Ethics and Decision Making in Counseling and Psychotherapy

Book excerpt: Note to Readers: Publisher does not guarantee quality or access to any included digital components if book is purchased through a third-party seller. Completely revised and updated to reflect the new 2014 ACA Code of Ethics and current ethics codes in psychology, social work, and marriage and family therapy. This unparalleled text guides helping professionals in the use of ethical decision-making processes as the foundation for ethical approaches to counseling and psychotherapy. The book focuses on ethical and legal challenges and standards across multiple professions emphasizing counseling. It not only identifies relevant ethical issues in clinical mental health, rehabilitation, group, school, addictions, and career counseling, it also addresses couple and family therapy, clinical supervision, and forensics. The text illuminates the particular application of ethical standards within each specialty. The book features five new chapters that clearly define how ethical standards are interpreted and applied: Privacy, Confidentiality, and Privileged Communication; Informed Consent; Roles and Relationships With Clients; Professional Responsibility; and Counselor Competency. Under the umbrella of each broad topic, the particular nuances of ethical standards within each specialty are analyzed to facilitate comparison across all specialties and settings. The text also addresses current issues in office and administrative practices, technology, and forensic practice that are crucial to school, clinical, and private practice settings. Compelling case studies illustrate the connection between ethical decision-making models and ethical practice. Learning objectives, a comprehensive review of scholarly literature, and a robust ancillary package for educators contribute to the fourth edition's value for use in upper-level undergraduate and graduate classrooms. New to the Fourth Edition: Comprehensive reorganization and reconceptualization of content Reflects new 2014 ACA Code of Ethics Includes five new chapters on Privacy, Confidentiality, and Privileged Communication; Informed Consent; Roles and Relationships With Clients; Professional Responsibility; and Counselor Competency Emphasizes specialty practice organized by professional standards Facilitates comparison of standards across disciplines Addresses new issues in office, administrative, technology, and forensic practice Key Features: Delivers an unequaled overview of ethical decision making in counseling and psychotherapy Defines how ethical standards are interpreted and applied in specialty practice Describes how to avoid, address, and solve serious ethical and legal dilemmas Includes learning objectives, case studies, and scholarly literature reviews Offers robust ancillary package with Instructor's Manual, Test Bank, and PowerPoint Slides