Clinical Ethics in Counseling Interview

Ethics in Psychology
An Interview with a Professional
Paul Gendreau
New England College

Abstract
This paper will discuss some of the many aspects of ethics encountered in the mental health field. A mental health professional was selected to interview and provided information to this student on this topic. The areas of ethics discussed during this interview included clinical ethics in the daily life of a working therapist, boundaries, therapeutic relationship, safety concerns, mandated reporting, informed consent, confidentiality and therapist self-care. This paper will describe and summarize the interview, including my reaction to the interview, my inner dialogue, what I learned in the interview process and how my expectations regarding ethical practice have been influenced or changed by the interview process.

My interview began by asking about how clinical ethics affects the normal day to day work of a therapist. The therapist, Tom, responded by saying that clinical ethics permeates virtually every part of the therapists work day, the actions they make and their decision making processes for treatment. For example, it is important that the client be involved in the treatment plan development, not only for their own benefit of success but also as part of the informed consent process. If the approach is not a good fit for the client and is not modified, the chances for success diminish greatly. Also, clients who feel involved in their own treatment are far more likely to put effort into their success. As I heard this, I began to think of what was discussed in my class lecture and how the material coincided with real time practice. My internal dialogue was, “that makes sense” and “this is all coming together now”.
Confidentiality
Another aspect we discussed was the importance of informing the client of the limits of confidentiality. Tom stated that many clients have a