codes of ethics for counselors
According to the code of conduct, counselors have the responsibility of facilitating access to there services to the community and rendering their service without any discrimination and within personal competencies and professional boundaries. Also, counselors should abide by the ACA Code of ethics when providing their services to the community. They are also expected to be involved in the local and national association that enhances there service delivery. According to the ACA code of ethics, counselors have the responsibility of promoting changes at community, institutional, societal, and individual levels that raise the standard of living. They also have the role of dedicating their services to the community for little or without financial gains. Finally, counselors are expected to take care of themselves physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally to offer quality services to individuals and the community at large. Group counseling promotes the sense of ‘you are not alone,’ and counselors can tackle the same problem experienced by many people at once. It also helps to counsel easier since new members are introduced to others who have recovered from various issues. Finally, group counseling promoting social and interpersonal skills that are useful in the community. A counselor can detect a common problem that faces a particular community and provide that data to relevant parties such as national government or healthcare stakeholder. This information may be used for corrective measures to better the community and avoid similar situations in the future.
The first code of ethics for counselors is the management of the client-counselor relationship. A counselor is expected to promote the welfare and the interest of the client by forming a healthy relationship through trust and respect for the client’s privacy. Further, counselors should seek to understand the client’s cultural backgrounds to eliminate any potential barrier to counseling service delivery. From the same perspective, counselors should deeply explore their cultural identities and remove any threat present in the counseling process. The other code of ethics is confidentiality and privacy. In order to earn trust from the client and deliver services effectively, a counselor is expected to respect the client’s rights, confidentiality, privacy, and multicultural diversity. However, the confidentiality code may be broken under certain circumstances permitted by laws.
The first strategy that is effective, especially in group leadership, is embracing cultural diversity. An effective leader can expand the social dimension and learn about other people’s cultures. This strategy is necessary for cultural awareness as the leader can allow group members to share and express their ideas from their cultural point of view without negative criticism.
The second strategy is to be operationally open-minded, which will ensure the leader recognizes the positive inputs of cultural diversity. As such, the leader would positively embrace any idea brought forward by a group member without negative cultural perceptions. This strategy plays a critical role in promoting cultural awareness among people. For instance, for a counselor to deliver well to a group with diverse cultural backgrounds, he or she should be open-minded when listening to group members. Finally, building a relationship with members of a group is essential in promoting cultural awareness within the group. If a leader or a counselor has identified and eliminated all barriers to a healthy relationship, then the members will be free to express their concerns without the fear of prejudice. For instance, a teacher will be able to teach and deliver knowledge, ideas, and skills in his or her class effectively when he or she has formed a relationship with the student’s wich is based on trust, respect for confidentiality, and privacy.