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Train the Trainer:

Delivering Presentations

on the 2014

ACA Code of Ethics

David KaplanACA Chief Professional Officer

dkaplan@counseling.org

www.counseling.org/kaplan

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Why me?5

• ACA President that appointed the 2005 Ethics Revision Task Force

• ACA staff liaison to the 2005 code revision

• ACA staff liaison to the 2014 code revision

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A (very) little pedagogy

• Tell them what you are going to do.

• Do it.

• Tell them what you have done.

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Social Learning Theory(Bandura, Krumboltz, Lazarus)

• Provide information

• Provide a model

• Provide practice

• Provide immediate feedback

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www.counseling.org/ethics

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Members of the ACA Ethics Revision Task Force

• Jeannette Baca

• Janelle Disney

• Perry Francis (Chair)

• Gary Goodnough

• Mary Hermann

• Shannon Hodges

• Lynn Linde

• Linda Shaw

• Shawn Spurgeon

• Michelle Wade

• Richard Watts

• Erin Martz (staff liaison)

• David Kaplan (staff Liaison)

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2014 ACA Code of Ethics Trivia

The revision was started in 2011 and took 11 professionals 3 years

to complete.

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There were:

• 40 conference calls

• 4 face-to-face weekend meetings

• 3 ACA town hall meetings

• 2 ACA conference sessions

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And….

• Over 4,500 words of initial feedback

• 180+ hours of professional time devoted to the revision

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With the end result….

The 2014 ACA Code of Ethics has over 14,800 words

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THE 500 POUND GORILLA EFFECT

Why do your students and attendees need to know this

stuff?

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56,000 professional counselors agree to abide by the ACA Code of Ethics

22 state licensing boards have adopted the ACA Code of Ethics

• Alaska• Arizona• Arkansas• District of Columbia• Idaho• Illinois• Iowa• Louisiana• Massachusetts• Mississippi• New Jersey

• North Carolina• North Dakota• Ohio• Pennsylvania• South Carolina• South Dakota• Tennessee• Utah• Vermont• West Virginia

• Wyoming

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The judicial system uses the ACA code as the ethical standard for counselors

• Ward v. Wilbanks

• Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley

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I have been counseling an adult woman with a presenting problem

of difficulty in coping with the death of her mother. Her mother

and grandmother (who is also deceased) suffered from

progressive Alzheimer’s disease. My client revealed to me that

she administered a lethal dose of sleeping pills to her grandmother

during the final stages of the Alzheimer’s, and that she also

caused the death of her mother by withholding cardiac medication.

It was then revealed that it is likely she will have to take care of a

third relative with Alzheimer’s disease, an elderly Aunt. It is

important to understand that my client is not a bad person and did

what she did while under tremendous stress and pressure and

with feelings of compassion for the deteriorating condition of her

mother and grandmother. My question is in two parts: First, what

are my ethical obligations upon hearing the manner in which my

client’s mother and grandmother died? Second, am I responsible

to do anything about the upcoming situation with the Aunt?

Theme:

Raising the Bar

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Raising the Bar

• Professional values

• Ethical decision making

• Counselor Educators

• Counselor Personal values

• Social media & distance counseling

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Raising the Bar

• Professional values

• Ethical decision making

• Counselor Educators

• Counselor Personal values

• Social media & distance counseling

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Raising the bar

for professional values

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The values of our profession are now explicitly stated

• Human development

• Multiculturalism and diversity

• Social Justice

• Safeguarding the counselor-client relationship

• Practicing in a competent & ethical manner

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SETTING: PRIVATE PRACTICE

ISSUE: CLIENT CAUGHT STEALING THE COUNSELOR’S WALLET. CAN THE COUNSELOR REPORT THIS TO THE POLICE?

SCENARIO

And on the more nuts and bolts level……

The code states for the first time that all counselors must take case notes

“Counselors create and maintain records and documentation necessary for rendering professional services.” (B.6.a.)

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And make a reasonable effort to provide pro-bono

services(C.6.e)

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As well as adding a whistleblower policy

“Counselors do not harass a colleague or employee or dismiss an employee who has acted in a responsible and ethical manner to expose inappropriate employer policies or practices.” (D.1.i)

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Raising the bar

forethical decision

making

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The principles of ethical behavior are now explicitly stated

• Autonomy

• Nonmaleficence

• Beneficence

• Justice

• Fidelity

• Veracity

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Along with a new focus on using a methodical approach

I.1.b. Ethical Decision Making

When counselors are faced with an ethical dilemma, they use and document, as appropriate, an ethical decision making model….

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So which decision making model will we use?

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An example:

A Practitioner’s Guide to Ethical Decision Making by

Forest-Miller & Davis

www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/ethics

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• Identify the problem

• Apply the ACA Code of Ethics

• Determine the dimensions

• Generate potential courses of action

• Consider the consequences of all options

• Select and evaluate an option

• Implement the course of action

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SETTING: COLLEGE COUNSELING CENTER

PP: DEPRESSION

ISSUE: CLIENT ASKS YOU NOT TO ENTER A DIAGNOSIS IN YOUR RECORDS BECAUSE THEY WILL BE APPLYING TO THE FBI.

SCENARIO43

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Or we could use…….

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Mine!45

Raising the bar

forcounselor educators

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SETTING: ONLINE GRADUATE PROGRAM

ISSUE: PRACTICUM STUDENT LIVES IN MONTANA. PRACTICUM SUPERVISOR LIVES IN FLORIDA AND ONLY KNOWS LOCAL SITES.

SCENARIO47

Counselor educators now have the ethical obligation to provide:

• Current information & knowledge (F.7.b)

• Instruction only within their areas of competency (F.7.b)

• Direct assistance with field placements (F.7.i)

• Career assistance to students (F.8.b)

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As well as now explicitly stating the ethics of gatekeeping

“[Counselor educators] recommend dismissal from training programs…when students are unable to demonstrate they can provide competent professional services to a range of diverse clients.” (F.6.b)

“Counselor Educators may require students to address any personal concerns that have the potential to affect professional competency” (F.8.d)

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Raising the bar

forcounselor personal

values

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SETTING: YOURS

ISSUE: A COUNSELOR FEELS STRONGLY THAT ABORTION IS MURDER. A NEWLY PREGNANT CLIENT WANTS HELP IN EMOTIONALLY PREPARING TO TERMINATE THE PREGNANCY.

SCENARIO51

Let’s talk lawsuits

Ward v. Wilbanks

Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley

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ACA’s official position on the Ward Case

www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/ethics

Scroll down to:

Ethical Implications of a Critical Legal Case for the Counseling Profession: Ward v. Wilbanks

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As a result of these cases…

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An explicit focus on avoiding the imposition of a counselor’s personal values

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A.4.b. Personal Values

Counselors are aware of –and avoid – imposing their own

values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

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Which extends to referrals

A.11.b

Counselors refrain from referring prospective and current clients based solely on the counselor’s personally held values, attitudes, beliefs, and

behaviors

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So what does this mean?

• Our clients are more important than we are.

• Professional counselors may not deny counseling services to a GLBTQ client (or an individual belonging to any other protected class of clients in C.5) on the basis of the counselor’s values.

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• Referrals are to be made on the basis of skill-based competency, not values.

• Referral is an issue of last resort.

- Kaplan, D.M. (2014). Ethical implications of a critical legal

case for the counseling profession: Ward v. Wilbanks. Journal of Counseling and Development, 92, 142-146. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00140.x

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How do you avoid the imposition of personal values?

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Bracketing exercise time!61

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Raising the bar

forSocial Media & Distance

Counseling

Insert frozen blackberry video

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SETTING: OFFICE OF VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION

ISSUE: CLIENT IS DEEPLY APPRECIATIVE OF THE COUNSELOR’S HELP AND WANTS TO BE FACEBOOK FRIENDS

SCENARIO64

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SETTING: PRIVATE PRACTICE

ISSUE: CLIENT IS NOT GETTING BETTER SO THE COUNSELOR USES A GOOGLE SEARCH TO TRY AND IDENTIFY USEFUL DATA.

SCENARIO65

Distance Counseling, technology and social media now get their

own section (H)

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What the heck is a personal virtual relationship?

A.5.e Personal Virtual Relationships With Current Clients

Counselors are prohibited from engaging in a personal virtual relationship with individuals with whom they have a current counseling relationship…

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Translation

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No Friending

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And

Social media romances are treated the same as

in-person affairs

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Other new “read between the lines” social

media imperatives

• Make your texting rules clear (H.6.b)

• Don’t check out your client’s Facebook page without their permission (H.6.c)

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• Don’t disclose confidential information through public social media (H6.d.)

• Ask yourself if you really want a personal Facebook page (H.6.a)

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New distance counseling responsibilities

• Determine whether counseling your client is legal (H1.b)

• Verify your client’s identity (H.3)

• Address distance counseling in your informed consent procedures (H.2.a)

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New distance counseling responsibilities

• Acknowledge the inherent confidentiality limits (H.2.b)

• Encrypt (H.2.d)

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• Mandated clients can choose to refuse services (A.2.e.)

• Counselors are now explicitly prohibited from counseling someone with whom they have had a previous romantic/sexual relationship (A.5.b)

• Self-referrals to your own private practice are now explicitly prohibited unless certain conditions are met (A.10.a)

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• Counselors do not engage in fee splitting or provide/receive other forms of remuneration for referrals (A.10.b)

• A sliding scale is now explicitly acceptable (A.10.c)

• The use of legal means to collect unpaid fees must be included in your informed consent documents (A.10.d)

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• Confidentiality now extends to prospective clients (B.1.c)

• The requirement to confirm the diagnosis of a life-threating disease in order to protect an innocent third party has been removed (B.2.c)

• In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the couple or family is now considered to be the client when conducting couples or family counseling (B.4.b)

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• There are now explicit guidelines for using case studies in a classroom (F.7.f) and presentation or publication (G.5.a) that protect the client

• Faculty cannot require students to participate in research (G.2.b)

• Faculty cannot submit manuscripts or conduct presentations based on a student’s work without the student’s permission and listing the student as the lead author (G.5.f)

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THE ACA KNOWLEDGE CENTER

WWW.COUNSELING.ORG

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

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ACA 2014 ethics code resources

• The code itself

• Podcast

• Webinar series

• ERTF Interview

• Books

• Member consults

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Let’s Schmooze

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David KaplanACA Chief Professional Officer

dkaplan@counseling.org

www.counseling.org/kaplan