According to Clinton & Ohlschlager (2002), ethics are differentiated from values in that they are a code established by an individual or group which constitutes right conduct. As you begin your journey in counseling, ethics will be one of the vital cornerstones you practice to ensure that you do not harm your clients in any way. It is critical that you as a counselor have a detailed understanding and firm grasp on what is ethical and unethical in the field of Christian counseling. Failure to do so may result in an unintentional breach of ethics and, in turn, may possibly harm your client.
After you have chosen 1 of the scenarios in the Case Study Instructions folder, use the AACC code of ethics found in Clinton and Ohlschlager (2002) to answer the following questions.
- What are some ethical red flags in the chosen scenario?
- Has the counselor already acted in any way that is unethical?
- Was there anything that should have been done differently to avoid the ethical breaches?
- Ethically speaking, what should be the counselor's next steps?