The Code of Ethics

for Counselors
REPORT BY: MS. LOVELY JOY B. BUSTOS

A. Qualifications and
Competencies of
Counselors

1. KNOWLEDGE
Guidance counsellors should seek to possess and integrate the following
competencies in knowledge of:

1.1 Major theories of counselling and psychotherapy;

1.2 Major theories of the functioning and leadership of
experiential groups;
1.3 Life span developmental psychology and its relationship to
counselling;
1.4 The main factors underlying personal development;
1.5 Contextual and systemic factors that affect human
functioning, including social, biological and family factors;

1. KNOWLEDGE
Guidance counsellors should seek to possess and integrate the following
competencies in knowledge of:

1.6 Factors affecting wellbeing and distress;

1.7 The nature of human and cultural diversity with reference
to such factors as age, class, race, gender, ethnicity, levels of
ability, language, spiritual and religious beliefs, educational
achievement and sexuality;
1.8 Current professional developments relevant to practice
settings;
1.9 Research underlying effective practice.

2. THE COUNSELLING RELATIONSHIP

Guidance counsellors should seek to exercise the following competencies
when working with client(s):

2.1 Explain the scope of practice and attend to clients

expectations of counselling including the responsibilities of
both the guidance counsellor and client in the counselling
relationship;
2.2 Explain confidentiality and its limits and obtain informed
consent where required;
2.3 Be able to contract and set boundaries appropriately;
2.4 Develop the ability and the confidence to establish and
maintain a collaborative, congruent and effective relationship
with the client informed by a theoretical framework;

2. THE COUNSELLING RELATIONSHIP

Guidance counsellors should seek to exercise the following competencies
when working with client(s):

2.5 Demonstrate core conditions of the counselling relationship

(empathy, genuineness and unconditional positive regard)
2.6 Employ an eclectic and balanced approach to assisting
clients by attending to sensations, feelings, thoughts and
behavior;
2.7 Demonstrate a range of individual and group counselling
and communication skills such as active listening, clarifying,
focusing, paraphrasing, questioning, probing, reflecting
feelings, and goal setting;
2.8 Pay attention to the significance of non-verbal
communication and respond appropriately;

2. THE COUNSELLING RELATIONSHIP

Guidance counsellors should seek to exercise the following competencies
when working with client(s):

2.10 Have the confidence to challenge clients when it is

appropriate to do so, and to be challenged in turn;
2.11 Recognize and manage conflict in the client counsellor
relationship;
2.12 Monitor the quality of the client-counsellor relationship on
an ongoing basis;
2.13 Be able to provide clients with accessible explanations
about their approach and techniques;

2. THE COUNSELLING RELATIONSHIP

Guidance counsellors should seek to exercise the following competencies
when working with client(s):

2.14 Demonstrate an ability to appropriately support clients on

a range of issues such as bereavement, bullying, health issues,
relationship issues, suicide and self-harm, transitional
difficulties, stress, personal/sexual identity and peer pressure;
2.15 Facilitate clients in identifying options, making decisions,
resolving difficulties and making a personal life plan;
2.16 Identify and respond to clients vulnerabilities, strengths,
resilience and resources;

2. THE COUNSELLING RELATIONSHIP

Guidance counsellors should seek to exercise the following competencies
when working with client(s):

2.17 Demonstrate an awareness of and sensitivity to the

unique familial, social, cultural, and economic circumstances of
clients and their racial/ethnic, gender, age, physical, and
learning differences;
2.18 Be aware when losing grounding and take appropriate
action (which may include re-grounding, seeking supervision,
or referring the client to other professionals);
2.19 Recognize when to conclude counselling and facilitate
effective closure process.

3. COUNSELLING SKILLS
Guidance counsellors should seek to exercise the following
competencies in the process of working with client(s):

3.1 Employ a mode of counselling, with both individuals and

groups that is based on a framework of counselling theory and
lifespan developmental psychology;
3.2 Work within their level of skill and knowledge in addressing
the concerns of clients;
3.3 Be able to prioritize issues, structure and summarize a
session, and review the process of counselling periodically with
the client;
3.4 Monitor progress toward goals;
3.5 Assist clients in developing a sense of awareness and selfworth;

3. COUNSELLING SKILLS
Guidance counsellors should seek to exercise the following
competencies in the process of working with client(s):

3.6 Develop an ability to assist individuals and groups to deal

with conflict;
3.7 Take into consideration culturally relevant resources for use
with clients.
3.8 Identify community resources relevant to client needs.
3.9 Be able to remain grounded in the presence of client
distress (including grief, fear, shame and anger);
3.10 Evaluate overall outcomes and the practitioners role in
the process.

4. PROFESSIONAL AND ETHICAL

ATTITUDES AND PRACTICE
Guidance counsellors should seek to exercise the following
competencies in professional practice:

4.1 Recognize the professional responsibility of the guidance

counsellor to engage with ongoing supervision;
4.2 Demonstrate evidence of evaluating and enhancing their
counselling practice by engaging in ongoing supervision,
proportional to the counselling workload;
4.3 Develop and implement methods to assess the overall
effectiveness of their counselling role;
4.4 Be open to ongoing reflection and dialogue on their own life
narrative and its impact on the counselling relationship and
have dealt with, and continue to deal with on an ongoing basis,
major unresolved issues in their own lives through appropriate

4. PROFESSIONAL AND ETHICAL

ATTITUDES AND PRACTICE
Guidance counsellors should seek to exercise the following
competencies in professional practice:

4.5 Take note of the philosophy/mission of the institution where

they are working and develop a professional philosophy
consistent with this setting;
4.6 Demonstrate knowledge of the professional standards,
policies, and practices which govern practice in their work
setting;
4.7 Engage in appropriate continuing professional development
on an ongoing basis;
4.8 Recognize their own personal and professional limitations
and act appropriately to seek supervision or professional
support;

4. PROFESSIONAL AND ETHICAL

ATTITUDES AND PRACTICE
Guidance counsellors should seek to exercise the following
competencies in professional practice:

4.12 Establish secure, effective and ethical systems for

maintaining the confidentiality of client records;
4.13 Establish procedures to deal effectively with client crisis
and emergency situations;
4.14 Resolve ethical dilemmas in a manner consistent with
professional standards;
4.15 Comply with any legal requirements governing the
practice of counselling.

B. Qualifications and
Functions of the
Guidance Counselor

Qualifications of the Guidance Counselor

1. Maintain proper certification and license as required by the
Department of Public Instruction.
2. Possess the ability to work with students, parents, faculty,
administrators, and the community.
3. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the
developmental guidance process and career development
theory.
4. Possess the ability to generate, analyze, and synthesize data
about the behavior, progress, and needs of students
individually and with groups.

The guidance counselor shall:

(Function)
1. Interpret student information to students, parents/guardians,
and teachers.
2. Arrange for and coordinate visits from outside speakers;
3. Maintain a working relationship with personnel of other
agencies providing student services such as social workers and
parole and probation officers;
4. Maintain a daily log of daily activities and student
conferences;

The guidance counselor shall:

(Function)
5. Answer mail, complete surveys, request college catalogs
and occupational information, order test materials, and handle
appropriate phone calls,
6. Provide information to parents through the news media and
mailings;
7. Make presentations in orientation/registration programs
prior to student registration;
8. Administer and/or interpret tests, surveys, and inventories
that deal with high school student achievement, aptitudes, and
vocational interests;

The guidance counselor shall:

(Function)
9. Work cooperatively with other staff to develop and
implement a K-12 developmental guidance program;
10. Participate in the development of the district guidance and
counseling plan;
11. Coordinate with administration the completion of reports on
a timely basis, ie: dropout, children-at-risk, etc.;
12. Prepare and administer the high school guidance budget;

C. Ethical Issues in
Counseling

Ethical Problems
An ethical problem is :
.....complex situation that will often involve an apparent mental
conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one
would result in transgressing another
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_dilemma

you are caught between two possible choices in a situation

where both could be considered "ethical" (right or moral
choices) but the goodness of one cancels out the other.

Example 1:

Business is business...?

You are a school principal in a secondary school in Warszaw and

your spouse is a manager at T-mobile.
Fearful of staff cutbacks, you start up a jewelry sales business for
the evenings and are surprised when it quickly starts to make a
profit. You know that you can double your regular salary if you
recruit more sales staff. Some of your own teaching staff might
like to join you.
You:

recruit any teachers who would be good at sales

recruit only teachers who need the money

recruit staff only from your spouse's office

avoid recruiting any staff to avoid conflict

Example 2:

Making a better deal

You are on the District School Board and also own a small computer
store. The Board issued a Request for Proposals for a large number
of PC's to two big suppliers. After listening to their competing
proposals you believe you could offer a better deal yourself.
You:

offer a better deal to the Board

express the opinion that both proposals are high

say nothing because it is a conflict of interest

absent yourself from all discussion on the deal

Example 3:

From the school settings...

Amanda is a bright student in your class but has done very badly in a
recent test and has not been behaving well. Her parents are divorcing. Her
mother who is a vocal critic on the school council has arranged an
interview with you to "see what can be done about Amanda's test results".
You:

review the test to look for potential upgrades

ask the principal for help with the politics

explain that your marking was fair, and firm

discuss the impact of the divorce on Amanda

Anything else...?

Some examples of the most frequent

ethical dilemmas among counselling:

-The client asked me not to tell about his theft in the

supermarket to his parents...

- Iknow that my client started to taste drugs .Feel

embaressed tocontact his parents...

- I was dealing with the case of a drug abuse (the young boy
came voluntarily),however, the problem was to receive his
approval on contacting his parents, or doctor, what he
strongly rejected...

Some examples of the most frequent

ethical dilemmas among counselling:

- The client insisted on taking no steps on behalf of his drug

abuse - he was afraid of adealer /threat of death) and me
too...

- A secondary school girl confided her troubles with being

abused in the family and did not want anybody learnt
about it. After long talks she agreed we started the family
therapy.

D. Characteristics of
effective Counselors

Characteristics of effective
Counselors
1. Patient
2. Good

listener

3. Compassionate
4. Non-judgmental
5. Research-oriented

Characteristics of effective
Counselors
6. Emphatic
7. Discrete
8. Encouraging
9. Self-aware
10. Authenticity

D. Counselors Attitude
Characteristics

Openness toward self

willingness
willingness

to learn

to try new things and to see

alternatives.

Openness toward clients

viewing

then as individuals seeking

assistance,

as

complex individuals who are not

helpless,

as

partners in the process.

Openness toward colleagues

viewing

them as colleagues, not

competitors, with experiences and ideas
that are valuable.

Openness toward supervisors

viewing

them as colleagues with unique

and relevant experiences.

Openness toward counseling

the

counseling process is often a

developing, evolving process wherein the
clients skills and resources are developed.

The

counselor does not solve the problem,

but offers alternatives and
teaches/facilitates the clients problemsolving process.

CODE OF ETHICS

Why it is important to have a specific

Code of Ethics for a counsellor ?
The challenge of working ethically means that practitioners will
inevitably encounter situations where there are competing
obligations. In such situations it is tempting to retreat from
all ethical analysis in order to escape a sense of what may
appear to be unresolvable ethical tension. In these
circumstances the professionals can adhere to the
assistance of variety of ethical factors that may need to be
taken into consideration and to alternative ways of
approaching ethics that may prove more useful.
At any case, each counsellor should respect, (except of
relevant laws), the ethical standards developed and
accepted by particup national Counselling Association .