Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice

Learning Objectives

• Develop a thorough understanding of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice
• Explain how personal values, biases, and prejudices can influence ethical decision-making
• Evaluate boundaries of competence in counselling/psychotherapy
• Clarify the ethical reasoning in counselling and psychotherapy

Purpose

In the assignment, the student’s task is to critically analyze the ethical case and provide answers to presented questions by integrating references to ethical principles, standards of practice, relevant practice guidelines and legislation:

• Students who apply for registration with CCPA or other colleges (i.e. CRPO, BCACC) as counsellors, therapists and mental health service providers are required to refer to CCPA Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. Members of these colleges (in addition to the CCPA Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics) may also analyze the case in terms of the principles of CRPO Code of Ethics or BCACC Code of Ethical Conduct and Standards of Clinical Practice.

Instructions

Consider the following case for analysis:

Asefa is a 27-year-old woman who recently immigrated from Afghanistan. During the War in Afghanistan, she lost three brothers. She lives in Canada with her parents and works as an immigration worker. Over the past 6 months, Asefa has become increasingly depressed. Her job performance has suffered, and the employee assistance program at work referred her to John for therapy. John is an experienced mental health professional who also researches the effectiveness of psychotherapy for depression. He has never worked with a recent immigrant and has little knowledge of the War in Afghanistan. John decides to refer Asefa to another clinician who is from South Asia but whose knowledge and experience in treating depression is not as extensive as his.

Answer the following questions:

1. What are the ethical issues in the case? Identify the issue in the ethics code.
2. Did the professional act in a manner consistent with current standards and principles? If not, what other courses of action would be more ethical?  Support your decision by identifying the standards and principles relevant to this case.
3. Are there any indications of bias, stereotyping or marginalization present?
4. If relevant did the professional advocate for the client and how can colleagues and supervisors help the professional to act ethically in this situation? Please be specific.

Structure

• Required components: Title page, and Reference page.
• Length of Assignment: The text body of paper (i.e., not including references and title page) should consist of approximately 1000-1200 words (i.e., 4-5 double-spaced typed pages, Times New Roman font size: 12).
• Format: Please, format your assignment in Word (files with extension .doc or .docx), or Rich Text Format (files with extension .rtf).
• References: The required textbooks and articles from the course syllabus

Formatting Structure

1. What are the ethical issues in the case? Identify the issue in the ethics code. (APA Headings Level 1)
Student’s response
2. Did the professional act in a manner consistent with current standards and principles? If not, what other courses of action would be more ethical?  Support your decision by identifying the standards and principles relevant to this case. (APA Headings Level 1)
Student’s response
3. Are there any indications of bias, stereotyping or marginalization present? (APA Headings Level 1)
Student’s response
4. If relevant did the professional advocate for the client and how can colleagues and supervisors help the professional to act ethically in this situation? Please be specific. (APA Headings Level 1)
Student’s response

Do not type the case analysis into your assignment.

Specific Requirements

No abstract, introduction or conclusion sections are needed for the assignment. There is no need to apply steps of the ethical decision-making model in this assignment. You can write in the first person.