Ethical Issues In Client Centered Counseling

Nicolina Cahouette08/04/2009

The Right Fit

My goal is to help my clients negotiate their lives to their highest potentials, and using painful past experience as a tool to gain strength rather than a weakness hindering forward motion.

Giving the client useful tools to manage anxiety, panic, emotional irrationality, and social handicaps can greatly enhance his or her efficacy in life.

The Field of Transpersonal Psychology• Transpersonal Psychology looks at

the inner workings of human motivation, and intention, while exploring the process by which an individual achieves his or her highest potential.

• Transpersonal Psychology imagines the man of the future, and what processes will enable humanity to evolve into a more utopian society.

William James (1842-1910)

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)

Those Before Us

A great philosopher, Henry David Thoreau envisioned a community where government was not necessary, and where authority is no longer needed to punish bad conduct.

Every human has the ability within to employ a high level of awareness of one’s own ethical nature. This is the field of Psychology that I find the most inspiring.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

American Psychological Association Has developed comprehensive

information relating to the ethical standards of the practicing professional.

Has resources available for most sub-fields of the industry.

Has cutting edge information pertaining to the counsel of different genres of people in our mixed culture society.

APA & Ethics

MINIMIZING BIAS IN COUNSELING.The APA Ethics Code calls on

psychologists to "strive to be aware of their own belief systems, values, needs, and limitations and the effect of these on their work" (APA,1992, p. 1599).

http://www.apa.org

Intent

An ethical practitioner must also be empathetic, altruistic, and motivated, not just for personal gain, but for personal, and communal growth.

Money is a huge motivation for people to further their education, and change profession. I would argue money is the wrong reason to enter most fields of Psychology.

Careful Observation

The counselor needs to be very thorough in the client discovery process to make sure the client is well suited to the paradigm of client driven introspection.

Our ego can trick us into thinking we are more effective than we actually are. This can cause s therapist to be a danger to the client if a more serious mental illness is present.

Why Psychology?

It is important in today’s age to have a professional interest in human social evolution. The current climate everywhere seems to be fraught with confusion, tension, and frustration.

Psychology gives us an understanding of the many behaviors a human can employ.

References

American Psychological Association. (2002). Criteria for Evaluating Treatment Guidelines.Vol. 57, No. 12, 1052–1059. Washington, DC: Author

Fancher, Raymond. (1996). Pioneers of Psychology. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

References Cont.

Goleman, Daniel. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam.

Thoreau, Henry David. On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. (S. Parekh, Trans.) Project Gutenburg. (Original work published 1849)