Justin is a new counselor in a middle school.

This is his first job after completing his

master’s degree in counseling. Justin’s colleague, Mike, has been a school counselor
for 20 years and has been at this particular school for 10 years. Both Justin and Mike
report directly to the principal. In talking to Mike, Justin learns that Mike does not belong
to any counseling professional associations, never attends any workshops, and does
not like being a counselor. Mike does the least amount of work possible during each
school day. About halfway through the school year, Justin realizes that many of the
students assigned to Mike for counseling are coming to see Justin and that most of the
teachers in the school seek Justin out for consultation as well. Comments from faculty,
parents, and students have led Justin to believe that Mike tells students that their
problems will pass with time and never follows up on any pressing issues. Justin
believes Mike is acting unethically in not doing his job. How should Justin handle this
situation?

According to ACA (2014) Section D.1.d. "Establishing Professional and Ethical

Obligations" the ethical standards require a counselor to first seek an informal resolution
directly with another counselor if a belief exists that the other counselor is acting
unethically. Justin should try first to talk with Mike about the situation to try to resolve it.
Also would be more beneficial for Justin to be warned of situations in which students or
teachers may be at risk because of Mike’s lack of professionalism. Since Mike has been
working at the school for ten years, he most likely built a good working relationship with
the principal. In this situation, Justin’s best course of action would probably be to refer
any faculty, parents, or students who had complaints about Mike’s behavior to the
principal. If the situation with Mike does not improve or if Mike’s behavior distresses
Justin on a daily basis, Justin may need to reporting Mike to an ethical review board or
he should consider transferring to another school.