Ethical Decision-Making

Chapter Three introduces some of the ethical principle and issues that will be a foundational part of professional practice; ethical decision making will be of importance throughout the professional life of a therapist. Most people think of ethics as a list of rules and prohibitions that results in sanctions and malpractice actions if practitioners do not follow them. There are three different types of ethics: mandatory, aspirational, and positive. Mandatory ethics involves a level of ethical functioning at the minimum level of practice. Aspirational ethics focuses on doing what is in the best interest of clients. Finally, positive ethics is an approach taken by practitioners who want to do their best for clients rather than the minimum standards …show more content…
The author of the text book has identified a series of procedural steps: identify the problem, identify potential issues, look at the relevant ethics codes for general guidance on the matter, consider the law and whether your own values and ethics are consistent with relevant guidelines, seek consultation from more than one source to obtain various perspectives on the dilemma, brainstorm possible courses of action, enumerate the consequences of various decisions, and deicide on what appears to be the best possible course of action. The more subtle the ethical dilemma, the more complex and demanding the decision-making process. It is essential to document how the therapist included the client as well as the steps the therapist took to ensure ethical …show more content…
Assessment and diagnosis are related o the practice of counseling. Assessment consists of evaluating the relevant factors in a client's life to identify themes for further explanation in the counseling process. Diagnosis consists of identifying a specific mental disorder based on a pattern of symptoms. A danger for the diagnostic approach is the possible failure of counselors to consider ethnic and cultural factors in certain patterns of behavior. Certain behaviors and personality styles may be labeled neurotic or deviant simply because they are not characteristic of the dominant culture. Counselors who work with diverse client populations may conclude that their patient is repressed, inhibited, passive, and unmotivated, all of which are seen as undesirable by Western