Implementing Ethical and Legal Boundaries
This assignment will allow you to apply knowledge gained for implementing ethical and legal boundaries that counselors are required to adhere to in their scope of practice.
Write a 1,750-2,100-word analysis on counselor ethics and responsibilities. Provide a thoughtful response to each of the sections listed below, include specific, concrete examples to explain your ideas. Use the section headings provided below to structure your analysis. Your final analysis should be one cohesive paper addressing all six sections along with an introduction and conclusion.
Part One
Please note that the entirety of part one must be written in the third person.
Section 1: Client Rights
Describe how you will incorporate the following five principles of ethical practice to maintain your clients’ rights: autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and fidelity.
Discuss the informed consent process and how it protects client rights including: billing, right to privacy, HIPAA compliance, and compliance with credentialing board requirements for incorporating informed consent into practice.
Section 2: Responsibility to Warn and Protect
Identify the factors that you will consider to determine your “duty to warn” and “duty to protect” responsibilities as a counselor. Be sure to consider ethical guidelines as well as the laws pertaining to the “duty to warn” and “duty to protect” in the state in which you plan to practice.
Section 3: Client Record-Keeping
Discuss the role of client record keeping in protecting a client’s right to a professional standard of care and the counselor from liability.
Part Two
Section 4: Self-Care
Please note that section 4 must be written in the first person.
Refer to the code of ethics that best fit your program of study (NAADAC Code of Ethics (and the AACC Codes if you are in the Christian Counseling track) and review the section relating to Professional Responsibility. Discuss the following:
- What does the Code of Ethics say about self-care?
- How do you plan on maintaining a healthy balance between your professional and personal life?
- What healthy self-care activities have you engaged in in the past or present?
- What healthy self-care activities have you considered but haven’t yet implemented?
- What are some red flags suggesting that you may need to address personal issues to avoid personal impairment?
- How do you feel about counselors being counseled? Some programs require it. Do you agree with that concept?
Section 5: Advocacy
Review the websites for the professional associations, found in the topic resources, that best fit your program of study (NAADAC and the AACC). Find a way to advocate for the counselors and the profession at the governmental level. For example, you may go to the American Counseling Association (Government Affairs > Take Action). In 75-150 words, summarize how you can get involved.
Section 6: Counselor Values
Select two of the following issues you feel strongest about from the list. Describe your personal values and attitudes towards the selected issues as well as how you would counsel objectively the client in each situation you selected. Reference ethical codes from AACC, ACA, NBCC, and/or NAADAC. Implementing Ethical and Legal Boundaries
- Abortion. (A 19-year-old rape victim wants an abortion. The young woman is firm in her plans.),
- Gay adoption. (John and Bill after living in a committed relationship for 7 years decide that they want to begin a family. They have differing opinions about whether to use a surrogate mother or adopt a child.),
- Assisted suicide. (Eleanor an 87-year-old with terminal cancer has decided to end her life but is undecided about how to discuss this with her family or if she should discuss it with them at all. She seeks your guidance in this decision but is not interested in revisiting her decision to end her life.),
- Open marriage. (Both spouses in a couple you are counseling are having sex with partners other than their spouse which they claim are not contributing in any way to their current marital difficulties. They want your help in strengthening their marriage but they are both committed to the “open marriage” concept that does not require sexual monogamy.)
Include at least six scholarly resources in addition to the textbook.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.
This assignment meets the following NASAC Standards:
15) Understand the variety of insurance and health maintenance options available, and appreciate the importance of helping clients access those benefits.
20) Understand the addiction professional’s obligation to adhere to generally accepted ethical and behavioral standards of conduct in the helping relationship.
47) Inform the client of his/her confidentiality rights, program procedures that safeguard them, and the exceptions imposed by statute.65) Apply confidentiality-related legal restrictions appropriately.
110) Protect client rights to privacy and confidentiality in the preparation and handling of records, especially in relation to the communication of client information with third parties.
112) Prepare and record treatment and continuing care plans that are consistent with agency standards and comply with applicable administrative rules. Implementing Ethical and Legal Boundaries
116) Demonstrate ethical behaviors by adhering to established professional codes of ethics that define the professional context within which the counselor works, in order to maintain professional standards and safeguard the client.
118) Adhere to federal and state laws, and agency regulations, regarding addictions treatment.
120) Utilize a range of supervisory options to process personal feelings and concerns about clients.
121) Conduct culturally appropriate self-evaluations of professional performance, applying ethical, legal, and professional standards to enhance self-awareness and performance. Implementing Ethical and Legal Boundaries
124) Develop and utilize strategies to maintain physical and mental health.