ACA Code Of Ethics In Counseling Profession

1421 Words6 Pages

Ethical behavior is one of the main ingredients to professional behavior. Clinicians need to maintain ethical behavior to protect the counseling profession. Ethical behavior also protects the clients that counselors serve. When clinicians do not operate under a strict ethical code not only does the client get damaged; but society also gets damaged, society gets hurt because the client does not get the help they deserve. This author will be focusing on two certain ethical codes that not all counselors may know, unless they read the codes from the organizing body. Sometimes ethical codes may be hard to understand and clinicians may not understand them, so it is important to consult with other professionals to make sure the clinician operates …show more content…

The ACA code of ethics was established to address five major issues. Those issues are: (a) to clarify the nature of ethical responsibilities, (b) to support the mission of the organization, (c) to establish principles that inform best practice, (d) to assist members in the constructing a course of action, and (e) to serve as the basis for processing ethical complaints and inquiries. Ponton, R. F., & Duba, J. D. (2009, pg. 119) According to Kocet, 2006 code of ethics are defined as a document that could support and individual ethical dilemmas that would be extensive sufficient to include conflicting ethical circumstances. According to the same author the ACA code of ethics is revised every 7 to 10 years. During this time clinician are given the opportunity to scrutinize existing practices and issues the profession has faced to see if revisions need to be …show more content…

This code discusses that if a client and a counselor decides that it is necessary to engage in a distant counseling relationship, the clinician and the client needs to set up a way to authenticate that the clinician is interacting with the client. This verification could be things such as; code words, personal numbers, or personal days that only the client would know. This is just a suggestion of the ways that clinicians can verify that it is the client they are interacting with. The clinician needs to get creative in ensuring that they are speaking with the