The Ethical and Professional Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy

Book excerpt: In addition to providing foundational information about ethical codes and legal statues, this new text advocates for counseling personnel to view ethical issues as challenges for personal and professional growth. Written in an accessible, concise and easy to read style, this book endeavors to broaden the traditional focus of ethical study to include topics that students and practicing clinicians will find consistent with their own personal strivings and professional needs. While covering the traditional core percepts of professional ethics in considerable detail: confidentiality, informed consent, boundaries and the use of power, and competency and professional responsibility, it also advocates for counseling personnel to view ethical issues as challenges for personal and professional growth. And, it includes a number of critical topics that counselors and therapists face or will face in daily practice. These include organizational ethics, virtue ethics, and an expanded view of multicultural ethics with a focus on community values as well as on religious and spiritual issues. This new book includes a special chapter in the appendix that emphasizes ways in which counselors and therapists can grow and achieve excellence in their personal and professional lives. Unique and essential coverage of organizational ethics (OE) is addressed making readers aware of how organizational dynamics can exert such powerful influence on ethical decision making (Ch 4 & 10-14). Unique coverage of the ethical considerations involving spiritual and religious issues as well as the use of alternative interventions in counseling and psychotherapy are covered, including the common lawsuits brought against counselors and therapists using spiritual and alternative interventions (Ch 3). A unique section in the appendix describes the psychological and philosophical basis of ethical decision-making for readers who want and need a more in-depth discussion.