Exam I Principles of Counseling Intervention

Lessons 1-6 Vocabulary

Autonomy

Respecting client’s to make informed decisions about their lives and counseling

Beneficence

Acting to promote client’s welfare and well-being

Non-maleficence

Avoiding harm, including foreseeable physical, psychological, social, and digital harm

Justice

Promoting fairness and equitable access to quality services

Fidelity

Honoring commitments, maintaining trust, and being reliable

Veracity

Practicing honesty, truthfulness, and transparency

Ethics

Professional standards that guide responsible conduct and may be broader than legal requirements

Informed consent

An ongoing process in which clients receive understandable information about counseling, risks, benefits, alternatives, confidentiality, records, fees, communication, and emergencies

Confidentiality limits

Circumstances in which disclosure may be permitted or required, including serious or imminent risks, abuse or neglect reporting, court orders, and jurisdiction-specific expectations

Boundaries

Professional limits that protect clients, reduce exploitation and confusion, and persevere the counseling relationships

Cultural humility

Lifelong self-reflection, recognition of power and privilege, awareness of systemic inequities, and partnership with clients as experts in their own lives

Step 1 of Ethical Decision Making

Identify the problem: Clarify the ethical concern, stakeholders, duties, and power differences

Step 2 of Ethical Decision Making

Gather information: Collect clinical, contextual, legal, cultural, and risk-related factors

Step 3 of Ethical Decision Making

Review ethical standards: Identify applicable codes, principles, and professional guidance

Step 4 of Ethical Decision Making

Consider laws and regulations: Determine whether reporting protection, documentation, or other legal duties apply

Step 5 of Ethical Decision Making

Generate options: Develop several realistic, culturally responsive, and least-restrictive actions

Step 6 of Ethical Decision Making

Evaluate options: Weigh welfare, harm, autonomy, justice, trust, access, and short-term and long-term effects

Step 7 of Ethical Decision Making

Consult and seek supervision: Obtain appropriate clinical, ethical, risk-management, or legal consultation

Step 8 of Ethical Decision Making

Decide, implement, and document: Act on the most justifiable option, record the rationale, and follow up

Credentialing

Processes that verify qualifications and authorize or recognize professional practice, including education, supervised experience, licensure, and certification

Accreditation

Evaluation of an academic or counselor education program against established standards

Scope of Practice

The services a counselor is legally permitted and professionally prepared to provide

Title protection

Legal restrictions on who may use a professional title, such as a Licensed Professional Counselor

Associate or provisional license

A supervised license level that permits practice before full independent licensure, when required by a state

Insurance credentialing

The process of becoming approved by a prayer to bill insurance and be listed as an in-network provider

Professional organization

A member-based group that supports a profession through ethics, resources, standards, advocacy, education, networking, research, and professional development

Certification

Usually a voluntary credential recognizing additional knowledge, competence, or specialization

American Counseling Association (ACA)

National professional association supporting counselors through ethics, advocacy, education, publication, networking, and professional resources

American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

Organization focused on school counseling, student services, ethical standards, program models, training, and advocacy

American Mental Health Counselor Association (AMHCA)

Organization supporting clinical mental health counselors through practice resources, professional identity, development, reimbursement, and legislative advocacy

National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)

National credentialing body offering counselor certification and examinations

Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)

Accreditor establishing standards and evaluating counselor education programs

Synchronous Telehealth

Real-time counseling through video or telephone communication

Asynchronous Telehealth

Communication that does not occur simultaneously, such as secure messaging, email, texting, or client portals

Privacy

A client’s control over personal information and the conditions under which services occur

Security

Technical, administrative, and physical safeguards, used to protect information

Encryption

The process of coding information so it is protected during transmission or storage

Technology informed consent

An ongoing discussion of the technology used, benefits, risks, alternatives, privacy limits, emergency procedures, response times, and technical failures

Part 1 of Confidentiality Checklist

Obtain informed consent for platforms, tools, risk, benefits, alternatives, and emergency limits

Part 2 of Confidentiality Checklist

Use approved secure platforms with appropriate privacy settings

Part 3 of Confidentiality Checklist

Protect access with strong passwords, multi factor authentication, updates, and screen locks

Part 4 of Confidentiality Checklist

Minimize data exposure by collecting and storing only necessary information

Part 5 of Confidentiality Checklist

Control the environment with private rooms, headphones, secure screens, and awareness of listeners

Part 6 of Confidentiality Checklist

Set communication boundaries for texting, email, response times, and crises

Part 7 of Confidentiality Checklist

Document safeguards and incidents, including disruptions and responses

Part 8 of Confidentiality Checklist

Use AI cautiously and never enter identifiable information with authorization and security approval

Professional role

The responsibilities to boundaries, tasks, and expectations associated with a counselor’s professional identity and setting

Scope of practice

The services and activities a counselor is legally authorized and professionally prepared to perform

Competence

The knowledge, skills, education, supervised experience, and continuing learning required to practice safely and effectively

Licensure

State-granted legal authority to practice under a protected professional title and within a defined scope

Therapeutic alliance

The collaborative relationship involving a counselor—client bond, agreement on goals, and agreement on counseling tasks

Counselor as helper

Builds a collaborative relationship using trust, empathy, shared goals, and professional boundaries

Counselor as assessor

Collects information about concerns, history, strengths, needs, process, and risk to guide care

Counseling as interventionist

Selects and provides counseling interventions that fir client goals, culture, development, context, competence, and evidence

Counselor as case manager

Coordinates services and connects clients with medical psychiatric, educational community, housing, or financial resources

Counselor as consultant

Helps professionals, families, schools, or organizations respond effectively to client needs while protecting confidentiality

Counselor as advocate

Supports client self-advocacy and works to reduce individual, organizational, systemic barriers

Counselor as educator

Provides psychoeducation, coping-skills instruction, prevention, programs, wellness activities, and community education

Community mental health

Higher-activity concerns, crisis response, case management, referrals, and systems navigation

Private practice

Independent treatment, fees, records, policies, referrals, and boundary management

Integrated care

Brief interventions and collaboration with medical providers

School counseling

Student support, prevention, academic and career development, consultation, and school-based services

College counseling

Outreach, triage, brief therapy, prevention, and referrals when needs exceed available services

Counselors

Provide counseling, psychotherapy, assessment, prevention, development, treatment planning, and referrals within applicable law

Psychologists

Provide psychotherapy and commonly receive extensive training in psychological testing and assessment

Clinical social workers

Provide psychotherapy and often emphasize systems, case management, community resources, and social conditions

Psychiatrists

Medical doctors who may diagnose, provide psychotherapy, and prescribe medication

Counseling

A professional helping relationship that promotes well-being, functioning, adjustment, and development. Its three emphases are prevention, remediation, and development

Prevention

Building protective factors and reducing risk before significant problems occur

Remediation

Addressing current symptoms

Frank Parsons

A founder of vocational guidance who proposed matching individuals with work through three steps: understanding the individual, understanding occupational requirements. and matching the person with suitable work

Mental hygiene movement

A movement emphasizing mental-health education, prevention, early intervention, improved environments, screening, and community based care

Epistemology

The study of knowledge and how people determine what counts as truth or valid evidence

Empiricism

The view that knowledge primarily comes from observation, measurement, and research

Constructivism

The view that people create meaning through interpretation, language, culture, and relationships

Pragmatism

The view that an approach is valuable partly when it works in a particular context and fits client values

Counseling of Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education (CACREP)

An accrediting organization that evaluated counseling education programs and established training standards

Psychodynamic

Unconscious processes, early relationships, defense mechanisms, insight, and recurring interpersonal patterns

Behavior therapy

Learned behavior, observable targets triggers, consequences, reinforcement, exposure, and behavioral practice

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Interactions among thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and physiological responses

Person-centered therapy

Growth through empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence or genuineness

Existential therapy

Meaning, freedom, responsibility, morality, isolation, and intergenerational relationships

Family systems therapy

Interaction patterns, roles, boundaries, rules, triangles, and intergenerational relationships

Multicultural and social justice counseling

Culture, identity, power, privilege, oppression, systemic barriers, advocacy, and equitable access

Rogers three core conditions

Empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence