CODE OF ETHICS

ONE OF THE GREATEST CHALLENGES

FACING MOST PROFESSIONALS DAILY IS
HOW TO HANDLE APPROPRIATELY THE
MANY DIFFERENT ETHICAL AND LEGAL
SITUATIONS THEY ENCOUNTER.
ERFORD, 2010
 Ultimately, professionals are expected to
exercise prudent (wise) judgement when
it comes to interpreting and interpreting
ethical principles to specific situations.
What is the difference between ETHICAL
STANDARDS AND LAWS?

Ethics is defined as moral principles

adopted by an individual or group to
provide rules for right conduct.

It represents aspirational goals, or the

maximum or ideal standards set by the
profession.
MANDATORY ETHICS

entails a level of ethical functioning at

which professionals simply act in
compliance with minimal standards

ASPIRATIONAL ETHICS

pertains to striving for the optimum

standards of conduct ( primarily
concerned with doing what is in the best

interests of their clients )

 Ethical Standards are usually developed by
professional associations to guide the behavior
of a specific group of professionals.

The Code of Ethics published by most

Counseling Associations is based on Kitchener’s
five moral principles:
AUTONOMY, JUSTICE, BENEFICENCE,
NONMALEFICENCE and FIDELITY.
BENEFICENCE vs NONMALIFECENCE
 beneficence is a normative statement of a moral obligation to
act for the others’ benefit, helping them to further their important
and legitimate interests, often by preventing or removing possible
harms; beneficent actions include rescuing a person from harm or
danger or helping a person to improve his situation.
 In short it means doing good or what is in the best interest of the
client.
 Nonmaleficence comes from the Latin maxim primum non
nocere meaning “first, do no harm”.
 Thus, nonmaleficence basically means do no harm.
 Ex. include not saying hurtful things to another person & in the
practice of medicine-stopping a medication that is shown to be
harmful; refusing to provide a treatment that has not been shown
to be effective; utilizing Rogerian therapy where it is no longer
applicable to the client, doing harm than good
LAWS are also based on the same moral
principles. However, laws are more
prescriptive, have been incorporated into
code, and carry greater sanctions or
penalties for failure to comply.
AUTONOMY refers to the concept of independence
and the ability to make one’s own decisions.

Helping professionals need to respect the right of

clients to make their own decisions based on their
personal values and beliefs and not impose their
values on clients.
JUSTICE means treating each person
fairly, but does not mean treating each
person the same way. Rather, treating
clients according to the client needs.
FIDELITY involves the concept of loyalty,
faithfulness and honoring commitments.
This means that the professional must
honor all obligations to the client.
 PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

1. General Responsibility.

Counselors maintain a high standard of

professional competence and ethical
behavior thereby recognizing the need for
continuing education in order to meet this
responsibility.
2. Respect for Rights.
Counselors respect the rights of a client
and uphold the integrity of the counseling
profession. They participate in only those
practices which are respectful of the
legal, civic, and moral rights of others,
and act to safeguard the dignity and
rights of their clients, students, and
research participants.
3. Boundaries of Competence.

Counselors limit their practices within their

professional competence, educational
background, and personal experience as what
the laws, rules, guidelines, accreditation and
credential are concerned. If the counseling
needs of a client are beyond the counselor’s
expertise and competence appropriate
referral must be made.
4. Equal Opportunity.

Counselors provide equal opportunity to

everyone to avail of the counseling
services in various setting regardless of
age, gender, socioeconomic status, civil
status, religion, culture, ethnicity,
disability, and sexual orientation.
 COUNSELING RELATIONSHIP

1. General Responsibility.
Counselors have a primary responsibility
to respect the integrity and promote the
welfare of their clients. They work
collaboratively with clients in creating
counseling relationships that are
consistent with client abilities and needs.
2. Confidentiality.
The counselor must preserve and safeguard
the confidentiality of the clients except:

2.1 When disclosure is required to prevent

clear and imminent danger to the client

or others;
2.2 When legal requirements demand that
confidential matter be revealed;
3. Children and Persons with Diminished
Capacity.
Counselors conduct the informed consent
process with those legally appropriate to
give consent when counseling children
and/or persons with diminished capacity.
These clients also give consent to such
services or involvement commensurate
with their capacity to do so.
4. Access to Records.

Counselors understand that clients have

the right to access their counseling
records. Disclosure of such information to
others is allowed only through the clients
informed consent and/or if there is
imminent changes to life properly.
5. Dual Relationships.

Counselors avoid personal, familial, social

and/or business relationships except
those already existing prior to the
establishment of the counseling
relationships.
6. Relationships with Former Clients.
Counselors exercise caution about
entering any friendly, social, financial and
business relationships with former clients
until such time that the issues in
relational dynamic present during
counseling have been fully resolved and
properly terminated.
7. Termination of Counseling.
Counselors must terminate the counseling relationships
when it is deemed necessary. More specifically
terminating the counseling relationships should be done
when
7.1. Goals of counseling have been met.

7.2. Client condition is beyond the

counselor’s expertise.

7.3 Transference or counter-transference

issues are evident.
REFERENCES:

Philippine Guidance and Counseling Association Code

of Ethics
Orientation to the Counseling Profession
Bradley Erford, c 2010
Check uploaded reference section @ SB for code of
ethics for counselor, psychometrician and psychologist
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/principle-
beneficence/