Running head: ETHICAL BOUNDARIES AND PRACTICES 1

Counselor Ethical Boundaries and Practices

Name

Institution

Instructor

PCN 505

Date
ETHICAL BOUNDARIES AND PRACTICES 2

Counselor Ethical Boundaries and Practices

Introduction

Professional counselors establish relationships between their client that include upholding

the ethical standards outlined by such agencies as the American Counseling Association and the

American Psychological Association. Additionally, professionals define ethical boundaries

between themselves and their clients. These boundaries and practices are moral principles that

guide and influence an individual’s professional discipline. Ethical boundaries are

responsibilities that focus on human conduct, decision making and professional behaviors.

When establishing these relationships, the counselors must determine the risk of appropriate and

inappropriate boundary crossing and dual relationships. Counselors often encounter boundary

issues that include the risks that accompany dual relationships.

Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships

Boundaries refer to nearly every aspect of counseling, particularly direct client contact,

including self-disclosure, location of the services and physical interaction (Zur, 2016).

Boundaries may also incorporate appropriate examples of gifts, incidental contact or encounters,

including bartering, which is inappropriate. A boundary-crossing may include any deviation

from the normal or appropriate way of doing things, such as meeting the client for lunch-outside

the normal clinical setting. Once the setting has been established, one of the most important

aspect of boundaries, is maintaining professional boundaries with each individual client. This

practice will maintain the best interest of the client. To maintain the best interest, the counselor

should determine if the dual relationship or boundary-crossing is ethical or risk inappropriate

behavior, which may cause harm. Inappropriate boundary crossings can manifest themselves
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and cause significant harm to the client, such as sexual or non-sexual crossings and violations

(Krishnaram, Aravind, & Thasneem, 2012). When a counselor finds themselves attracted to a

client, it is critical to recognize these feelings and take the appropriate action immediately. The

safest and first criteria would include a consultation with a supervisor, reassigning the client and

addressing the feelings. These actions will prevent the relationship from developing and causing

harm to the client. If the client expresses a sexual relationship, the counselor must address the

concerns and redirect the client and/or speak with their immediate supervisor.

Dual relationships occur when an individual performs multiple roles in counselling or

psychological session (Zur, 2016). They are appropriate and ethical when they exclude sexual or

exploitative in any manner. Dual relationships are difficult because of the potential ambiguity,

which can lead to the wrong perception and harm to client. It is ethical to create a relationship

that prevents any form of exploitation (Krishnaram et al., 2012). The first example, the

counselor should determine the level of relationship and reduce the likelihood of exploitation.

A client or therapist may develop a dual social relationship and become friends. The counselor

must determine the risks and benefits to the client. For example, attending social events;

weddings, graduations and client family events. The counselor should take appropriate

precautions and establish an informed consent, such as supervision and documentation that

prevents harm. The second and most dangerous example is always considered harmful; a sexual

relationship with a client may lead to serious consequences for the client, counselor and

organization. Counselors, prohibited from having a sexual relationships with their clients,

including the clients’ partners and/or family members ("ACA Code of Ethics," 2014).

According to the ACA Code of Ethics, the client/counselor must was wait five years after the

final counseling session, before engaging in sexual relationships ("ACA Code of Ethics," 2014).
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Immediate steps should include speaking with a supervisor, reassigning the clients and request

the counselor to seek counseling and additional ethical training. Another example of dual

relationship is nonprofessional dual relationship, which also has the potential to misinterpret the

boundaries between the counselor and client. The nonprofessional relationship may create a

conflict of interest, potential risk for exploitation or abuse of power. This dual relationship

creates a serious risk and confusion. Before establishing the nonprofessional relationship, the

counselor must asked, who will this benefit? Will it bring harm to the client? The counselor

should explain the boundaries and adhere to the rules and receive a client consent form. Most

important, this relationship should be discussed with the counselor’s supervisor and documented.

Based ACA codes of Ethics, certain nonsexual relationships with clients may be beneficial, and

thus, these relationships are not prohibited ("ACA Code of Ethics," 2014). The final example is

the unintended encounters, such as small or rural areas were dual relationships are often

impossible. Commonly describe as unavoidable dual relationships; the counselor should take

appropriate actions, such as confidentiality, informed consultation, precautions and

documentations.

Boundary violations are not healthy in any relationship, particularly for the client, the therapist

and organization. These business relationships may develop into exploitative relationships, thus,

becomes a boundary violations (Krishnaram et al., 2012). Ethical issues may change depending

on the length of time after which a party initiates a dual relationship between a client and a

counselor (Krishnaram et al., 2012). The parties should ensure that they maintain clear

professional boundaries between a counselor and a client. Some critical ethical dimensions might

change even after the termination of therapy. For instance, friendship may compromise the

therapeutic relationship between the two parties. However, after termination, within a specific
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period of time, the relationship may not be destructive. Providing the counselor followings the

guidelines outline by the ethical procedures and process outline by the state and organization.

Professional Collaboration in Counseling

Counselors frequently collaborate with stakeholders to ensure they follow and adhere to

appropriate standards, including ethical standards when providing services to clients. In most of

the cases, the counselor selects stakeholders with shared goals and ethical standards. They

collaborate to ensure their goals are achieved and take steps to ensure they protect their clients

from any harm. Teamwork resolves ethical dilemmas that may arise. Teamwork combines

experience, shared knowledge, objective decision making, which will allow individual to consult

one another and use optimal solutions. For instance, working with experts from various fields,

such as the co-occurring disorders to identify specific cases and effective outcomes (Welfel,

2015). Additionally, a committed team focuses on the needs of their clients and provide

guidance when working with daily concerns, such as establishing clear expectations of the

professional counseling and ethical standards that must be maintain. Counselors can work with a

multidisciplinary team in various roles. They bring their individual knowledge, expertise and

skills in various aspects of the client treatment plan and management process, such as participate

in emergency response as members of a multidisciplinary team (Welfel, 2015). Working as a

team and collaborating with partner providers would provide a multidisciplinary team that would

bring a set best practices and necessary skills that will assist me with effective assessments,

shared resources and holistic nontraditional approaches that are effective for the nontraditional

individual seeking addiction recovery. These unique approaches may help myself and other

providers to establish a counseling approach tailored to meet the clients concerns, including their

emotional needs. As a new a student entering the counseling field, collaboration can bring an
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understanding of client needs, and thus, strive to meet or exceed the quality of client care, while

maintaining ethical standards, such as privacy, confidentiality and practices without harm

(Shallcross, 2011). These standards begin with supervisors who support these ethical standards.

Ethical Issues in Supervisor-counselor Relationship

Supervisors and counselors must maintain ethical standards and remain cognizant of their

ethical behavior and that of the individuals they supervise ("Ethical and Legal Issues in

Counseling", 2016). Supervisors should establish a foundation that includes advice within an

environment that cultivates effective skills, which is aligned with strong ethical values and

principals. The supervisor should also identify any unethical and negligent practices that may

cause harm to the client. Ethical issues arise when uncertainty regarding values, perceptions and

behaviors between supervisors, team members, clients and other stakeholders ("Ethical and

Legal Issues in Counseling", 2016). These uncertain ethical issues can strengthen the existing

relationship and play a significant role in strengthen the therapeutic relationship. The supervisor

has the obligation to undertake any activity or offer advice regarding any situation. If the

supervisors and counselors collaborate their roles to prevent, educate and warn their

subordinates, the work environment will create a strong ethical and safe environment.

Most important, supervisors must maintain and protect confidentiality- this is a critical

issue when analyzing the supervisor-counselor relationship. Supervision allows colleagues to

engage in client discussions regarding the therapeutic conditions, treatment plans and ethical

situations ("Ethical and Legal Issues in Counseling," 2016). Confidentiality is often the dilemma

of ethical concern, which may require the experience of the supervisor or legal support. The

supervisors must observe confidentiality in the situations that they are required to do so, such as

ethical situations. Confidentiality also applies to third party entity contracted services, such as
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court ordered services. The supervisor should clarify the service and determine which

documentation is required. The clarification should explain the services and the information

obtained, and the limits of the confidentiality ("ACA Code of Ethics", 2014). It is important the

supervisor identifies a set of criteria that counselors can use to make ethical decisions in various

situations.

The counselors can supervise only in the areas they possess expertise, which will allow them to

identify and address incompetent subordinates and address as required ("Supervision Manual",

2012). Additionally, counselors can also evaluate the competence of their supervisees regularly

so that they can make ethical decisions in various circumstances. For instance, seeking to

increase competence by ensuring a high level of ethical conduct in their areas of expertise. The

supervisors also need to assist counselors to understand the scope of their limitations, abilities

and evaluate their preparedness in any circumstance while addressing professional concerns.

Counselors should also avoid dual relationships that may bring the conflict of interest in their

work. This course has provided a better understanding of dual relationships and the importance

of understanding ethics and its importance to the vulnerable population we serve.

Developmental Ethics

The course provided an understanding and created a strong and committed awareness of

ethics, which is not spoken within my current work environment. It is often discussed amongst

the government workers, who are aware and tend to follow the ethical standards based on fear.

However ethics is critical safeguards that counselors and supervisors should consider when

interacting when treating and providing services for their clients. As a program director of a

new program, which is only three months in operation, it is important I provide the foundation

and ensure the team members understand the standards and the importance of protecting our
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clients. The members (clients) are vulnerable individuals suffering from substance abuse and

mental illness. Regarding myself, the ethical standards and values are understandable and easy

to adapt into my personal and professional behavior, because it is aligned with my worldviews

and personal values. Our city and state provides ethics courses that I will make available to our

team members. Many are free webinars. This course has provided the importance of trainings

and clinician should establish policies and procedures to follow, including a strong supervisor

who ensures their colleagues are up to date on ethical codes and changes. Upon conclusion, it is

important to understand, counselors have various obligations that demand appropriate decision-

making. We should evaluate and determine whether our behavior is ethical and appropriate to

establish dual relationships or boundary-crossings. Most important, when in question, console

with a colleague or supervisor. Take every action to prevent harm.

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References

ACA Code of Ethics. (2014). counseling.org. Retrieved 13 May 2016, from

https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

Ethical and Legal Issues in Counseling. (2016). sulross. Retrieved 13 May 2016, from

http://www.sulross.edu/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/users/docs/education/counseli

ng-ethics_6.pdf

Krishnaram, V., Aravind, V., & Thasneem, Z. (2012). Boundary Crossings and Violations in

Clinical Settings. Indian J Psychol Med, 34(1), 21. Retrieved 13 May 2016 from

http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.96151

SUPERVISION MANUAL. (2012). cap.ab.ca. Retrieved 13 May 2016, from

http://cap.ab.ca/pdfs/supervisionmanual.pdf

Welfel, E. (2015). Ethics in counseling & psychotherapy. Cengage Learning.

Zur, O. (2016). THERAPEUTIC BOUNDARIES AND DUAL RELATIONSHIPS IN

PSYCHOTHERAPY AND COUNSELING. Retrieved 13 May 2016, from

http://www.zurinstitute.com/boundariesbrochure.pdf