Counseling Ethical Standards

Ethical standards are essential when counseling both children and adults. These standards “serve as protection to the public by delineating the boundaries within which counselors should practice” (Henderson & Thompson, 2016, p. 111). Ethical standards also serve to protect counselors. When it comes to counseling children, there are two major ethical issues, which are informed consent and confidentiality. In order to begin counseling sessions counselors must obtain informed consent; however, this prove to be a challenge when counseling children. Children under the age of 18 cannot legally consent to counseling without parental permission (Henderson & Thompson, 2016, p. 119). Counselors will need to find ways to gain informed consent from their child clients’ parents without breaching confidentiality. Consent must be acquired, or counseling will not be able to occur. Confidentiality “refers to the professional responsibility to respect and limits access to clients’ personal information” (Henderson & Thompson, 2016, p. 121). Counselors are faced with an ethical dilemma when it comes parents or guardians wanting to know what their children are discussing in counseling. Counselors will need to err on the side of caution when disclosing information because they do not want to
111). Some of these guidelines include informed consent/assent, confidentiality, and duty to warn/protect (Henderson & Thompson, 2016, pp. 118-127). Counselors are to gain their client’s consent, keep information a client shares confidential, unless it will bring harm to the person or someone else, and warn others of impending danger. Failure to do so will result in legal issues, such as not reporting child abuse. Counselors who fail to report could lose their license to practice, or even prosecuted. They could also lose everything if a lawsuit is filed against