Legal Issues and Counseling

¶ … Rachel Faybyshev

Professional Issues and Ethics in Counseling

Dr. Aaron Lieberman

Ethical Issues

Ethics and law are two concepts that are intertwined in the field of mental health though they have their own differences. According to Corey, Corey, Corey & Callahan (2014), law is a term that refers to the basic standards that will be tolerated by the society and imposed by government while ethics refers to the ideal standards that are established and imposed by professional associations. Medical professionals are faced with the need to be aware of any unethical behavior and practice since they can generate legal repercussions and affect licensure. This is an extremely important consideration for medical professionals, especially mental health practitioners who deal with situations that are likely to generate legal and ethical issues. An example of such as situation is Monique's situation, which has multiple relevant ethical and legal issues that need to be addressed effectively.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Monique's Situation

Throughout her schooling, Monique has been a good student with excellent performance until recently. She has struggled in her education and relations with her colleagues because of some mental health issues that have forced her art teacher to refer her for counseling. Counseling is considered as a suitable approach to addressing Monique's issues and helping her establish appropriate social interactions and improve her academic performance. One of the most important steps in counseling Monique is identifying ethical and legal issues in her situation. The legal issues in this scenario is the probability of statutory rape if she becomes sexually active with her 21-year-old boyfriend, the need to consider her parents' wishes since she's still a minor, parental rights, and her desire to harm people bullying her. The ethical issues include probable cultural issues since parents don't want counseling, sneaking out and possible cutting, confidentiality issues, the need to keep parents informed, rushed judgment by the school to expel her, and threats of suspension by the school if Monique doesn't consent to transfer.

Reasons for these Ethical and Legal Issues in Monique's Scenario

The ethical and legal issues in Monique's scenario emerge from three sources i.e. the individual herself, her parents, and the school system. The ethical issue of confidentiality emerges from the fact that there is need to maintain the client's privacy and confidentiality though there are parental rights like keeping the parents informed because Monique is still a minor. This is a major ethical issue because the counseling process requires consent from parents whose wishes cannot be disregarded while ensuring Monique's confidentiality is important in the counseling process. Additionally, this issue is brought by the need for ensuring a client's autonomy in decision-making in counseling practice (Counseling Connection, 2013). Given her age, Monique's decision-making would still need input from her parents, which generates the challenge of ensuring autonomy. On the other hand, Monique's desire to harm those bullying her, potential statutory rape, and threats/judgment by the school are legal issues because they violate the law.

Decision-Making Process

An effective counseling process to address Monique's scenario would require addressing these ethical and legal issues in an effective manner. A counselor would need to undergo a decision-making process that helps in confronting these ethical and legal issues. The first step in such a decision-making process is identifying these potential issues involved in the scenario in order to deal with the ethical dilemma. This will be followed by evaluating relevant ethics codes and applicable laws and regulations to the situation. Once these codes and regulations are reviewed, the counselor should consult relevant stakeholders on their use in order to determine their applicability to the situation. The next step is to evaluate probable courses of action, their consequences, and choosing the most suitable course of action. The suitable course of action will be determined based on ethical standards, standards of practice, and the law. The counselor will also act based on ethical values and professionalism when identifying and implementing the course of action.

Probable Courses of Action

One of the probable courses of action to deal with Monique's situation is to utilize Practitioner Code of Ethics when dealing with the client. This Code of Ethics is based on five ethical principles that provide the basis for establishing therapeutic boundaries. In this case, the will encourage Monique to do good to others including those who bully her and avoid doing harm based on the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. Throughout the counseling sessions, the counselor will utilize ethical principles as the basis of the counseling practice and dealing with the ethical issues. Practitioner Code of Ethics helps in resolving a conflict between ethical responsibilities and laws.