Chapter 3: Values and the Helping Relationship

Ethical Bracketing

setting aside personal values to provide ethical and appropriate counseling to all clients

Value Imposition

directly attempting to influence client’s personal values

Ward and Keeton Cases

courts recognized rights of universities to adopt policies that prohibit discrimination based on professional code of ethics

Tennessee

passed discriminatory bill in 2016 allowing therapists to deny services to LGBTIA2S+ community members; ACA contends this reduce access to care for vulnerable populations

Rational Suicide

person decides to end their life because of extreme suffering involved in terminal illness

Aid-in-dying

providing a person with means to die

Hastened Death

ending one’s life earlier than would have without intervention, speeding up the dying process

Advanced Directives

decisions people make about end-of-life care (like do not resusitate)

Role of Professionals

help client identify validity of the information on which they are basing their end-of-life decisions

A counselor's imposition of his/her own values might be the result of 

a countertransference reaction

The values of your own religious or cultural faith tradition might be in conflict with the nondiscrimination competencies held by the ACA. What should you reasonably do as a response?

Monitor your own internal personal reactions as work progresses with this client

You are referring out a client to another clinician because the session content is in conflict with your own personal values. This could trigger

a reaction akin to rejection or abandonment

Discriminatory referrals

• are antithetical to the concept of unconditional positive regard

• should only happen when the clinician has received insufficient training in that area of concern

• could constitute an ethical violation

• are contrary to the practice of ehtical bracketing

All of the above

Ethically, a person becomes a client to a therapist

after the first phone call or point of contact

Many states have upheld in court and through legislation the idea that it is a right to refuse counseling services to persons based on an incongruence of values between the clinician and the client. This could 

undercut the development of the skills needed to work with persons of diverse world views 

What might be a necessity of a therapist who counsels a woman or a teenage female considering an abortion?

• ethical bracketing

• it is simply not therapeutic to impose your own values on this client

• an understanding that laws regarding this action are in flux

• the topic of parental consent in your state might require a legal consult

All the above

Which is false?

• There is a lessening willingness to explore spirituality in the session room

• Spirituality as a concept has always been a topic of exploration in counseling 

• Matters of spirituality are considered by many to be culturally relevant

• The use of spiritual interventions in counseling is still controversial 

• A discussion of spirituality is still often omitted by many counselors

There is a lessening willingness to explore spirituality in the session room

True or false: Incorporation of religious and spiritual values in treatment can significantly improve therapeutic outcomes if client is willing to consider them. 

true

What must therapists always do in relation to incorporation of religious or spiritual components of therapy?

self-monitor for subtle impositions

When dealing with a client's spiritual beliefs in the session room

a. It is best to examine the role of religion right around the middle stage of therapy

b. It would be ethical to consult with the client's clergyman

c. It is best to document directions in therapy and goals and even referrals if made

d. Clinically, you should turn on your own countertransference radar

C and D

Stan, who has pancreatic cancer, finds himself in extreme pain. He is considering end-of-life options.

counselor support seems to be dependent on the age of the person dying