Ethical Issues in Counseling Essay

Introduction

Nurses are involved in many occasions when working with patients, most of which require them to refer to the nursing ethical considerations when the given situations appear difficult for a major area in which this has been witnessed is when they try to intervene to a psychological problem affecting an individual; for instance a suicidal client. Ethics in this context may mean that a nurse has a serious task of trying to reconcile the professional provisions with their own values based on their judgment. According to Lerman and Bleakley (2015), lack of adequate time and resources, have been the major limitations which prevent the nursing practitioners to accomplish the given ethical issues. This has therefore led to a dilemma as they are expected to make decisions on occasions which demand a lot in terms of interpretation and the possible consequences. Ignoring a given ethical consideration may lead to failure in the attempt to intervene properly. It, therefore, follows that a mental health counsellor should expect a number of an ethical issue which will possibly arise in the event of trying to assess or provide psychotherapy to a person associated with suicide attempt.

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Ethical Issues

Informed Consent

A mental health counsellor is bound to an aspect of ethical considerations which provides that an official communication should reach the suicidal client prior to the assessment or therapeutic session. The communication should clarify what the meeting will entail and how it matters to the client. The counsellor will consider the aspect of communication as a way of developing a significant rapport and trust with the client. It will, therefore, be used to ethically influence the client to provide the necessary piece of information honestly and freely. Besides, it will also give the client the opportunity to reorganize and the mental health counselling sessions, or decide whether to turn up or not.

Interpretation of the data privacy

McGillivray, Rosenfeld, McKinlay Gardner and Gillam (2012) argued that the suicidal client should be assured of data privacy since he or she will be revealing a sensitive piece of information regarding a suicide attempt. Schuhmann (2015) added that the counsellor is expected to let the client know that the personal information will only be used for the recommended uses and not revealed to any other person who is not connected to the context I question. It applies as a strategy through which a psychiatric can ensure that the client opens up and talk freely concerning his or her psychological problems which make them think of committing suicide. Soderlund (2017) emphasized that the counsellor has a further task of considering what may result concerning the recommended use of the clients' confidential information; this call for a balance between the professional requirements and the one's personal considerations.

Interpersonal Boundaries

It is the responsibility of a counsellor to ensure that the personal relationship with the client does the professional guidelines on the same. As much as the client and the counsellor will develop the friendship in the course of trying to assist the client, he or she should be able to define the boundaries of their relationship. Thompson (2017) argued that the mental health practitioner can accept small gifts which may lead to personal relationships which may be beyond the acceptable level regarding ethical requirements. The counsellor should, therefore, be careful of any sexual or romantic feeling that a client may develop towards him or her. The client him/herself should be ethical enough to control their feeling on the same.

Personal Problems and Conflicts

A counsellor, just like any other person, is liable to experiencing personal problems and conflicts. The ability to manage the issues demonstrates considerable ethical competencies of the given health practitioner. If one is undergoing a problem which may prevent him or her from handling a situation with a suicidal client, he or she should hand over the task to another professional individual. Alternatively, they can carry forwards the exercise to another time when they feel they are psychologically prepared to undertake it (Uzunboylu & Evram, 2017).

Adult Physical Illness and Adolescent Psychological Illness

The assessment of the psychological illness is growing to be an issue of concern just like the physical health problems. Physical illness in adults may have been different to the psychological health in the adolescent individual based on their impacts on the patients and probably the approaches to be adopted in helping the clients out of the difficulties they are experiencing. One criterion that can be used to compare the two different situations is the ease of working with the respective categories of the patients. Uzunboylu and Evram (2017) argues that working with a physically ill adult is relatively easier than handling the situation of a psychological ill adolescent. Brownstein (2018) noted that diagnosing physical illness posse fewer challenges to a health practitioner since there are appropriate instruments designed for such exercises. Besides, adults are less aggressive therefore it is relatively easy t manage their situations. On the hand, a significant level of difficulty arises when there is need to understand what a teenager is actually experiencing in a psychological context. For instance, it may cost a psychotherapist a lot in terms of convincing an adolescent individual to turn up for assessment and subsequent therapy.

References

Brownstein, M. (2018). Self-Control and Overcontrol: Conceptual, Ethical, and Ideological Issues in Positive Psychology. Review Of Philosophy And Psychology. doi: 10.1007/s13164-018-0390-7

Lerman, A., & Bleakley, A. (2015). 146. Using the Internet to Meet People and Adolescent Sexual Risk. Journal Of Adolescent Health, 56(2), S76. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.10.152

McGillivray, G., Rosenfeld, J., McKinlay Gardner, R., & Gillam, L. (2012). Genetic counselling and ethical issues with chromosome microarray analysis in prenatal testing. Prenatal Diagnosis, 32(4), 389-395. doi: 10.1002/pd.3849

Schuhmann, C. (2015). Stories of crime, stories of suffering: A narrative perspective on ethical issues in criminal justice counselling. European Journal Of Psychotherapy & Counselling, 17(1), 21-38. doi: 10.1080/13642537.2014.996172

Soderlund, P. (2017). Effectiveness of motivational interviewing for improving physical activity self-management for adults with type 2 diabetes: A review. Chronic Illness, 14(1), 54-68. doi: 10.1177/1742395317699449

Thompson, N. (2017). Ethical issues in counselling and therapy practice: walking the line. Asia Pacific Journal Of Counselling And Psychotherapy, 8(2), 165-166. doi: 10.1080/21507686.2017.1342676

Uzunboylu, H., & Evram, G. (2017). Understanding Children's Paintings in Psychological Counselling with Children. New Trends And Issues Proceedings On Humanities And Social Sciences, 3(3), 449-463. doi: 10.18844/gjhss.v3i3.1621

Vyskocilova, J., & Prasko, J. (2014). EPA-1336 - Ethical questions and dilemmas in psychotherapy. European Psychiatry, 29, 1. doi: 10.1016/s0924-9338(14)78553-0