Moral and ethical issues in counselling process

1. Psychology and Guidance in
Education
Moral and ethical issues in counselling process
Traits of counsellor

2. Counselling process
The counselling process is a planned
,structured dialogue between coucellor
and client.
It ia cooperative process in which a trained
professional help a person to identify
sources of difficulties or concern that he
or she is experiencing.Together, they
develop way to deal with and overcomes
these problems

3. Six Stages

4. Why Do People Become Counselors?
Most believe they can really help people.
Some have a desire to help those that are
less fortunate.
Some want to help prevent people from
having difficulties in the first place.
Some want to help people reach their full
potential.

5. Moral and ethical issues in
counselling
 The ethics section of the ethical framework is
more about the client, while the moral section
is more about the counselor. The ethics are
mandatory, a standard that the client
deserves. On the other hand, morals are more
of a process that can be worked on and
developed within the counselor. In fact, the
counselor will possibly never achieve a
pinnacle point in developing morals since
growth is an on-going process.

6. Some steps in making ethical decisions
Identify the problem or dilemma.
Identify the potential issues.
Look at the relevant ethics codes for general guidance
on the matter.
Consider the applicable laws and regulations.
Seek consultation from more than one source.
Brainstorm various possible courses of action.
Enumerate the consequences of various decisions.
Decide on what appears to be the best possible course
of action.

7. Ethical principles of couselling
 The fundamental ethical principles of counseling
include a commitment to:
 Respecting human rights and dignity
 Protecting the safety of clients
 Ensuring the integrity of practitioner-client
relationships
 Enhancing the quality of professional knowledge
and its application
 Alleviating personal distress and suffering
 Fostering a sense of self-knowledge that is
meaningful to the person(s) concerned

8. Cont...
 Increasing personal effectiveness
 Enhancing the quality of relationships between
people
 Appreciating the variety of human experience
and culture
 Striving for the fair and adequate provision of
counseling
 Respect for the client’s right to be self-governing
 Equal opportunity to clients availing counseling
services
 Responsibility towards the society

9. Moral values of cousellor
 Empathy: the ability to communicate understanding of another
person’s experience from that person’s perspective.
 Sincerity: a personal commitment to consistency between what is
professed and what is done.
 Integrity: commitment to being moral in dealings with others,
personal straightforwardness, honesty and coherence.
 Resilience: the capacity to work with the client’s concerns without
being personally diminished.
 Respect: showing appropriate esteem to others and their understanding
of themselves.
 Humility: the ability to assess accurately and acknowledge one’s
own strengths and weaknesses.
 Competence: the effective deployment of the skills and knowledge
needed to do what is required.
 Fairness: the consistent application of appropriate criteria to inform
decisions and actions.
 Wisdom: possession of sound judgement that informs practice.
 Courage: the capacity to act in spite of known fears, risks and uncertainty.

10. Characteristics of the Effective Counselor
Ability to listen and convey understanding without judgment.
Ability to be sensitive, empathic, and patient.
Ability to convey to the client that the counselor values the
client’s experiences.
 Ability to convey the belief that the client is capable,
trustworthy, respectable, worthy and dependable.
Demonstration of a positive belief in himself or herself as a
counselor and demonstration of positive self-esteem.
Has self-awareness and knows his or her own biases or
prejudices (good or bad) and is able to analyze his or her
own feelings..
Has tolerance for ambiguity.
Has the ability to model appropriate behaviors.
Counselors need a high level of energy to remain alert and
attentive to their clients.
Counselors take risks everyday and face rejection by their
clients or face clients or situations they may not be prepared
to face.

11. Cont...
Is committed to understanding specialized knowledge
of the field and find it personally meaningful.
Respects the client’s worldview, personal experience,
spirituality, and culture.
He or she has an internal source of motivation and
drive and seeks growth instead of external approval.
enjoys solitude and aloneness and is unaffected by
the stress of others.
He or she derives happiness from growth and internal
rewards and not external needs for recognition.
He or she has deep, meaningful interpersonal
relationships
He or she has a good sense of humor that is not
hurtful towards others.

12. Traits of school counselor
 Be a good listener.
 Be able to assess. Part of a counselor’s job is to make accurate assesessment of
student acheivement
 Be an excellent communicator.
 Appreciate diversity.
 Be friendly.
 Be able to coordinate.
 Have good evaluation skills.
 Self-disclosure
 Courageous
 Patient
 Non judgemental
 Tolerance for ambiguity
 Artistic
 Emotionally Stable
 Empathetic and Caring
 Self-aware
 Self-acceptance
 Positive self-esteem
 Self-realization