Boundaries and Practices 1

Counselor Ethical Boundaries and Practices

Michelle Hernandez

College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Grand Canyon University

CNL-505: Professional Counseling, Ethical, and Legal Considerations

Dr. Afiya Burson

March 22, 2023

Counseling Ethical Boundaries and Practices

Counselors have the ability to change the course of many clients' situations by providing

quality and ethical care. To do this, counselors must remain objective and avoid scenarios where

this may be obstructed, for example, dealing with dual relationships where professionalism could

be negatively impacted. Professionalism also comes from being able to consult with colleagues

and supervisors who are able to ethically provide support to each other. To do this a relationship

and connection must properly be built between one another. This could become complicated if

the counselor at hand is not able to properly network or is not receiving acceptable supervision.

In addition, prior to practicing with clients, counselors gained experience by being supervised by

a professional who is able to evaluate and review counselor characteristics/skills. Supervision

could then determine counselors in training capability to practice; thus it is important to have a

supervisor-counselor relationship that would be able to do so correctly as it can later impact

counselor-client roles. It will also teach counselors to take action when they find themselves in

difficult situations with colleagues who are performing unethically. With this education and

experience counselors become aware of greater case example scenarios and fully appreciate

every aspect of their role to perform ethically.

Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships

A dual relationship may be considered ethical if it is not impairing the work of the

counselor. This could mean that the counselor ultimately has the decision to choose whether

working with a client is considered ethical or unethical when a dual-relationship is shared.

However, refusing working with a client could be considered unethical despite the

dual-relationship at hand. Though, it is strongly important to note that a dual-relationship should

be refrained if a counselor shares sexual intimacy with potential client(s) (Gottlieb, 1993). It is
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important to consider who this client is to the counselor, is it someone who the counselor has

been involved with sexually or an individual who the counselor crosses paths with once in a

while? Nonetheless, the American Counseling Association (2014) mentions that counselors

weigh the risks when entering certain dual-relationships besides those of consisting of sexual

intimacy, in addition, counselors should make note of these dual-relationships prior to starting

sessions for protection to counselor and client (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2014,

section A.6.b.; ACA, 2014, section A.6.c.).

Counselors determine if they work with potential clients who they have come across in

church, grocery stores, community events, and other outside interactions. These relationships are

not deemed as difficult to manage, on the other hand, a client-counselor relationship with an old

partner, family, friend, or a “spark,” may be deemed unethical to work with. These complex and

ambiguous relationships can cause more harm than good as it could impact counselors

objectivity (ACA, 2014, section A.5.c.; ACA, 2014, section A.5.d.). A “spark,” could be defined

as someone who the counselor finds physically attractive and craves intimacy with; thus, this

alone impairs counselors judgment similar to other complex relationships like family, friends, or

an old partner.

Professional Collaboration in Counseling: Working with Multidisciplinary Team

At times working with professionals who are within the same scope of practice could be

great but at other times could be found difficult. In cases of disagreement, a counselor in practice

would find it hard to navigate with their multidisciplinary team. This could be due to the

manners that each professional learned and trained for their practice which may create tension

(Hrovat et al., 2012, p. 3). However, to ensure quality care to clients, each professional should

come to terms with the agreement of clients needs being met then set differences aside by
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implementing shared boundaries through the profession (Hrovat et al., 2012, p. 4). Shared

boundaries could be ensuring no harm is done to the clients and shared dedication to ethical work

to provide quality client care. To work collaboratively with other mental health professionals in

the human health and behavioral health care systems, each professional could learn the

disciplinaries to become familiar with their team's profession. Learning their team's

disciplinaries would allow each professional to work hand and hand; this learning could be in the

form of trainings (Hrovat et al., 2012, p.4). With this, each team member would be able to come

to one another to share knowledge and advice for quality client care.

Working with a specific multidisciplinary team depends on the area of work or

specialization. For example, in situations where a counselor is practicing in a hospital they are

more likely to work with other health professionals such as nurses, doctors, and other clinical

professionals. The role of each professional in this scenario would be to manage, support, and

take care of the similar client at hand. These professionals are most likely to internally refer their

clients to counselors who work in the same hospital as they do. Therefore, working with one

another to ensure that the client is receiving care by working together to find solutions or ensure

the client needs are being met (ACA, 2014, section D.1.d.).

Relationships with Supervisors and Colleagues

Many of the work that a counselor conducts with a client has to do with how they first

started and their competency. In order to practice legally within the state a counselor resides in,

they first must complete the hours of experience that their state is requesting. This is done by an

agency with a supervisor who is capable of providing the supervisor-counselor relationship. The

supervisor-counselor relationship helps counselors learn how to properly handle certain scenarios

with future or current clients; therefore, impacting the work of the counselor as a professional.
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Ethical supervision would allow the counselor to excel in their profession; thus, the important

role of the supervisor is to overview counselors' work, ensure no harm to clients, teach

procedures, teach professionalism, and ensure informed consent to successful lead counselor(s)

in training (ACA, 2014, section F).

Naturally, it is the duty in both scenarios supervisor-counselor and counselor-client roles

to provide ethical and quality support. In a supervisor-counselor relationship, the supervisor is to

ensure that the counselor is capable of providing that quality service to the client with whom the

counselor forms a relationship with. It works hand and hand, the supervisor provides that

leadership influence by working with the counselor in training in reference to “goals, advocacy,

feedback, documentation,” and more (Corey et al., 2019, p. 337). Properly, a

supervisor-counselor relationship could dictate the role of the counselor in the future and also

may play impact licensure. If a supervisor lacks in providing counselors in training direct

supervision or any support as a leader then it becomes an issue. Lack of supervisor

responsibilities is considered unethical under the American Counseling Association as it is their

job to provide proper evaluation to the counselor (ACA, 2014, section F.6.a). This works with a

counselor-client relationship as a supervisor-counselor role influences the proper manner to assist

clients. Each of these must meet quality evaluation, care, and support to ensure no harm is done

to either the supervisor-counselor relationship or the counselor-client role. However, the

difference between the two is one is to allow the counselor to practice in their state

(supervisor-counselor) while the other is already prepared and competent to do so

(counselor-client).

As much competence that a counselor has, it does not mean they are safe from minor

mistakes or at times ones that can be irreversible. A case example of this could be, as mentioned
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earlier, a sexual relationship with a client that a colleague has been intimately involved with in

the past. This under the American Counseling Association is deemed unethical due to

complications in objectivity and professionalism. If a counselor witnesses this occurring with a

colleague they [the witness] should take into consideration what steps to take next. In a

“Practitioner's Guide to Ethical Decision Making,” Holly Forester-Miller and Thomas E. Davis

(2016) informs under the ethical decision-making model in no specific order to evaluate the

situation, determine stakeholders, consult with other professionals, follow the code, and take

action to deal with the scenario at hand (Miller & Davis, 2016, pp. 1-6).

Development of Your Thinking about Ethics

As counselors it is important to take notice of what has been learned throughout

education and experiences. These set the tone for clarity and understanding of what it is required

to be considered ethical, competent, professional, responsible, and more. Those who are current

student counselors learn the importance of relationships and their duties to remain ethical.

However, through this process it could be difficult for some to not impose their own values upon

their clients. This is why a supervisor-counselor relationship is also principal in future counselors

practice as it may teach them how to avoid complications as such. This is a huge

acknowledgement as a counselor in practice is to do no harm to their client by setting their

[counselors] own values aside for a moment. A great example would be religion, for example,

I’m Catholic but also aware and capable of setting this aside within the profession to fully assist

all clients of any and every background. To some, I have learned, it is difficult to not incorporate

their religion such as the case of “Ward v. Wilbanks et al.,” (2011) where it was difficult for

Ward to accept clients whose sexuality went against her religion (American Civil Liberties Union
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[ACLU], 2011). This has helped gain insight in the importance of remaining objective as it is the

duty of a counselor to be supportive to all their clients despite their background.

Conclusion

Counselors take into consideration ways to remain ethical and professionally practice.

They take into mind the possible complications that may impact their roles and what actions

should be done in order to avoid this. Counselors also become familiar with those with whom

they may consult with if needed such as their colleagues but also take action when ethical codes

are being broken by professionals as well. Those in practice ensure that they receive proper

supervision and build a relationship with their supervisor that is considered ethical to

successfully assist in gaining counselor experience. In addition, counselors should go over their

own personal values to avoid harm by accepting and acknowledging clients' beliefs to provide

quality care to clients rather than attempting to implement theirs.

References

American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics.

https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

American Civil Liberties Union. (2011, October 4). Ward v. Wilbanks et al. ACLU.

https://www.aclu.org/cases/ward-v-wilbanks-et-al-case-profile

Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Corey, C. (2019). Ethical Issues in Supervision. In Issues and ethics

in the helping professions (10th ed., p. 337). Cengage Learning.

https://bibliu.com/app/#/view/books/9781337671378/pdf2htmlex/index.html#page_337

Gottlieb, M. C. (1993). Avoiding exploitive dual relationships: A decision-making model.

Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 30(1), 41–48.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-3204.30.1.41

Hrovat, A. M., Thompson, L. K., & Thaxton, S. L. (2012, September 30). Preparing

counselors-in-training for multidisciplinary collaboration: Lessons learned from a pilot

program. American Counseling Association.

https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/preparing-counselors-in-training-f

or-multidisciplinary-collaboration.pdf?sfvrsn=8

Miller, H., & Davis, T. E. (2016). Practitioner's guide to ethical decision making. American

Counseling Association.

https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/practioner-39-s-guide-to-ethical-d

ecision-making.pdf?sfvrsn=f9e5482c_12