ABSTRACT
Describe the ethical principles used in counseling• Review an ethical decision-making model• Demonstrate the application of the ethical decision-making model to school counseling issues• Illustrate the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Ethical Standards• Apply the ASCA Ethical Standards to various case examples•
Professional counselors and counselors-in-training, regardless of their work setting, are required to abide by the ethical code of their profession. As individuals training for the school counseling profession, you are constantly faced with ethical dilemmas and often have to make clinical decisions that require knowledge of ethical codes and a strong ethical decision-making model. Although you have probably already taken a class in ethical/legal standards, this chapter reviews the principles on which ethical codes are based, and outlines common ethical decision-making models used by professional counselors. This discussion will be followed by a highlighting of the current ethical decision-making model adopted by the American Counseling Association (ACA). Following this model, a summary of the ASCA Ethical Standards will be provided along with case examples and activities for you to consider. Finally, general discussion questions on ethics in school counseling are included.
