Ethical Decisions in Counselling Psychology

This document discusses the ethical decisions that counsellors in psychology may face and provides guidance on how to handle them. It explores the importance of maintaining professional standards and respecting the rights of clients. The document also includes articles and resources that can help counsellors make informed decisions. The case study presented in the document highlights the dilemma of whether to report an incident of domestic violence. The document concludes with a discussion on the benefits, risks, and probable outcomes of different courses of action.

Running head: COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY
COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY
Name of the University:
Name of the Student:
Author Note:

1COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY
Steps to be
Taken
Ethical Decisions
Step One-
Identifying
the Key
Ethical Issue
In the present case scenario the ethical dilemmas the ethical dilemma
that is considered, is that, whether to suggest the report about the
incident or the conducts of her father during the absence of him in the
coming weeks.
Step Two-
Ethical
Articles
Chosen
 Martin, L., Shepard, B., & Lehr, R. (Eds.). (2015). Canadian
counselling and psychotherapy experience: Ethics-based issues
and cases. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Counselling and
Psychotherapy Association.
 Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. (2015).
Standards of practice. (5th ed.). Ottawa, ON: Canadian
Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. Retrieved from
http://www.ccpa-accp.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Standards
OfPractice_en_June2015.pdf
 Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. (2007).
Code of ethics. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Counselling and
Psychotherapy Association. Retrieved from http://www.ccpa-
accp.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/CodeofEthics_en.pdf
 Canadian Psychological Association. (2017). Code of ethics.
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Psychological Association. Retrieved
from
https://www.cpa.ca/docs/File/Ethics/CPA_Code_2017_4thEd.pdf
 College of Alberta Psychologists. (2013). Standards of Practice.
Retrieved from:
https://www.cap.ab.ca/Portals/0/pdfs/StandardsOfPractice.pdf
Step Three-
Choice of
Ethical
Principles
Among all the principles, of the Canadian counselling and
Psychotherapy Association the six most important ones are the
followings.
 General Responsibility of the Practitioners, these include the
maintaining the standards and the professional competence of the
practitioners, conducting ethical behaviours, and recognising the
needs of the clients, and also continuing the educational needs of
the practitioners.
 Next is the Respect for the Rights, this refers to the fact that the
counsellors must get included and involved into the legal, civic
and moral rights of others. They must also act to safe guard the
dignity and the rights of their clients.
 Third is the boundaries of Competence, which refers to the
limitations of the counsellors that they should be abided by and
to the professional competence that they achieve through their
continuous learning and professional experiences.
 The fourth factor is the factor of supervision and consultation.
This refers to the fact that the practitioners must include
supervision and or consultation with respect to their practice.

2COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY
This is essentially important when they are faced with
uncertainties in the situation.
 The counsellors must execute only those aspects of practice
which they have the experience of. Misrepresentation of
professional qualification is opposed to the ethical standards.
 Next is responsibility to the clients. This refers to the fact that it
is the role and responsibility of every counselling practitioner to
guide their clients.
Therefore, according to the case study I must employ the three most
important ethical principles, which are, principle of general
responsibility, principle of the rights of the clients and the responsibility
towards the clients. These are the most basic and mist important
principle that any counsellor must follow.
Step four-
Application
of the
Articles
 The first article provides a deep understanding of the counselling
courses and practices of the Canadian Counselling and
Psychotherapy Association. It provides the context and also
states the importance of social justice, and the diversity
management within the counselling context.
 The second article has provided the understanding of the
professional standards that the counsellors must include or
consider while practicing.
 The third article suggests the ethical decisions that are to be
made or considered by the counsellors. The article essentially
includes the concepts related to sex addiction, where the
domestic violence behaviours have been included. This helps
influenced my action plan.
 The fourth article suggests how the client can be influenced and
motivated while in the course of counselling, and states the
importance of the maintenance of the dignity of the clients.
 The last article suggested how the action plan for a certain
counselling course can be, and also propounds the basic
connotations that re to be considered while indulged into a
counselling course.
Step Five-
Ethical
Decision
In the decision making process, the virtue based decision making can be
included. This simple refer to maintain the virtue in the process and to
motivate the clients. This refers to making an ethical but complex
decisions. In the present case scenario, the situation of the girl is quite
critical, as there is a dilemma of whether the girl should report the
incident of her father bitting her and her brother up. There are two
evaluations, one is that there can be chances of face loss of the person,
and second is that her father can get better with time. Also, there is
another possibility of not considering the report of the girl to be serious
as she is a mature minor. In many of the instances, it has been seen that
the police department or the health care professional do not consider the
complaints of the little girls seriously.
Step Six-
Plan of
Therefore, upon understanding the case study, I think that before taking
any decision, I must talk to her brother as well and understand his
perspective, since the girl is a mature minor, therefore it is important to

3COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY
Action understand the scenario better. Moreover, the girl must be motivated to
report about the incident, as it is important and it can be considered as a
domestic violence offense.
Analysing the Benefits, risks, and Probable outcomes:
Options for Action Benefits Risks Probable Outcomes
Option 1
Avoid Reporting No face loss of the
father, maintenance
of relationship
Continued behaviour The girl will not get
any justified
outcome for her
experiences.
Option 2
Reporting about the
incident
Getting justified
result of the
incident, proper
repercussions for his
father’s behaviour.
The father of the girl
may act in a very
violent manner, and
he can be taken into
custody.
The father of the girl
can be taken into
custody.
The girl and her
brother can be sent
to a shelter for kids.
A broken family.
No trustful
relationship on the
part of the girl and
her brother.
Conclusion:
The above discussion and the reading of the case study refers to a very critical
situation that the girl is faced with and it is important to understand and have clear concept of
the case scenario, before taking any decision.

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References:
Buhr, E. (2019). Motivation and Success in Therapy.
Counselling, C., & Psychotherapy Association. (2015). Standards of practice. Retrieved from.
Gazzola, N. (2016). Is There a Unique Professional Identity of Counselling in
Canada?. Handbook of counseling and psychotherapy in Canada, 1-12.
Purnell, D. J. (2019). Ethical tensions in sex addiction counselling.