Individuals in many professions face ethically or morally challenging situations specifically, in counselling process as this profession involves disclosure of sensitive information by the clients. It is a process in which clients learn new ways of behaving, thinking, feeling and making decisions (Maxwell & Ngozi, 2020). In such cases, the need for a set code of conduct, which can be followed by the professional, becomes important in order to avoid troublesome situations and any kind of information or policy breaches. This paper aims at demonstrating upon the ethical dilemmas faced in decision making, code of ethics, ethical principles and report issues while undertaking two case studies provided for this assignment. The paper will focuson resolving the issues presented in the provided case studies while also providing a possible course of action in order to resolve the ethical dilemma present in each scenario.
James Rest proposed the involvement of four psychological steps in ethical decision-making process, these steps involve the concepts of moral awareness, moral judgement, moral intention and moral action (Crimston, Hornsey, Bain, & Bastian, 2018). Step one deals with the recognition of an ethical dilemma. Step two involves the development of choices and their consequences. Step three deals with the intention of making a moral decision over other decisions portraying other values. The final step requires the decision being acted upon.
A professional undergoes a decision-making process involving several methods such as recognition, evaluation, decision making and execution, when confronted with an ethical dilemma (Crimston, Hornsey, Bain, & Bastian, 2018). A similar dilemma occurred when Ms. Banya, a 38-year-old female was allocated to me on the second day of my work at a counselling organisation.She confided in me that she has social issues that she wished to work upon. However, what she also discussed was that she also desires for a romantic partner who is around fifteen years of age while she herself is a thirty-eight-year-old woman. The context of her desires was then able to raise a moral dilemma in me. This awareness made me ask myself certain questions such as, if Ms. Banya or any other individual is at risk for loosing respect or dignity or if any moral principles are being violated. Although it also made me consider the intensity of the situation and ask myself if my peers or seniors would also find a similar dilemma in the situation.
This awareness in me then made me morally judge the situation in order to be precise. I started to question if my decision regarding my awareness of a dilemma is even fair or unfair and if it is morally right or wrong. While I found that according to my beliefs, the wish that Ms. Banya displayed was morally incorrect, I decided to not jump onto conclusions and rather consulted my counselling supervisor regarding the issue. The discussion led us to arrive to a conclusion that Ms. Banya was showing minor signs of a disorder named Paedophilia (Lievesley & Harper, 2021). Although, not directly specified, the issue reported here now became a part of the counselling process. Now, in order to resolve and continue the counselling procedure with Ms. Banya, it was my duty to follow the set ethical principles by Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (Pafca Code of Ethics, 2017).
To build a therapeutic relationship with my client in order to understand and resolve the ethical dilemma posed, it was important that I honour the trust that Ms. Banya put in me.It was also vital that I understood as well as valued the confidentiality built during the sessions as it is the first and foremost Ethical principle of counselling and psychotherapy. Another ethical principle in this situation to be followed was beneficence which involved that I work in the best possible interest of my client while acting with care, competence and compassion with Ms. Banya and lastly, respect her right to be self-governing and support my client’s autonomy. Along with this, the possible solution that I worked upon was assessing the condition of my client and convincing her to undergo atreatment process while following and applying the ethical principles mentioned above and applying appropriate prevention strategies, to which Ms. Banya has been responding successfully (Bach & Demuth, 2018).
The scenario presented in the second case allows a look into the code of ethics in counselling and psychotherapy. As the decisions processed by Aimee could have an impact over the ethical nature of the counselling relationship between her and Ari who is her client. The Australian Counselling Association’s code of ethics states that its members must be committed to the ongoing professional development, that they should ensure that the client understands the purpose and boundaries of counselling relationship, that they should explain the limits of duty care and lastly, that they should not pursue a relationship with the clients within two years of the last session (Australian Counselling Association , 2019).
Aimee believes that having a coffee with her client would be alright,which could possibly be an issue in this scenario as the relationship between counsellor and their client is discussed as the foremost ethical concern according to the ACA (Australian Counselling Association , 2019). The ethical nature of counselling would be impacted as, going outside of the professional boundaries with the client would be considered as a breach of the codes of practice in the counselling process because Aimee, as a counsellor, is responsible for monitoring boundaries all through the sessions. She is also responsible for making it clear to her client about the formal and contracted counsellor-client relationship (Watt, et al., 2019).
The ethical principles that apply to this scenario are, Autonomy, as it is Aimee’s duty to support her client’s autonomy by providing accurate information regarding the services, so that the client is able to make informed decisions (Genral ethical principles, 2019). And secondly, Self-respect. Aimee is entitled to apply all the ethical principles to herself and not take risks that will cause her harm, while ensuring her own safety as well as her profession’s safety (Posluns & Gall, 2020).
The possible action to be taken in this scenario is that Aimee declines the proposal of a meeting outside of the professional boundaries for unprofessional purposes. Even though Ari has only asked Aimee for a coffee in order to thank her for the services she has offered him, it is still a meeting that does not involve any procedures of the professional counselling and hence, goes against the ethics of practice. Aimee must inform her client about the limitations of duty care and mustensure that her client understands the purpose of these limitations and boundaries (Myers & Bachkirova, 2021). As this treatment is still an ongoing process with Ari, Aimee is not entitled to initiate, develop or pursue any kind of a relationship with the client and will also not be entitled regarding the same till two years have been passed since their last session of counselling.
In conclusion, this study undertook two scenarios for the successful completion of this assignment and with the help of the same, demonstrated upon the ethical principles, codes of ethics and practices and was able to describe certain concepts through description. In scenario one, it was found that there are certain ethical principles that are affected due to the ethical dilemmas that arise in certain situations such as the one in the case of Ms. Banya, a 38-year-old woman who was looking forward to a romantic relationship with a minor. Such situations might pose ethical dilemmas for the professionals and with the help of prescribed codes and principles of ethics, can be resolved and worked upon. Whereas,scenario two provided the opportunity of understanding the different codes of practice that the professionals must adhere to while undergoing a professional procedure and building a therapeutic relationship with their client. It was also discussed upon that a professional must be respectful of themselves along with respecting the values and attributes of their clients and must not take for granted, their professional boundaries.
References
Australian Counselling Association . (2019, March 15). Code of Ethics and practice . Retrieved from Australian Coounselling Association: https://www.theaca.net.au/documents/ACA%20Code%20of%20Ethics%20and%20Practice%20Ver15.pdf
Bach, M. H., & Demuth, C. (2018). Therapists’ Experiences in Their Work With Sex Offenders and People With Pedophilia: A Literature Review. Eorope’s Journal of Psychology, 14(2), 498–514. doi:10.5964/ejop.v14i2.1493
Crimston, C. R., Hornsey, M. J., Bain, P. G., & Bastian, B. (2018). Toward a psychology of moral expansiveness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(1), 14-19.
Genral ethical principles. (2019). In N. J. Pelling, & L. J. Burton, The Elements of Ethical Practice: Applied Psychology Ethics in Australia. New York: Routledge.
Lievesley, R., & Harper, C. A. (2021). Applying desistance principles to improve wellbeing and prevent child sexual abuse among minor-attracted persons. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 1-14. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0964663910369054
Maxwell, E., & Ngozi, A. J. (2020). Influence of Ethics on the Counselling Practices in Rivers. International Academic Journal of Advanced Educational Research, 8(4), 45-56.
Myers, A., & Bachkirova, T. (2021, March 12). Boundaries and best practice. In Introduction to Coaching Psychology (pp. 141-158). Routledge. Retrieved from Australian Institute of Professional Counsellers: https://www.aipc.net.au/articles/the-role-of-boundaries-in-counselling/
Pafca Code of Ethics. (2017, December). Retrieved from Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia: https://www.pacfa.org.au/common/Uploaded%20files/PCFA/Documents/Documents%20and%20Forms/PACFA-Code-of-Ethics-2017.pdf
Posluns, K., & Gall, T. L. (2020). Dear Mental Health Practitioners, Take Care of Yourselves: a Literature Review on Self-Care. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 1-20.
Watt, H. M., Ehrich, J., Stewart, S. E., Snell, T., Bucich, M., Jacobs, N., . . . English, D. (2019). Development of the Psychologist and Counsellor Self-Efficacy Scale. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 9(3), 485-509. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-07-2018-0069.
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