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11/4/2014
ACA Ethical Standards Casebook
and
Boundary Issues in Counseling
Barbara Herlihy, Ph.D., LPC, LPC-S
University Research Professor in the Counselor Education
-graduate program at the University of New Orleans
and
Gerald Corey, Ed.D., ABPP
Professor Emeritus of Human Services & Counseling
California State University at Fullerton
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Poll Question
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11/4/2014
Program Description
The presenters will address a
range of topics related to the revised ACA
2014 Code of Ethics and provide
highlights on the new 7th edition of the
ACA Ethical Standards Casebook (2015)
and also the 3rd edition of Boundary
Issues in Counseling (2015). Focus will be
on competence, managing value conflicts,
and counselor education and supervision.
Emphasis will also be given to effectively
and ethically managing boundary issues in
the practice of counseling
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Learning Objectives
• To offer audience participants an opportunity
to raise questions of the presenters on the
topics of the program.
• To explore the role of values in the counseling
process and to provide guidelines for ethically
managing a counselor’s values in his or her
professional work.
• To highlight a few of the challenges involved
in acquiring and maintaining competence.
• To explore a few ethical issues in clinical
supervision.
• To examine some of the 2014 standards that
apply to counselor education.
• To introduce the topic of learning how to
define and manage professional boundaries.
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Part I
ACA Ethical Standards Casebook
• There are 34 contributors to the
Casebook, and most of the
cases are new.
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• There are several new
chapters in the Casebook
that reflect the new
developments of the ACA
2014 Code of Ethics:
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• New emphasis on social
justice and counseling
across cultures
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• New chapter on
managing value conflicts
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• New chapter on
technology, social
media, and online
counseling
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• New chapter on
research and
publication
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• New chapter on the
intersection of ethics
and law
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• Resource: See the LINK in the
LINKS BOX to download the
Table of Contents and Preface
for 7th Edition of ACA Ethical
Standards Casebook, which
will provide an overview of
what is new in this casebook.
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Competence
• What is competence? How can we
acquire and maintain competence?
• What does the ACA Code of Ethics
say about competence?
• How can the boundaries of
competence be determined and
assessed?
• What is multicultural competence?
Transcultural competence? Why are
these essential for today’s
counselors?
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Competence (continued)
• How are burnout and impairment
related to competence?
• In what sense is self-care an ethical
mandate rather than a luxury?
• A critical question for reflection: How
well are you taking care of yourself?
• What is involved in self-care and how
can this enhance a counselor’s
vitality?
[See Link to Chapter 9,
Taking Care of Yourself, Corey, 2010]
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Key Message #1
Competence
• From an ethical perspective,
competence implies that
counselors do no harm to clients.
Although counselors may not
intend to harm their clients,
incompetence often is a
contributing factor in causing
harm to clients. From a legal
perspective, counselors who are
incompetent are vulnerable to
malpractice suits.
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Key Message #2
Competence
• Competence is a lifelong endeavor.
Rather than thinking of competence
as a goal that counselors eventually
attain, competence is best viewed
as an ongoing process. In short,
competence at one point in a career
does not assure competence at a
later time.
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Key Message #2
Competence (continued)
• It is essential to take active steps
to develop and refine skills and
to acquire new knowledge. For
counselors to determine their
level of competence, they must
engage in an ongoing process of
self-assessment and selfreflection. Competence involves
a commitment to continue
learning throughout our career.
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Key Message #3
Competence
• The answer to maintaining
competence lies in our ability to
explore our own motives and
relationships insightfully, and to
make self-care an integral part of
our lifestyle. Retaining our
vitality, both personally and
professionally, is critical to our
ability to function ethically and
competently.
•
Resource: See the LINK in LINKS BOX to download Chapter 9
“Taking Care of Yourself” from Creating Your Professional Path:
Lessons From My Journey (Gerald Corey, 2010, ACA Publication).
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Managing Value Conflicts
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Managing Value Conflicts 1
• What does the new 2014 ACA
Code state with respect to the
role of values in counseling?
• What are the implications of
some of the recent court cases
involving value conflicts?
• What is “ethical bracketing”
and why is this so important?
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Managing Value Conflicts 2
• The new code is clear that referral
must be based on lack of
competence rather than value
conflicts. What can counselors do
to manage their values rather
than refer a client because of
value differences?
• How can problems occur when
the personal values of counselors
are in conflict with the
professional values of counseling?
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Managing Value Conflicts 3
• What are the legal and ethical
implications of using religious
beliefs as the basis for refusing to
counsel certain clients? [See link to
JCD article by Barbara Herlihy,
Mary Hermann, and Leigh Greden]
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Managing Value Conflicts 4
• What kind of ethical decisionmaking model can help a counselor
work through personal and
professional value conflicts? [See
link to JCD article by Michael Kocet
and Barbara Herlihy]
• What are some ways counselor
educators can teach counseling
students to reconcile their personal
and professional values? [See JCD
article by Irene Mass Ametrano]
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Counselor Education and
Supervision
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Counselor Education and
Supervision 1
• How is informed consent
regarding policies, practices,
and expectations of the
program of critical importance
for students?
• What should counselor
educators tell students about
what is involved in becoming a
competent counselor?
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Counselor Education and
Supervision 2
• In addition to knowledge and skills,
how is the student’s ability to form
and maintain a working alliance with
clients essential for positive
outcomes?
• How can counselor educators use
their power wisely and form
collaborative relationships?
• What are some ethical standards
pertaining to counselor educators
maintaining appropriate boundaries
with students?
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Counselor Education and
Supervision 3
• How can counselor educators best teach
their students about what is involved in
becoming an ethical practitioner?
• What are a few examples of challenges
that supervisors face in ethically carrying
out their roles in supervising trainees?
• How is the quality of the supervisory
relationship of the utmost importance in
creating an effective supervisory
process? [See link to Chapter 3, The
Supervisory Relationship, by Corey,
Haynes, Moulton, and Muratori, 2010]
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Key Message #1 on
Supervision
• Supervisors operate in multiple roles
as teacher, mentor, consultant,
counselor, sounding board, adviser,
administrator, evaluator, and
documenter. They might instruct a
supervisee in a clinical approach, act
as a consultant on how to intervene
with the client, act therapeutically in
helping the supervisee with
countertransference issues, and give
evaluative feedback to the
supervisee regarding his or her
progress as a counselor.
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Key Message #1 on
Supervision (continued)
• Supervisors have a position of influence with
their supervisees, and they take steps to
prevent the misuse of this power that could
lead to harm or exploitation of their
supervisees. If there is a frank discussion at
the beginning of the supervisory relationship
about the mutual responsibilities of
supervisors and supervisees, expectations
can be clarified and conflicts are less likely to
develop at a later time. As a part of the
informed consent discussion, supervisors can
explain that supervision is a complex process
and that supervisors are required to function
in multiple roles.
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Key Message #2 on
Supervision
• Supervisors serve as gatekeepers to
the profession and must monitor
and evaluate supervisees’
performance. Supervisors must
conduct explicit evaluations of their
supervisees throughout the
supervisory process; they must be
fair in the evaluation process and
give opportunities for supervisees to
take remedial actions when their
performance does not meet
expected standards.
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Key Message #3 on
Supervision
• Effective supervisors understand that
the supervisory relationship is key to
the effectiveness of supervision as
well as to the personal growth and
development of the supervisee.
Supervisors have the task of creating
an environment in which there is an
appropriate balance of challenge and
support. Open and honest
communication is necessary for the
supervisee to obtain the maximum
benefit from supervision.
Resource: See the LINK below to download Chapter 3 “The Supervisory Relationship”
from Clinical Supervision in the Helping Professions (Gerald Corey, Robert Haynes, Patrice
Moulton, and Michelle Muratori, 2010, ACA Publication).
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Key Message #1 on
Counselor Education
It is the responsibility of
counselor education programs
to introduce the topic of
boundary crossings and explore
multiple relationship questions
with students.
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Key Message #2 on
Counselor Education
It is important to teach students
ways of thinking about alternative
courses of action. When students
first enter their graduate program
in the helping professions, they
may have given little thought to
the complexities involved in
multiple relationships.
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Key Message #3 on
Counselor Education
• Counselor education programs
have a responsibility to develop
their own guidelines, policies, and
procedures for dealing with
multiple roles, role conflicts, and
managing boundaries within the
program. Faculty should be
engaged in a continuing
discussion about ways to prevent
harmful dual relationships within
the training program.
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Key Message #3 on
Counselor Education
(continued)
• Counselor educators must be able
to deal with multiple relationships
effectively, if they hope to teach
students how to deal with these
matters. If counselor educators are
not modeling effective ways of
thinking about and managing
boundary considerations, how can
students be expected to grapple
constructively with them?
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Key Message #4 on
Counselor Education
• A critical component of most counseling
training programs is an emphasis on
students engaging in self-growth
experiences that foster awareness of
self and others. Students must be made
aware of the ramifications of selfdisclosing personal information in an
academic setting. Prospective students
should be made aware of the fact that
counseling involves a personal
investment and that they will be doing
more than learning knowledge and
acquiring skills.
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Key Message #4 on
Counselor Education
(continued)
• Prospective students need to know that
they will be affected personally in many
of their courses, and that their program
will be challenging to them on both
academic and personal levels. Most
counseling programs combine academic
and personal learning, weave together
didactic and experiential approaches,
and integrate study and practice. In
experiential learning and in fieldwork,
problem behaviors of trainees often
surface and can be ameliorated.
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Question & Answer Time
Part 1
ACA Ethical Standards
Casebook
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Part 2
Boundary Issues in
Counseling
A brief survey of what is new in the
3rd Edition of Boundary Issues in
Counseling: Multiple Roles and
Responsibilities
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There are 40 contributors to this
book, and most of the contributors’
perspectives are new.
Boundary Issues in Counseling is organized to
begin with a general introduction and overview of
dual or multiple relationships and a range of
boundary issues in counseling practice.
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•
•
In the first three chapters, we define the issues and areas
of concern (Chapter 1), then focus on sexual dual
relationships (Chapter 2), and present the client’s
perspective (Chapter 3).
Chapter 4 addresses multicultural and social justice
perspectives on boundaries, which is a foundation for
many of the chapters that follow.
Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 examine boundary issues in
counselor education, supervision and consultation, the
education and training of group counselors, group
counseling and couples/family counseling, and school
counseling.
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There are 40 contributors to this
book, and most of the contributors’
perspectives are new. (continued)
•
•
•
Chapter 10 focuses on these specialty areas: disaster
mental health, private practice, addictions counseling,
and rehabilitation counseling.
In Chapter 11 we focus on unique boundary issues
that arise in these specialty areas of practice: rural
practice, counseling in the military, working with
clients with end-of-life concerns, in-home service
provision, and working in forensic settings.
Finally, in Chapter 12 there is a discussion of key
themes in this book, questions to encourage
integration and reflection, and a decision-making
model that is described.
Resource: See the LINK below to download the Table of Contents and Preface for 3rd Edition of
Boundary Issues in Counseling, which will provide an overview of what is new in this book.
Also, see LINK to download Chapter 12 of this book, “Key Themes, Questions, and Decision
Making.”
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Key Message of Part II of
Program
•
•
•
The third edition of Boundary Issues in Counseling
is based on the assumption that counseling
professionals must learn how to manage multiple
roles and responsibilities (or nonprofessional
interactions or relationships) effectively, rather
than always attempting to avoid them.
This entails managing the power differential that is
inherent in counseling or training relationships,
balancing boundary issues, addressing
nonprofessional relationships, and striving to avoid
using power in ways that might cause harm to
clients, students, or supervisees.
We can develop ethical decision-making skills that
will enable us to weigh the pros and cons of
multiple roles and nonprofessional interactions or
relationships.
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Key Themes 1-3
1. Multiple relationship issues affect
mental health practitioners, regardless of
their work setting or clientele.
2. Most professional codes of ethics
caution against forming dual relationships
that have the potential to cause harm, but
the newer codes also acknowledge the
complex nature of these relationships.
3. Not all multiple relationships (and
boundary crossings) can be avoided, nor
are they necessarily always harmful, and
they can be beneficial.
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Key Themes 4-6
4. Multiple role relationships challenge
us to monitor ourselves and to examine
our motivations for our practices.
5. There are few absolute answers that
can neatly resolve dual or multiple
relationship dilemmas.
6. Decisions whether to enter into dual
or multiple relationships should be for
the benefit of our clients or others
served rather than to protect ourselves
from censure.
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Key Themes 7-9
7. In determining whether to proceed
with a dual or multiple relationship, or
to cross a boundary, consider whether
the potential benefit of the relationship
outweighs the potential for harm.
8. Whenever we consider becoming
involved in a dual or multiple
relationship, it is wise to seek
consultation from trusted colleagues or
a supervisor.
9. Boundary issues must be considered
with in their cultural contexts.
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Final Thoughts 1
• We expect that ethically
conscientious professionals will
continue to struggle with the
multiple relationship dilemmas that
they face and the multiple roles
they will be expected to balance in
their work.
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Final Thoughts 2
• In the absence of certainties,
we must rely on our reasoned
professional judgment,
openness to discussing issues
with clients (or students or
supervisees) who are equally
affected by the decisions
made, and consultation with
colleagues.
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Final Thoughts 3
• Instead of searching for definitive
answers to many of the multiple
roles and responsibilities
associated with counseling
practice, the real challenge is to
learn a process of thinking about
such dilemmas and clarifying our
rationale for the decisions we
make in our professional practice.
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Questions & Answers
Part 2
Boundary Issues in
Counseling
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Suggested Readings for
This Webinar
• Herlihy, B., & Corey, G. (2015). ACA ethical
standards casebook (7th ed.). Alexandria, VA:
American Counseling Association.
• Herlihy, B., & Corey, G. (2015). Boundary issues
in counseling: Multiple roles and
responsibilities (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA:
American Counseling Association.
• Barnett, J. E., & Johnson, W. B. (2015). Ethics
desk reference for counselors (2nd ed.).
Alexandria, VA: American Counseling
Association.
• Remley, T. P., & Herlihy, B. (2014). Ethical, legal,
and professional issues in counseling (4th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
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Suggested Readings for
This Webinar (continued)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Corey, G., Corey, M. S., Corey, C., & Callanan, P.
(2015). Issues and ethics in the helping professions
(9th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Cengage Learning.
Corey, M. S., & Corey, G. (2016). Becoming a helper
(7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Cengage Learning.
Nagy, T. F. (2011). Essential ethics for psychologists:
A primer for understanding and mastering core
issues. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Knapp, S. J., & VandeCreek, L. (2012). Practical
ethics for psychologists: A positive approach (2nd
ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Zur, O. (2007). Boundaries in psychotherapy:
Ethical and clinical explorations. Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.
Yalom, I. D. (1997). Lying on the couch: A novel.
New York: Perennial.
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