Counselors Should Not Reveal Personal Values In Therapy

Although counselors offer people with a better insight of their lives, and strategies to help meet certain goals, providing one's own personal views in therapy can lead to undue influences, biases, and ethical concerns because the counselor would be taking away the client's right to make his or her own decisions. One reason counselors should not reveal their own values in therapy is because of personal biases that can lead to improper interventions. For example, if a female client is seeking counseling for help with deciding the best steps to take in an unplanned pregnancy, revealing your personal values about this situation can cause the client to decide based off what you believe, not what is best for her. Counselors also should not reveal personal values in therapy because of ethical issues. For example, if a counselor's patient is religious, and does not share the same values and beliefs as the counselor, this can cause a problem with the quality of care the person receives. …show more content…
During the winter, homeless people would commit themselves to the psychiatric ward to escape the cold weather. The patients were influenced to attend group therapy while there. The patients were told, if they did not take part in group therapy, they would be released for noncompliance. Out of fear of being put out in the cold, they showed up for group therapy. This had a negative impact on the outcome of the counseling sessions because the patients would say what they thought the counselor wanted to hear. Personal values have no place in counseling. Revealing to clients your personal views about certain situations can lead to misdiagnosis, and improper interventions. Counselors are there to help people, not tell them what to