Blog #11

As for your blogs this week, please choose 3 ethical dilemmas which you personally find the most challenging.  For each of these, note: (1) whether you believe the counselor acted ethically (2) your rationale for making this decision, (3) the relevant ASCA ethical standard(s) involved and (4) what was personally challenging to you in this dilemma.

The first ethical dilemma that I find challenging is #9 on the handout that we received in class.  In this situation the counselor receives a subpoena to testify in court regarding a custody case.  I agree with how the counselor handled the situation, especially if the counselor felt like they were being set up by the mother’s lawyer to talk badly about the father.  It is important to be honest in any situation where one is called into court to testify.  However, the counselor should only provide objective and factual information when necessary.  This is an issue that has been coming up over and over again for us this semester.  I believe if I was this counselor, I would want to tell the truth, but also do everything possible not to bring any personal opinions or biases into the court room.  This would be difficult in some situations, but the counselor did a great job at staying neutral and only presenting factual information in this case.  As long as the counselor was being truthful, I applaud them for how they handled this case.
The main relevant ethical standard that shows up in this case is the piece on record keeping.  It is important as a counselor to maintain and secure records as necessary by law, etc…, but counselors should also keep sole possession records or individual case notes separate from students’ educational records in keeping with the state laws.  The thing that becomes most ethically challenging to me is if I ever get subpoenaed to testify, should I always submit my personal notes to the court?  If so, should I edit them before I do?  I just don’t know how I will be able to always keep my personal notes extremely objective.  This dilemma and issue as a counselor just seems very unclear how to handle to me.  I am still extremely confused what my personal notes should look like.  I will definitely be asking an acting counselor to show me how they document and take notes the next time I observe.

The second ethical dilemma that I find challenging is #11 on the handout that we received in class.  In this situation the counselor is dealing with an eighth grade student who has had two previous suicide attempts.  I believe that the counselor did not act very ethical in this situation.  Instead of taking the student seriously and handling the issue like they should have, the counselor just simply handed the student the suicide hotline number and sent them on there way.  Knowing the history of the student, this type of behavior by the counselor should not be acceptable in any situation.  If a student came to my office with a similar history as this student I would want to try to do everything possible to get them help while they were in my office.  I would want to dive deeper to see what was going on and make sure that they were in a good place emotionally and had the help they needed before letting them leave.  If the student then mentioned anything about possibly wanting to commit suicide again, further appropriate action should be taken. 
The main relevant ASCA ethical standard that could be involved with this situation is the one where we must inform parents/guardians and/or appropriate authorities when a student poses a danger to self or others.  This is to be done after careful deliberation and consultation with other counseling professionals. (ASCA, 2010)  The reason why this situation was personally challenging to me is mainly because I am extremely anxious and nervous about handling this type of situation once I get into a school.  I know that we have responsibility for the safety of the students, but thinking about how important I am in this process is overwhelming at times.  However, I will do everything I can (as long as it is ethically responsible) to do what is best for my students.  It made me very angry to see how this counselor handled this situation.  What would have happened if that student left the counselor’s office and committed suicide?

The third and last dilemma that I find challenging is #20 on the handout that we received in class.  In this situation, the new counselor decided to facilitate a group on self-injury because it has been a problem in the school.  In this situation the counselor did not act ethically.  First of all, she did not get informed consent from all of the participants in the group.  That is enough for me to draw the conclusion that this group is not being run responsibly or ethically.  On top of that, the counselor probably does not have enough knowledge or training about how to run a group of this magnitude.  Attending one workshop on self injury does not make a counselor an expert on how to deal with these types of students.  In my inexperienced opinion, running a group like this is totally above her skill level.  If I was the counselor, I would tread much more lightly on this topic of self injury with this group of students.  It may be more responsible for the counselor to leave this issue in the professional therapists’ hands.  There is too much risk in developing and running a group like this one, especially without informed consent. 
The relevant ethical standards involved in this case are pretty much every ethical standard that falls under group work.  In my opinion, the main one that should be addressed is the following, “Recognize that best practice is to notify the parents/guardians of children participating in small groups”. (ASCA, 2010)  In this situation the counselor did not focus on best practice.  For some reason she didn’t think it was necessary.  As a result, she is setting herself up to fail miserably.  I have a huge problem with this, mainly because she is dealing with children’s lives.  Why would you take the risk to run a group with such a sensitive topic and not get informed consent?  This probably happens more often than it should.  It frustrates me to think that people would be that irresponsible.  I would be absolutely terrified to run a group with this level of magnitude by myself as a new counselor, even with informed consent.

American School Counselor Association. Ethical Standards for School Counselors (2010). 

Thompson, R.A. (2012).  Professional School counseling; Best practices for working in the schools.  New York: Routledge.