Counselors, like any person whose job is to help people, should practice with their client’s best interest in mind. This means adhering to a standard or code of conduct that protects the clients from any harm as well as promote their well-being.
A Counselor Must Have... Your teacher will show the scroll below to the class.
A Counselor Must Have... Each of you will take turns in identifying one characteristic, value, or principle that you believe a counselor must have. You only have 10 seconds for your turn, and no one is allowed to repeat what has already been said. If you cannot think of an answer before the 10 seconds is over, you can say “pass.” The next person will then take a turn. The same goes if 10 seconds has passed and you do not have an answer.
A Counselor Must Have... The activity ends once three students are unable to give an answer. Once the activity ends, answer the guide questions below. Share your responses with the class.
What characteristics, values, or principles have you and your classmates identified? Why are these associated with counselors?
What is the most important value that a counselor must have?
Are there characteristics or values that a counselor should have but are not on the list? Why are these characteristics or values important?
How will the general core values and ethical principles of counseling affect the decision- making process of a counselor?
General Core Values of Counseling General Core Values of Counseling There is a set of personal qualities that all practitioners should possess. ( Ethical Framework for Good Practice of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP) .
General Core Values of Counseling 1. SINCERITY staying true to what has been vowed or promised to do for the client
General Core Values of Counseling 2. INTEGRITY being honest, straightforward, and easily understandable a lways consider what is morally correct in all of the actions.
General Core Values of Counseling 3. RESILIENCE c apacity of the counselor to work with the client without feeling emotionally drained
General Core Values of Counseling 4. HUMILITY a cknowledge own strengths and weaknesses in terms of dealing with the client’s issues or dilemmas
General Core Values of Counseling 5. COMPETENCE e ffectively implement methods and techniques in one’s work show the skill that would be useful depending on the action planned during the counseling process
General Core Values of Counseling 6. FAIRNESS c onsistently apply the appropriate criteria in addressing the issues that the clients face
General Core Values of Counseling 7. WISDOM h as enough knowledge to make sound judgements regarding any given situation
General Core Values of Counseling 8. COURAGE ability to perform one’s work in spite of possible fears, risks, and uncertainty
General Core Values of Counseling 9. RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY a cknowledging that each client’s individuality and personhood (Zastrow, 2017, 91; Hall and Hurley 2003, 479)
General Core Values of Counseling 10. PARTNERSHIP r efrain from dictating what the client should do, but to instead collaborate with the client (Corey 2017, 442).
Ethical Principles of Counseling Ethical Principles of Counseling FIVE MORAL PRINCIPLES IN COUNSELING , Kitchener (1984), McLeod (2003) Principle of Autonomy Principle of Nonmaleficence and Beneficence Principle of Justice Principle of Fidelity
Ethical Principles of Counseling 1. PRINCIPLE OF AUTONOMY g ives the freedom of choice to the clients exception : children and those with mental disabilities INFORMED CONSENT : unethical to proceed to counseling without the consent of the client
Ethical Principles of Counseling 2 . PRINCIPLE OF NONMALEFICENCE AND BENEFICENCE technique and methods in the process of counseling → must not harm the client (maleficence) similar to principle of responsible caring → aware of the benefits and also the possible dangers of a particular plan or action (beneficence)
Ethical Principles of Counseling 4 . PRINCIPLE OF JUSTICE f air distribution of resources and services counseling must be non- discriminatory
Ethical Principles of Counseling 4. PRINCIPLE OF FIDELITY l oyalty, reliability, dependability and action in good faith counselor must be transparent to the client the entire counseling process
What is the relevance of knowing the core values and ethical principles of counseling as a counselor or a client?
Modified True or False. Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise, rewrite the sentence to make it correct. Competence, as a core value of counseling, pertains to the counselor’s capacity to provide proper care and help to the client using the skills that the counselor has.
Modified True or False. Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise, rewrite the sentence to make it correct. Integrity, as one of the core values of counseling, refers to the counselor’s capacity to work with the client without losing emotional energy.
Modified True or False. Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise, rewrite the sentence to make it correct. Humility, as one of the core values of counseling, pertains to the counselor’s ability to recognize that he or she may still have areas to improve on.
Modified True or False. Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise, rewrite the sentence to make it correct. Being sincere means that the counselor makes sure that his or her clients experience the kind of assistance they need no matter what their economic status is.
Modified True or False. Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise, rewrite the sentence to make it correct. A counselor demonstrating wisdom is able to perform his or her work in spite of fears, risks, and uncertainty.
The core values of counseling must be upheld to protect both the client and the counselor's welfare. The BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice identified a set of personal qualities that all practitioners should possess: sincerity, integrity, resilience, humility, competence, fairness, wisdom, and courage.
Partnership (Corey 2017, 442) and respect for human dignity (Zastrow 2017, 91; Hall and Hurley, 2003, 504) are two more important core values of counseling. Five ethical principles of counseling were identified by Kitchener (1984): autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and fidelity. Pope and Vasquez (2010, 378) also mentioned responsible caring as an important principle or core value in counseling.
These general core values and ethical principles guide counselors in the process of counseling with their clients. The application of these core values may differ depending on the circumstances during the counseling process. However, these are the virtues they must uphold at all times.
What do you consider as the most important among the principles or core values of counseling? Explain.
If you would add a core value or principle in counseling that was not discussed, what would it be? Discuss your answer using an example.
Autism Aspect Sincerity 1 by MissLunaRose12 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons .
Aasheim, Lisa Langfuss. Practical Clinical Supervision for Counselors: An Experiential Guide. New York: Springer Publishing Company, 2012. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Practical_Clinical_Supervision_for_Couns/XhwIUaT_KLYC?hl=en&gbpv=0 . Black, Stewart, Gardner, Donald G., Pierce, Jon L., and Steers, Richard. Organizational Behavior. Houston, Texas: OpenStax, 2019. https://opentextbc.ca/organizationalbehavioropenstax/chapter/personal-values-and-ethics/#:~:text=We%20begin%20with%20the%20concept,Press%2C%201973 . British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. 2001. Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy . Leicestershire, United Kingdom: British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, 2010. . https://www.keele.ac.uk/media/keeleuniversity/facnatsci/schpsych/documents/healthandconduct/BACP-Ethical-Framework.pdf .
Corey, Gerald. Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. 10th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2017. Forester-Miller, Holly, and Thomas E. Davis. Practitioner’s Guide to Ethical Decision Making. Last modified in 2016. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/practioner-39-s-guide-to-ethical-decision-making.pdf?sfvrsn=f9e5482c_10 . Hall, Judy E., and Hurley, George. “North American Perspectives on Education, Training, Licensing, and Credentialing.” In Handbook of Psychology. Vol. 8, Clinical Psychology. Edited by George Stricker (Volume Editor), Thomas A. Widiger (Volume Editor), and Irving B. Weiner (Editor-in-chief). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2003.
Hamlet, Helen S. School Counseling Practicum and Internship: 30 Essential Lessons. Singapore: SAGE Publications, 2017. https://www.google.com/books/edition/School_Counseling_Practicum_and_Internsh/xXxZDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 . Kinsinger, Frank Stuart. “Beneficence and the professional’s moral imperative.” Journal of Chiropractic Humanities 16, no. 1 (2009): 44-46. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echu.2010.02.006 . Kitchener, Karen S. “Intuition, critical evaluation and ethical principles: the foundation for ethical decisions in counseling psychology.” The Counseling Psychologist 12, no. 3 (1984): 43-55. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000084123005 .
McLeod, John. An Introduction to Counseling . 3rd ed. New York: Open University Press, 2003. Pope, Kenneth S., and Vasquez, Melba J.T. Ethics in Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Practical Guide. Germany: Wiley, 2010. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ethics_in_Psychotherapy_and_Counseling/xsGzy_JvzyAC?hl=en&gbpv=0 . Rapin, Lynn S. “Guidelines for Ethical and Legal Practice in Counseling and Psychotherapy Groups.” In Handbook of Group Counseling and Psychotherapy, edited by Janice L. DeLucia-Waack, Deborah A. Gerrity, Cynthia R. Kalodner, and Maria Riva. Thousand Oaks/London/New Delhi: Sage Publications, Inc., 2004. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Handbook_of_Group_Counseling_and_Psychot/peq9KcBlQtQC?hl=en&gbpv=0 .
Rokeach, Milton. The Nature of Human Values. New York: Free Press, 1973. Salvador, Divine Love A. “Ethics in Clinical Psychology.” Psychology 265. Class lecture, 2017. Salvador, Divine Love A. “Psychotherapy and the Psychotherapist.” Lecture Notes, University of the Philippines Diliman, 2017. Zastrow, Charles. Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare: Empowering People. 12th edition. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2017.