Essay Sample on Counseling: An Ethical & Legal Responsibility for Optimal Outcomes

Introduction

There are basic requirements for an individual to serve and a legit counselor and dispensed all duties as required by the acceptable code of ethics and legal standards. Working as a counselor with lenient adherence to such requirements culminates in negative and harmful to both parties. That is the client and the counselor for that matter. Technology has an impact immensely in the counseling process hence improving the process outcome through the provision of hybrid results, which are more realistic and reliable to clients (Dean et al., 2018). The counselor needs some ethical codes and state statutes elements for guiding through the process for an effective process. Therefore, the article describes how the state's legal standards help guide counselors in establishing ethical relationships with clients and students through specific requirements such as informed consent, managing boundaries, and payment for services.

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State Legal Standards and the Counseling Relationship

The ethical relationship has mutual significance to both stakeholders of the counseling process, such as the client and the counselor; hence prevailing of this element is essential in the process. Counselors are mandated by the law to have a precisely described objective and purposes of treatment. Furthermore, an explanation of the limits of confidentiality and protocol is necessary for the counselor as per the law (Imel et al., 2017). During the counseling process, it is the responsibility of the counselor to make a brief introduction about his duties to the client in order to develop trust, confidence, and freedom without hesitation. The freedom of airing out personal and sensitive issues efficiently by the client is developed when they realized that there is confidentially and trust. With the laid down service chatter by the counselor, it is essential if the client would end up disclosing information that requires law enforcement intervention. Therefore, proper lying down of all legal requirements is critical to both sides of the client and counselor.

Subsequently, there are required and permitted levels of relationship between the client and counselor. Such allowable limits state that a counselor should not be too close with the client or have a close relationship at any given time. A personal relationship between a counselor and a client is inappropriate in the decision-making process because it impairs the counselor's judgments, therefore, harming the client through faulty decisions (Virginia n.d). In case there is a relationship between a client and the counselor that can compromise the counseling process, it is advisable below the law for the counselor to refer the client to another counselor. The counselor is needed to make thorough explanations to the client on why he made reference citing the significant negative implications of the outcome if he or she is to make the final decision, which would be biased.

Ethical standards that are included in ACA, AMHCA, ASCA, and NBCC ethical codes help guide the relationships between all the stakeholders who, in this case, are counselors and clients and students (Imel et al., 2017). Mental Health Counseling Learners are expected by the law to reach out to patients and other victims in all the areas where they are regardless of the difficulty in finding such populations. In this scenario, the directive given to me by the medical facility director is likely to be faced with numerous obstacles. Managing a live group chat with members from diverse faculties is a bit hectic for a student nurse. Some of the potential challenges I would face are rebellion by some of the group members, managing irrelevant broadcasting of unnecessary information, non-contribution to the topic by silent and dormant group members. However, I would manage these challenges by employing the following strategies.

I would mobilize the group by using the most enticing community health language that would see the group members react positively and contribute towards achieving the intended purposes. Hence these standards ACA, AMHCA would be of great importance and enable attainment of the goal. To create a good rapport with all the group stakeholders, I would chat privately with the individual member through the live chat. I would win all the group members to contribute to the subject through this counseling strategy. I would welcome the new members into the group and ensure proper orientation on the purpose of the existence of the group. It is essential to ensure that all the new members have first-hand information on the objective of the group from the group administrator. More importantly, I would inform the new members of the acceptable code of conduct in the group and other requirements.

From this scenario, the probation officer acts as the client, and I take the noble role of being the counselor. The first step to teak is to explain to the client on the confidentiality issues mainly the importance of keeping information confidential and how I would uphold the confidentiality of information my client offers. After reaching a consensus with my client, I would then begin the counseling process to satisfy my client's expectations. The next move on this counseling process is to get both Dilion and the probation officer to have a common ground by letting Dilion sign the consent.

The communication for signing this consent emanates from the officer. I would then make a brief explanation to my client, Dilion, that patients' documents can never be found to have undergone forgery in the hands of the counselor. Therefore after Dilion understands the situation, I would contact her probation officer to check through her medical report plan. I would then draft a brief official letter to the probation office describing how Dilion is improving or other general observations. This would come after I have received satisfying consent from the medical officer.

Conclusion

The counseling sector has witnessed tremendous improvements attributed to the adoption and embracing of modern technological operations. Despite all the positive effects of technology on this sector, counselors need to be very much conversant with all the acceptable code of conduct while dispensing their duties. Legal statutes, ethical codes, and other parameters are important in the counseling process. Technology-based service delivery is important in ensuring that all the outcomes of the process contain very minimum faults. This service is important in that all people from scores of life are attended to irrespective of where they include people who stay only in their homes and cannot leave for anywhere else. The major and paramount element or discipline in this service is that the counselors must always adhere to the acceptable code of ethics, legal statues, standards, and ethical codes. Strict adherence to such enhances good relationships between the counselors and their clients, which is important in service delivery.

References

Dean Ph.D., C., Dale, V., & Heher Ph.D., M. (2018). Collaborative Gatekeeping Between Site Supervisors and Mental Health Counseling Faculty. The Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision, 11(2), 1.

Imel, Z. E., Caperton, D. D., Tanana, M., & Atkins, D. C. (2017). Technology-enhanced human interaction in psychotherapy. Journal of counseling psychology, 64(4), 385.

Virginia Department of Health Professions. (n.d.). Virginia Board of Counseling Guidance Documents. Retrieved August 24, 2018, from https://www.dhp.virginia.gov/counseling/counseling_guidelines.htm