School Counselor Ethics Case Study

There are legal and ethical concerns for school counselors to think about when working with the minor who was reffered for counseling by his or her concerns. One of the ethical concerns would be when working with the minor is that according to standard A.A.A.1.F responsibility to students, the school counselor must respect the students values, beliefs, sexual orientation, and culture background by avoiding imposing any of their beliefs on the students related to their race, religion, and etc (ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors, 2016). If a school counselor refuses to work with someone that is different from them, then they are considered to be unethical and having competence in this area is necessary for all school counselors. Another …show more content…
Another ethical concern that the school counselor must keep in mind is that according to standard 1-110 A avoidance of client harm, intended or not states that as christians, counselors must avoid behavior that is harming, exploitive, and discriminatory to the client in order to protect his well-being (AACA Code of Ethics, 2014). Informed consent is both an ethical and legal concern that's important because it's important that the school counselor gets consent from the minor's parents to let the minor be a part of the counseling process which is also a legal concern as well. Due to standard 1-310 securing informed consent ,the informed consent must consist of information such as the structure of counseling, limitations of confidentiality, protection from harm, potential risks, etc (AACA Code of Ethics, 2014). Another legal concern due to standard A.9.A serious and forseeable harm to self and others, the school counselor needs to keep in mind is that whenever the minor is posing harm to themselves or a another person, the school counselor has the legal duty to warn the person in danger as well as notifying the authorities and parents (ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselor, …show more content…
One of the ways that I would approach issues of worldview and faith in my counseling sessions with a student is by creating a space where the student who shares a different religion than me can freely voice whatever problems they wish to discuss. By allowing that student to express how he or she may feel, school counselors must actively listen and empathize without any judgment or bias against their faith (Stloukal & Wickman, 2011). Another way that I would approach issues of worldview and faith in my counseling sessions with a student is by incorporating the student's faith and beliefs into intervention strategies that will help them in terms of academic, social, and emotional needs. When incorporating the student's faith and beliefs, it's important that as a school counselor I'm not imposing any of my values and beliefs which would be considered unethical if I did do