Student’s Guide to Counseling Ethics

Your moral compass in counseling is the professional code of ethics. For counselors, this is primarily the ACA Code of Ethics, and for psychologists, the APA Ethical Principles. These codes are built on key principles.

An ethical dilemma occurs when these principles clash. For example, a client’s autonomy (right to make a dangerous decision) may conflict with your beneficence (duty to protect from harm).

When facing a dilemma in an assignment, you must use a formal decision-making model. A widely used model (Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996) involves these steps:

1. Identify the Problem: State the dilemma. What principles conflict?
2. Apply the ACA Code of Ethics: Identify specific, relevant code sections.
3. Determine the Dilemma’s Nature: Which principles (autonomy, beneficence, etc.) are in conflict?
4. Generate Potential Courses of Action: Brainstorm 3-4 possible responses.
5. Consider the Consequences: For each action, what are the potential outcomes for the client, you, and others?
6. Evaluate the Selected Course of Action: Choose the best option. Is it just? Does it align with the codes?
7. Implement the Action: In practice, this means documenting your process. For a paper, it means describing your final, justified decision.

Using a model turns your opinion into a scholarly analysis. For more, see our psychology assignment help.

Confidentiality is a cornerstone of therapy. However, this right is not absolute. Dilemmas arise when a client’s right to privacy (Fidelity) conflicts with your duty to prevent harm (Non-maleficence).

The “Duty to Warn” (Tarasoff)

The Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California case established the “duty to warn.” If a client makes a specific, credible threat of violence against an identifiable person, you must break confidentiality to warn that person and the authorities.

Other Limits to Confidentiality

Your informed consent process must clearly state all limits, including:

• Suicidal Ideation: If a client is an active danger to themselves.
• Child Abuse or Neglect: All 50 states have mandatory reporting laws.
• Elder or Dependent Adult Abuse: Most states also mandate reporting.
• Court Orders: If a judge subpoenas your records.

A 2024 article on the ethics of AI chatbots in mental health shows how these issues are becoming even more complex.

A dual relationship is a secondary relationship with a client (social, financial, or professional). The ACA code (A.5.c) warns against them as they can blur boundaries, impair judgment, and risk client exploitation.

The “Slippery Slope”

The dilemma often starts small: accepting an expensive gift, having coffee with a client, or bartering for services. While seemingly harmless, these can lead to serious boundary violations. When analyzing a case study, you must identify the potential for harm and the power differential. This is a common focus in case study analysis.

Mainstream counseling codes are often rooted in Western, individualistic values. This can create dilemmas when working with clients from collectivist cultures.

Cultural Humility as an Ethical Mandate

Consider a client from a collectivist culture who wants family to help make a decision. A rigid view of autonomy focuses on the individual. A culturally humble approach recognizes that this client’s decisions *are* made as a family. Pushing for individual autonomy may be culturally insensitive. The dilemma lies between the letter of the code and the spirit of “doing no harm.” A 2025 article on multicultural orientation and humility discusses this in the context of addressing privilege in psychotherapy.