Human Service Professional in the Helping Process

¶ … human service professional in the helping process has many dimensions. One of the most important of these, according to Murphy and Dillon (2012) is the ethical aspect, because "ethical codes stress the primacy of the service obligation to the client, confidentiality, integrity, and follow-through." The needs of the client should be the primary concern of the human service professional, which is why years of training and practice are required before they are truly qualified and fully prepared to take on the responsibility of helping other individuals who are in crisis.

Adherence to strong ethical codes is of crucial importance in this profession. Having a clear and specific set of ethical guidelines is essential because human service professionals are human beings with their own personal values. They have sets of beliefs which may be deeply engrained, including prejudices formed from their cultural, social, and educational backgrounds. These are sometimes so deeply rooted that they are expressed unconsciously, and they may show up unexpectedly in relationships with clients who may trigger a memory or experience that is long forgotten. Human service professionals are also subject to using stereotypes in their assessments of individuals; this is a natural tendency and one that workers must be aware of in their interactions with others if they are to offer quality therapeutic care to their clients, without bias or prejudice.

There are a number of issues which may affect the human service professional in her attempts to deliver therapeutic services to clients. For example, there is the work environment of the agency in which the worker is employed. In additional, the political and economic environment of our society can impact the services certain agencies can provide. This, in turn, may limit the worker's ability to provide a sufficient amount of necessary services, or in some cases to provide essential services at all. According to Murphy and Dillon (2012), "with the privatization of mental health services and the increase in managed care, clinicians may find their clinical decisions increasingly affected by their own or their agency's financial concerns and pressures." Thus there are a number of variables that must factor into a worker's decision about treatment modalities. The ability to balance these variables with the integrity to be certain that the worker is putting the client's needs first can be a difficult terrain to navigate.

Case Study

Potential barriers I might have while working with Todd and Reggie would have to do with some of their behavioral patterns, such as using alcohol and drugs. Because both of them have issues with substance abuse, and because substance abuse has a strong impact on their individual lives and on their relationship with one another, I would have a strong tendency to come down hard on them about learning to live without these substances. While this is certainly a valid viewpoint, I am aware of my own issues with people who use alcohol and drugs, and I feel very strongly about these substances and the damage they inflict on those who use them and all those who come into contact with them. Because I am aware that I have this issue, I would have to be particularly careful not to impose my own values upon my clients. After all, it is their best interests that I am charged with upholding, not my own.

I do not feel that the criminal histories each of them has would be a problem for me, and I feel confident that I would be able to help them navigate through the system and obtain services that would be useful to them. I would hope to encourage them to tend to their legal obligations and keep appointments with parole officers, as necessary, to ensure that they do not return to prison. Their sexuality is an issue that might be problematical for some; however, working with gay and lesbian couples is something I am comfortable with and am prepared to do.

Some questions I would want to address to Todd and Reggie would be to interview each of them individually about his life goals, his employment prospects, and the amount of effort he is willing to put into improving his life. I feel that these basic and important needs should be clearly defined by each of them to help them move forward and make progress with their individual issues. I would also like to ask them more questions about their interpersonal relationship in order to get at the root of the abusive behavior that seems to be a recurrent problem for them. This would also help me determine the best services and referrals I can connect them to. For Reggie, I would arrange grief counseling to help him deal with the loss of his mother, who died when he was still in prison.

Ethical issues that would concern me regarding this case would be when one of them is actively using a substance such as alcohol, marijuana, or cocaine. The drugs are particularly problematical because they are illegal. Furthermore, if they violate the conditions of their parole, there may be ethical and legal considerations regarding whether or not these violations should be reported. If reporting them is counterproductive to their therapeutic progress, I will have to deal with this issue. If reporting them results in a cessation of much-needed services, such as Social Security Disability benefits or enrollment in the STARS program, this would also be an ethically and legally difficult area to navigate. As a professional I would act as my ethical code dictates, but I would have the support of my clinical supervisor and other staff members to assist me in making the right choices, or in finding alternatives that I may not have considered before.