foreseeable harm
Serious and Foreseeable Harm and Legal Requirements
Counselors use techniques/procedures/modalities that are grounded in theory and/or scientific foundation.
Scientific Basis for Treatment
Counselors take special care to provide proper diagnosis of mental disorders
Proper Diagnosis
Counselors report the results of any research of professional value.
Obligation to Report Unfavorable Results
Counselors know and understand the ACA Code of Ethics and other ethics codes from which they are members of.
Knowledge
Counselors consider the risks and benefits of extending current counseling relationships.
Extending Counseling Boundaries
Counselors monitor themselves for signs of impairment from their own problems and refrain from providing professional services when impaired.
Impairment
Counselors recognize historical and social prejudices in the misdiagnosis and strive to become aware of and address such biases.
Historical and Social Prejudices in the Diagnosis of Pathology
Counselors who review material submitted for scholarly purposes respect the confidentiality and proprietary rights of those who submitted it.
Professional Review
If ethical responsibilities conflict with the law, or other governing legal authority, counselors show their commitment to the ACA Code of Ethics and try to resolve the conflict.
Conflicts Between Ethics and Laws