Ethic And Values For Human Service Professionals: Case Study
Assessment of Professional Competence
By: Catherine Snowden
Facilitator: Dr. James Siebold, PhD LMFT
BSHS-335
Ethic and Values for Human Service Professionals
In the helping profession, it is essential to prove and uphold one 's competency in a number of ways.
Professional must be able to maintain accurate and complete client records. It is the responsibility of the professional to stay current in their area of expertise and receiving continuing education. These professionals must understand the procedures, methods and rationale for making appropriate referrals to other professionals, when the needs of the client are out of their scope of competency. Also, professionals must have the ability to identify and manage …show more content…
dual-relationships. In this paper, I will go more in depth with these issues. The purpose of this paper is to give an understanding of how these processes work and in what is appropriate when dealing with these different aspects of the profession.
APA 's Record Keeping Guidelines outline three categories: general file information, documentation of service and other information.
General file information is comprised of contact information, diagnosis, history of client, treatment plan. Billing information, fee agreement, and informed consent documentation (Ethics Code, 3.10). Also authorization for release of information (Ethics Code, 4.05) and mandated disclosures of confidential information may be included. Documentation of service is comprised of type of service, date, and duration of services rendered. Documentation of service should be kept current for each applicable encounter with a client. These records may contain descriptive content pertaining to the type of treatment, intervention, and client 's assessment and their function level. Acknowledging others may have access to such record, a professional should use show sensitivity in the language describing the client. Other types of information may also be kept on records, such as consultations from previous professionals, crisis management documentation, and data from assessment. Telephone and email contact information may also be …show more content…
included.
Psychology professions require one to stay up-to-date in their career field. This could involve a variety of things, such as applying the latest research in one 's professional practice, grasping and accounting for all of the current guidelines and their inferences, retaining your certification and specialized licensing or obtaining further instruction to sustain the necessities of clients. A professional should look into resources that will foster growth and career management in order to continue to exercise quality care as well as improve the services they give to persons, family units, and groups. The foundation of professional growth is maintaining one 's training. Professional can expand their expertise and skillset by joining direct methodical training curriculums. This will allow them to obtain significant and appropriate material pertaining to the clients and areas they assist. This could mean the professional completes a virtual program right in their home or office. It is imperative for very professional to maintain their education in order to enrich their profession.
"The counseling process can be unpredictable at times, and you may encounter situations in which the ethical path is to refer your client (Corey, 2011)." Holding the skill to efficiently assist with a client 's issues is one criterion, however in some situations one may have to consider that a recommendation to another professional is the appropriate thing to benefit the client. A professional and client may equally agree that a referral is in order due to conflicting values or a lack of productivity in the professional- client relationship. Professionals cannot be too quick to suggest a referral as this may have a harmful effect on the client. (Barnett & Johnson, 2008) mention that when one reaches their limits, it is very crucial to skillfully make referrals. This assures that clients comprehend why the referral is taking place.
This way, the client does not have a negative response or feel a sense of rejection abandonment. When referrals are necessary. According to (Younggren & Gottlieb, 2008), It is a violation of standard care to continue to treat a client when their issues are above the therapist 's competency. According to the
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy 's (2012): Principle 1.10 (responsibility to client), counselors must aid individuals in acquiring different therapy services when the counselor is incompetent or indisposed, because of valid justifications, to deliver professional service.
The American psychological Association (2002) ethics code explains a dual relationship as any relationship in which a professional carries both a professional role with a client as an additional role with the same client or someone their client is close to. If professionals mix their professional relationship together with a social one with a client, ethical issues may surface and measured out. It can become very complicated for a professional to decide what is in the best interests of the client, when faced with such a situation. (Herlihy & Corey, 2006b) talk about dual relationships and how they come in different forms. One example is a professional delivering treatment to a client 's relative as well as a friend 's relative Another would be having a social relationship or becoming sexually or even emotionally involved with a current client or a former one. Other examples are carrying on business relationships with clients and any type of bartering with a client. It is essential for therapists and other professionals alike to understand how the ethically and efficiently manage dual relationships. This includes also managing the power differential which is present in many professional relationships. The must also learn to deal with boundary issues and make every effort to evade the exploitation.
In conclusion, professionals have to prove their level of competencies in a variety of ways and in different, sometimes unexpected, situations.
There are so many challenges and issues that professions are faced with on a daily basis. It is imperative that these professionals are consistently trained, up-to- date on new and innovative methodologies, and understand the ethical codes and the guideline placed for the proper management in different situations with diverse clients.
References
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (2010). Code of Ethics. Retrieved on November 16, 2014 from http://www.aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/Content/legal_ethics/code_of_ethics.aspx.
American Psychological Association. Sturm, Cynthia Dr. (2012). Record keeping for practitioners-APA 's guidelines help psychologists steer through the sometimes murky waters of how best to document and protect patient information. Retrieved on November 16, 2014 from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/02/ce-corner.aspx.
Corey, G., Schneider Corey, M., & Patrick, C. (2011). Issues and ethics in the helping professions (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage.
National Association of Social Workers (2014). Professional Education & Training. Retrieved on November 16, 2014 from
http://careers.socialworkers.org/default.asp.
By: Catherine Snowden
Facilitator: Dr. James Siebold, PhD LMFT
BSHS-335
Ethic and Values for Human Service Professionals
In the helping profession, it is essential to prove and uphold one 's competency in a number of ways.
Professional must be able to maintain accurate and complete client records. It is the responsibility of the professional to stay current in their area of expertise and receiving continuing education. These professionals must understand the procedures, methods and rationale for making appropriate referrals to other professionals, when the needs of the client are out of their scope of competency. Also, professionals must have the ability to identify and manage …show more content…
dual-relationships. In this paper, I will go more in depth with these issues. The purpose of this paper is to give an understanding of how these processes work and in what is appropriate when dealing with these different aspects of the profession.
APA 's Record Keeping Guidelines outline three categories: general file information, documentation of service and other information.
General file information is comprised of contact information, diagnosis, history of client, treatment plan. Billing information, fee agreement, and informed consent documentation (Ethics Code, 3.10). Also authorization for release of information (Ethics Code, 4.05) and mandated disclosures of confidential information may be included. Documentation of service is comprised of type of service, date, and duration of services rendered. Documentation of service should be kept current for each applicable encounter with a client. These records may contain descriptive content pertaining to the type of treatment, intervention, and client 's assessment and their function level. Acknowledging others may have access to such record, a professional should use show sensitivity in the language describing the client. Other types of information may also be kept on records, such as consultations from previous professionals, crisis management documentation, and data from assessment. Telephone and email contact information may also be …show more content…
included.
Psychology professions require one to stay up-to-date in their career field. This could involve a variety of things, such as applying the latest research in one 's professional practice, grasping and accounting for all of the current guidelines and their inferences, retaining your certification and specialized licensing or obtaining further instruction to sustain the necessities of clients. A professional should look into resources that will foster growth and career management in order to continue to exercise quality care as well as improve the services they give to persons, family units, and groups. The foundation of professional growth is maintaining one 's training. Professional can expand their expertise and skillset by joining direct methodical training curriculums. This will allow them to obtain significant and appropriate material pertaining to the clients and areas they assist. This could mean the professional completes a virtual program right in their home or office. It is imperative for very professional to maintain their education in order to enrich their profession.
"The counseling process can be unpredictable at times, and you may encounter situations in which the ethical path is to refer your client (Corey, 2011)." Holding the skill to efficiently assist with a client 's issues is one criterion, however in some situations one may have to consider that a recommendation to another professional is the appropriate thing to benefit the client. A professional and client may equally agree that a referral is in order due to conflicting values or a lack of productivity in the professional- client relationship. Professionals cannot be too quick to suggest a referral as this may have a harmful effect on the client. (Barnett & Johnson, 2008) mention that when one reaches their limits, it is very crucial to skillfully make referrals. This assures that clients comprehend why the referral is taking place.
This way, the client does not have a negative response or feel a sense of rejection abandonment. When referrals are necessary. According to (Younggren & Gottlieb, 2008), It is a violation of standard care to continue to treat a client when their issues are above the therapist 's competency. According to the
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy 's (2012): Principle 1.10 (responsibility to client), counselors must aid individuals in acquiring different therapy services when the counselor is incompetent or indisposed, because of valid justifications, to deliver professional service.
The American psychological Association (2002) ethics code explains a dual relationship as any relationship in which a professional carries both a professional role with a client as an additional role with the same client or someone their client is close to. If professionals mix their professional relationship together with a social one with a client, ethical issues may surface and measured out. It can become very complicated for a professional to decide what is in the best interests of the client, when faced with such a situation. (Herlihy & Corey, 2006b) talk about dual relationships and how they come in different forms. One example is a professional delivering treatment to a client 's relative as well as a friend 's relative Another would be having a social relationship or becoming sexually or even emotionally involved with a current client or a former one. Other examples are carrying on business relationships with clients and any type of bartering with a client. It is essential for therapists and other professionals alike to understand how the ethically and efficiently manage dual relationships. This includes also managing the power differential which is present in many professional relationships. The must also learn to deal with boundary issues and make every effort to evade the exploitation.
In conclusion, professionals have to prove their level of competencies in a variety of ways and in different, sometimes unexpected, situations.
There are so many challenges and issues that professions are faced with on a daily basis. It is imperative that these professionals are consistently trained, up-to- date on new and innovative methodologies, and understand the ethical codes and the guideline placed for the proper management in different situations with diverse clients.
References
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (2010). Code of Ethics. Retrieved on November 16, 2014 from http://www.aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/Content/legal_ethics/code_of_ethics.aspx.
American Psychological Association. Sturm, Cynthia Dr. (2012). Record keeping for practitioners-APA 's guidelines help psychologists steer through the sometimes murky waters of how best to document and protect patient information. Retrieved on November 16, 2014 from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/02/ce-corner.aspx.
Corey, G., Schneider Corey, M., & Patrick, C. (2011). Issues and ethics in the helping professions (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage.
National Association of Social Workers (2014). Professional Education & Training. Retrieved on November 16, 2014 from
http://careers.socialworkers.org/default.asp.