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  • Behav Anal Pract
  • v.16(3); 2023 Sep
  • PMC10480129

Examination of Ethical Decision-Making Models Across Disciplines: Common Elements and Application to the Field of Behavior Analysis

Victoria d. suarez.

1 Endicott College, Beverly, MA USA

Videsha Marya

2 Village Autism Center, Marietta, GA USA

Mary Jane Weiss

3 Behavioral Health Center of Excellence, Los Angeles, CA USA

Human service practitioners from varying fields make ethical decisions daily. At some point during their careers, many behavior analysts may face ethical decisions outside the range of their previous education, training, and professional experiences. To help practitioners make better decisions, researchers have published ethical decision-making models; however, it is unknown the extent to which published models recommend similar behaviors. Thus, we systematically reviewed and analyzed ethical decision-making models from published peer-reviewed articles in behavior analysis and related allied health professions. We identified 55 ethical decision-making models across 60 peer-reviewed articles, seven primary professions (e.g., medicine, psychology), and 22 subfields (e.g., dentistry, family medicine). Through consensus-based analysis, we identified nine behaviors commonly recommended across the set of reviewed ethical decision-making models with almost all ( n = 52) models arranging the recommended behaviors sequentially and less than half ( n = 23) including a problem-solving approach. All nine ethical decision-making steps clustered around the ethical decision-making steps in the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts published by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board ( 2020 ) suggesting broad professional consensus for the behaviors likely involved in ethical decision making.

Ethical decision making is operant behavior involving a behavior chain of complex responses (Marya et al., 2022 ). As behavior analysts, we make difficult ethical decisions daily. Behavior analysts are typically taught to respond to ethical scenarios via vignettes or descriptions of real-world ethical dilemmas (e.g., Bailey & Burch, 2016 ; Sush & Najdowski, 2019 ). However, the variability in ethical dilemmas that behavior analysts contact can be extensive and often contains contextual information not included in past training. Such contextual variables (e.g., impact of and on stakeholders, organizational variables, perspective of the funding source) might alter one’s course of action. Ethical decision-making models can equip behavior analysts with the needed tools to navigate varied and complex dilemmas. Thus, behavior analysts can benefit from models that allow an analysis of contextual variables because those variables often impact solutions.

Ethical conduct of board certified behavior analysts is governed by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) ethical codes. Since its inception, the BACB has disseminated three major codes— Guidelines for Responsible Conduct for Behavior Analysts (BACB, 2004 , 2010 ), the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts (BACB, 2014 ), and most recently the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts (BACB, 2020 ). Although versions prior to 2020 outlined specific ethical obligations and provided a framework and reference for considering paths of action when confronted with ethical challenges, no ethical decision-making tool was embedded until the most recent Code iteration.

Within applied behavior analysis (ABA), several ethical decision-making models have been published to guide behavior analysts to make optimal decisions (BACB, 2020 ; Bailey & Burch, 2013 , 2022 ; Brodhead, 2015 ; Brodhead, Quigley, & Wilczynski, 2018 ; Newhouse-Oisten et al., 2017 ; Rosenberg & Schwartz, 2019 ; Sush & Najdowski, 2019 ). These models unanimously share the common goal of providing readers with a systematic approach to ethical decision making, yet include unique elements that provide varying contextual recommendations. Some models offer a generalizable approach affording wider applicability to a variety of ethical situations (BACB, 2020 ; Bailey & Burch, 2013 , 2016 , 2022 ; Brodhead et al., 2018 ; Rosenberg & Schwartz, 2019 ; Sush & Najdowski, 2019 ), and other models provide guidance to navigate specific ethical situations (Brodhead, 2015 ; Newhouse-Oisten et al., 2017 ). Moreover, some models incorporate a problem-solving approach wherein multiple behaviors are considered along with their possible outcomes to aid decision making in ethical contexts (Rosenberg & Schwartz, 2019 ).

Existing models within the behavior analytic literature have all emerged in the last 7 years and offer a discipline-specific approach. However, many other allied disciplines (e.g., medicine, psychology) have published literature offering models for ethical decision making for a longer period than the field of behavior analysis. Recently, there have been calls to action where behavior analysts have been looking to and learning from related professions (LaFrance et al., 2019 ; Miller et al., 2019 ; Pritchett et al., 2021 ; Taylor et al., 2019 ; Wright, 2019 ). Learning from other disciplines may help the field of behavior analysis rule out ineffective approaches or derive novel effective solutions more quickly.

The purpose of this systematic literature review was to conduct a descriptive analysis of ethical decision-making models across behavior analysis and allied disciplines. This literature review aimed to identify similarities and differences in approaches to ethical decision making that could inform future ethical decision-making models and aid the development of ethical decision-making skills in behavior analysts.

Inclusion Criteria

Articles included in this systematic review met the following three criteria: published in peer-reviewed journals through June 2020, written in English, and the title or abstract included keywords from the search (described below). We began the review in July 2020 and completed it in August 2021.

Search Procedure

We conducted a systematic review of the literature on ethical decision-making models for the fields of applied behavior analysis, education, medicine, occupational therapy, psychology, social work, and speech language pathology using the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, Altman, & Prisma Group, 2009 ). We chose these fields because of their similarities to behavior analysis’ mission in serving vulnerable populations. The following procedures were completed in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines: (1) potential articles meeting inclusion criteria were identified; (2) the identified articles were comprehensively screened; (3) the eligibility of each article was evaluated across dependent measures; and (4) the included articles were analyzed.

The first and second authors completed primary database searches using PsycINFO and PubMed. The keywords used to identify potential articles to be included in this analysis were: applied behavior analysis, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, decision mak*, educat*, ethic*, model, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, speech and language*, and social work. In particular, the key words “ethic*”, “decision mak*”, and “model” were used in combination with the terms “applied behavior analysis,” or “clinical psychology,” or “counseling psychology,” or “medicine,” or “nursing,” or “occupational therapy,” or “speech,” or “language.”

The initial PsycINFO and PubMed searches yielded 635 articles. Of these, 46 were duplicates. The titles and abstracts of the remaining 589 articles were read by the first and second authors to evaluate the inclusion of keywords. Full-text articles were retrieved for studies that included the words ethics or ethical , decision making , or model in their abstracts or titles ( n = 249). Of these, a total of 173 articles were selected for full-text review.

The articles selected for full-text review ( n = 173) were read in their entirety to evaluate whether they met these criteria: (1) included humans as the population of interest; (2) mentioned decision making; (3) mentioned ethics; (4) provided at least three identifiable steps to be followed as a part of a model in either a text or figure format; and (5) the provided model addressed how to respond to ethical dilemmas. The first and second authors scored each of the 173 articles across the aforementioned criteria to determine whether they would be included in the final analysis. Articles ( n = 27) for which it was unclear whether they met any of the criteria were coded as needing additional review, and the third and fourth authors completed an additional full-text review to determine whether they would be included in the final analysis. A total of 126 articles were removed for not meeting all five of the criteria. Thus, 47 articles remained to be included in the analysis.

Next, the first and second authors conducted a manual search (i.e., identification through other sources) of the references ( n = 1,354) for the remaining 47 articles. The screening criteria for this search was identical to the initial screening in which the title and abstract were searched for the inclusion of the words ethics or ethical , decision making , and model . Seventy-nine additional articles were identified through this process. Of these 79 articles, 16 were identified as duplicates from the initial PsycINFO and PubMed searches. Twelve articles were inaccessible to us online or through available library loans and were thus excluded. A list of these articles is not included in this article but is available upon request. Upon reviewing the full text of the remaining 51 articles, 26 additional articles met eligibility to be included in the analysis. In sum, a total of 60 articles met all inclusion criteria and were included.

Interrater reliability was scored using a consensus-based approach. In particular, all four authors collaboratively scored each of the models across the various measures described in the section below. If there was disagreement on scoring at any point, the authors collaboratively reviewed the model using figures provided within the article and any available text describing the model until consensus in scoring was reached.

Dependent Measures

Articles that met criteria for inclusion were evaluated across four dependent measures. First, we evaluated the steps included within the models from each article. Second, we categorized the model by the professional discipline or field of study. Third, we evaluated whether the model author presented the model in a specific order or sequence (i.e., linear or sequential model). Lastly, we scored whether the model included a problem-solving approach. We provide greater detail on each of these dependent measures below.

Decision-Making Steps

The models from each article were evaluated across nine steps (Table ​ (Table1). 1 ). These steps were developed during the process of data synthesis. We read the included articles and identified common themes based on their prevalence in the examined literature. Next, we began classifying articles by the inclusion of these steps, indicating whether each article contained each of the identified steps. Then, we began tracking additional steps that appeared in articles. If those steps appeared in multiple articles, we added them as official steps in the analysis. When this was done, all previously coded articles were recoded for these additional steps. For the purpose of the current review, we identified the following nine components of ethical decision making: (1) ethical radar; (2) urgent detour; (3) pinpoint the problem; (4) information gathering; (5) available options/behaviors; (6) ranking and weighing; (7) analysis; (8) implementation; and (9) follow-up. Details on scoring criteria for each of these steps can be found in Appendix Table ​ Table4. 4 . We scored models included in each article as either including or not including the steps listed above. This was done by using the text description of the model, if provided, or the figure representation of the model if descriptive text was not included.

Steps from the Decision-Making Model from the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts ( 2020 ) and from the Current Literature Review

Steps from BACB codeSteps from current literature review
1. Clearly define the issue and consider potential risk of harm to relevant individuals.1. Ethical radar ( ).
2. Urgent detour
3. Pinpoint the problem ( ).
2. Identify all relevant individuals.

4. Information gathering ( ?)

4a. Affected parties ( ).

4b. Reference professional code of ethics.

4c. Reference other codes of ethics ( ).

4d. Case specific information ( ).

3. Gather relevant supporting documentation and follow-up on second-hand information to confirm that there is an actual ethical concern.
4. Consider your personal learning history and biases in the context of the relevant individuals.*
5. Identify the relevant core principles and Code standards.
6. Consult available resources (e.g., research, decision-making models, trusted colleagues).
7. Develop several possible actions to reduce or remove risk of harm, prioritizing the best interests of clients in accordance with the Code and applicable laws.5. Available options/behaviors
8. Critically evaluate each possible action by considering its alignment with the “letter and spirit” of the Code, its potential impact on the client and stakeholders, the likelihood of it immediately resolving the ethical concern, as well as variables such as client preference, social acceptability, degree of restrictiveness, and likelihood of maintenance.6. Ranking/weighing of information
9. Select the action that seems most likely to resolve the specific ethical concern and reduce the likelihood of similar issues arising in the future.7. Analysis
10. Take the selected action in collaboration with relevant individuals affected by the issue and document specific actions taken, agreed-upon next steps, names of relevant individuals, and due dates.8. Implementation
11. Evaluate the outcomes to ensure that the action successfully addressed the issue.9. Follow up

*Step 4 of the BACB model aligns with components from Step 6 of current literature review.

Decision-making Steps

StepsDescription
Ethical radarThis step was coded if the author(s) referenced a signal-detection component in the process of decision making. Signal detection refers to the experience of detecting an ethical dilemma. In particular, the individual may feel that something is unusual, that something is out of the ordinary, or they may feel some vague discomfort. This step was coded to be present if the model made a reference to the practitioner coming into contact with a situation wherein they suspected there might be an ethical issue present. For example, if a practitioner was instructed by their supervisor to round up the time they actually spent delivering services. Encountering such a situation might lead a practitioner to be uncomfortable such that further analysis is warranted.
Urgent detourThis step was coded if the model author(s) referred to situations in which a practitioner would need to report the issue to a legal or other governing body prior to taking any other actions or analyzing the situation further. For example, if a practitioner encountered a situation in which they had reasons to suspect abuse of their client by the parent. Provided that the practitioner had enough evidence to support their suspicion, it would be essential for them to report the abuse to child services prior to taking any other action.
Pinpoint the problemThis step was coded if the model author(s) referred to the practitioner explicitly identifying the ethical issue. The distinguishing feature of this step as compared with the earlier step of ethical radar is the precise identification of the ethical issue beyond a general suspicion that an ethical issue might be present. For example, in the case of a practitioner who is approached by a client to purchase an item from the client’s business, pinpointing the problem would include labeling the actions as the potential development of a dual relationship.
Information gathering

This step was coded when the model author(s) recommended gathering contextually relevant information that would be needed to make an ethical decision. The information collected was further divided into the following subcategories where appropriate:

a. : This step was coded if the model author(s) included any language that mentioned different people involved in the situation or how the situation might impact different parties. For example, if parents, teachers, or other affected individuals are relevant to the ethical dilemma or decision.

b. This step was coded if the model author(s) guided the model users to follow their professional code of ethics.

c. This step was coded if the model author(s) guided the model users to follow other codes of ethics that differ from the code of ethics from their professional affiliation(s). For example, if the practitioner is prompted to refer to the rules and regulations specific to their organization, or a reference is made to their religious or personal values.

d. This step was coded if the model author(s) referenced any other information that might be specific to the situation but was not captured in the other subcategories listed above. For example, issues of client preferences, quality of life, contexts and settings, and assessment of the practitioners’ understanding of the circumstances all fell into this category.

Available options/behaviorsThis step was coded if the model author(s) guided the model users to consider information that would limit or constrain the practitioners’ set of available behaviors. For example, if there were any medical indications that required consideration or if colleagues should be consulted.
Ranking and weighingThis step was coded if the model author(s) guided the model user to consider the influence of their learning history, the impact of personal values, application of guidelines, or the results of a risk-benefit analysis.
AnalysisThis step was coded if the model author(s) guided the model user to consider and synthesize the information from the prior steps to make a decision.
ImplementationThis step was coded if the model author(s) guided the model user to implement the decided plan of action.
Follow upThis step was coded if the model author(s) guided the model user to evaluate the solution or action after it was implemented.

Field of Study

The field of study of each article was recorded (e.g., psychology). Where possible, we also included a secondary field of study (e.g., school psychology). The primary field of study of the article was determined based on the journal that it was published in and the intended audience of the article. Secondary fields of study were coded to further gather information about the specific subfield. For example, if the article was published in a psychology journal and the audience of the article was specifically school psychologists.

Problem Solving

Models within each article were scored as including a problem-solving component or approach if the model author(s) guided the model users to identify two or more possible solutions and likely outcomes or consequences to the possible solutions. Models that did not include more than one possible solution and did not anticipate outcomes to solutions were scored as not including a problem-solving component.

Linear or Sequential

We coded whether the proposed model was linear or sequential in nature. That is, the model author(s) indicated that steps in the model followed a certain order or sequence wherein each preceding step in the model was to be considered prior to moving on to subsequent steps. If a model was not linear or sequential, this was also recorded.

Number of Models

A total of 55 ethical decision-making models across 60 peer-reviewed journal articles were analyzed. Models included in more than one article were counted as duplicates, and papers that included more than one model resulted in each unique model being coded.

Table ​ Table2 2 shows the number of models that included each of the nine steps. None of the steps were present in all models and the step that was included in the greatest number of models was ranking and weighing information ( n = 51; 93%). After ranking and weighing information, the steps found in the most-to-least number of models were: affected parties and available options/behaviors ( n = 49; 89%); reference other codes of ethics (e.g., personal, religious, organizational; n = 44; 80%); analysis ( n = 43; 78%), reference of professional codes ( n = 40; 73%); case specific information ( n = 38; 69%); implementation and pinpoint the problem (29 models each; 52%); follow up ( n = 26; 47%); ethical radar ( n = 21; 38%); urgent detour ( n = 16; 29%); and, information gathering ( n = 11; 20%).

Steps Included in Each Model

StepsNo. of models (%)Models
Ethical radar ( )21 (38%)Boccio, ; Bommer et al., ; Cassells et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; DeWolf, ; Duff & Passmore, ; Ehrich et al., ; Fan, ; Forester-Miller & Davis, ; Grundstein-Amado, ; Hayes, ; Heyler et al., ; Hill et al., ; Hough, ; Kaldjian et al., ; Kanoti, ; Kirsch, ; Macpherson et al., ; Ponterotto & Reynolds, ; Zeni et al.,
Urgent detour 16 (29%)Boccio, ; Bolmsjö, Sandman, & Andersson., ; Bommer et al., ; Candee & Puka, (Deontology); Cassells et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; DeWolf, ; Ehrich et al., ; Fan, ; Forester-Miller & Davis, ; Greipp, ; Hill et al., ; Hughes & Dvorak, ; Sileo & Kopala, ; Soskolne, ; Tymchuk,
Pinpoint the problem ( )29 (53%)Boccio, ; Bolmsjö et al., ; Bommer et al., ; Christensen, ; Fan, ; Green & Walker, ; Grundstein-Amado, ; Haddad, ; Harasym et al., ; Hill et al., ; Hough, ; Johnsen et al., ; Johnson et al., ; Jones, ; Kaldjian et al., ; Kanoti, ; Kirsch, ; Laletas, ; Liang et al., ; Marco et al., ; Murphy & Murphy, ; Park, ; Phillips, ; Shahidullah et al., ; Soskolne, ; Sullivan & Brown, ; Toren & Wagner, ; Tsai & Harasym, ; Zeni et al.,
Information gathering11 (20%)Cassells et al., ; DeWolf, ; Ehrich et al., ; Harasym et al., ; Hayes, ; Hough, ; Hughes & Dvorak, ; Jones, ; Sileo & Kopala, ; Tsai & Harasym, ; Tymchuk,
Affected parties 49 (89%)Boccio, ; Bolmsjö et al., ; Bommer et al., ; Candee & Puka, (Deontology); Candee & Puka, (Utilitarian); Cassells et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; Cottone, ; du Preez & Goedeke, ; Duff & Passmore, ; Fan, ; Ferrell et al., ; Forester-Miller & Davis, ; Green & Walker, ; Greipp, ; Grundstein-Amado, ; Haddad, ; Harasym et al., ; Hayes, ; Heyler et al., ; Hill et al., ; Hough, ; Hughes & Dvorak, ; Hundert, ; Johnsen et al., ; Johnson et al., ; Jones, ; Kaldjian et al., ; Kanoti, ; Kirsch, ; Laletas, ; Liang et al., ; Macpherson et al., ; Murphy & Murphy, ; Nekhlyudov et al., ; Phillips, ; Park, ; Ponterotto & Reynolds, ; Schaffer et al., ; Schneider & Snell, ; Siegler, ; Shahidullah et al., ; Sileo & Kopala, ; Soskolne, ; Sullivan & Brown, ; Tsai & Harasym, ; Tunzi & Ventres, ; Tymchuk, ;
Reference professional code of ethics40 (73%)Boccio, ; Bolmsjö et al., ; Cassells et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; Cottone, ; DeWolf, ; du Preez & Goedeke, ; Duff & Passmore, ; Ehrich et al., ; Fan, ; Forester-Miller & Davis, ; Green & Walker, ; Greipp, ; Haddad, ; Harasym et al., ; Hayes, ; Heyler et al., ; Hill et al., ; Hough, ; Hughes & Dvorak, ; Johnsen et al., ; Kaldjian et al., ; Kirsch, ; Laletas, ; Liang et al., ; Macpherson et al., ; Marco et al., ; Park, ; Phillips, ; Ponterotto & Reynolds, ; Schaffer et al., ; Schneider & Snell, ; Shahidullah et al., ; Siegler, ; Sileo & Kopala, ; Soskolne, ; Sullivan & Brown, ; Toren & Wagner, ; Tsai & Harasym,
Reference other codes of ethics 44 (80%)Boccio, ; Bolmsjö et al., ; Bommer et al., ; Candee & Puka, (Deontology); Cassells et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; Cottone, ; du Preez & Goedeke, ; Duff & Passmore, ; Ehrich et al., ; Fan, ; Ferrell et al., ; Forester-Miller & Davis, ; Garfat & Ricks, ; Green & Walker, ; Greipp, ; Haddad, ; Harasym et al., ; Hayes, ; Heyler et al., ; Hill et al., ; Hough, ; Hundert, ; Johnson et al., ; Jones, ; Kaldjian et al., ; Kirsch, ; Laletas, ; Liang et al., ; Macpherson et al., ; Marco et al., ; Nekhlyudov et al., ; Park, ; Phillips, ; Schaffer et al., ; Schneider & Snell, ; Shahidullah et al., ; Sileo & Kopala, ; Sullivan & Brown, ; Toren & Wagner, ; Tsai & Harasym, ; Tymchuk, ; Zeni et al., ;
Case specific information 38 (69%)Bommer et al., ; Candee & Puka, (Deontology); Cassells et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; Cottone, ; DeWolf, ; Ehrich et al., ; Ferrell et al., ; Forester-Miller & Davis, ; Greipp, ; Grundstein-Amado, ; Haddad, ; Harasym et al., ; Hayes, ; Hughes & Dvorak, ; Hundert, ; Johnsen et al., ; Johnson et al., ; Jones, ; Kaldjian et al., ; Kanoti, ; Laletas, ; Liang et al., ; Murphy & Murphy, ; Nekhlyudov et al., ; Park, ; Phillips, ; Ponterotto & Reynolds, ; Schneider & Snell, ; Shahidullah et al., ; Siegler, ; Sileo & Kopala, ; Soskolne, ; Sullivan & Brown, ; Tsai & Harasym, ; Tunzi & Ventres, ; Zeni et al.,
Available options / behaviors 49 (89%)Boccio, ; Bolsmjö et al., ; Candee & Puka, (Deontology); Candee & Puka, (Utilitarian); Cassells et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; Cottone, ; DeWolf, ; du Preez & Goedeke, ; Duff & Passmore, ; Fan, ; Ferrell et al., ; Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996; Garfat & Ricks, ; Greipp, ; Grundstein-Amado, ; Harasym et al., ; Hayes, ; Heyler et al., ; Hill et al., ; Hough, ; Hughes & Dvorak, ; Hundert, ; Johnsen et al., ; Johnson et al., ; Jones, ; Kaldjian et al., ; Kanoti, ; Kirsch, ; Laletas, ; Liang et al., ; Macpherson et al., ; Marco et al., ; Murphy & Murphy, ; Nekhlyudov et al., ; Park, ; Phillips, ; Ponterotto & Reynolds, ; Schaffer et al., ; Schneider & Snell, ; Shahidullah et al., ; Siegler, ; Sileo & Kopala, ; Soskolne, ; Toren & Wagner, ; Tsai & Harasym, ; Tunzi & Ventres, ; Tymchuk,
Ranking / weighing of information 51 (93%)Boccio, ; Bolsmjö et al., ; Bommer et al., ; Candee & Puka, (Deontology); Candee & Puka, (Utilitarian); Cassells et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; Cottone, ; du Preez & Goedeke, ; Duff & Passmore, ; Ehrich et al., ; Fan, ; Ferrell et al., ; Forester-Miller & Davis, ; Garfat & Ricks, ; Green & Walker, ; Greipp, ; Grundstein-Amado, ; Haddad, ; Harasym et al., ; Hayes, ; Heyler et al., ; Hill et al., ; Hughes & Dvorak, ; Hundert, ; Johnsen et al., ; Johnson et al., ; Jones, ; Kaldjian et al., ; Kanoti, ; Kirsch, ; Laletas, ; Liang et al., ; Macpherson et al., ; Marco et al., ; Murphy & Murphy, ; Nekhlyudov et al., ; Park, ; Phillips, ; Ponterotto & Reynolds, ; Schaffer et al., ; Schneider & Snell, ; Shahidullah et al., ; Siegler, ; Soskolne, ; Sullivan & Brown, ; Tsai & Harasym, ; Tunzi & Ventres, ; Tymchuk, ; Zeni et al.,
Analysis 43 (78%)Bolsmjö et al.,  ; Bommer et al., ; Candee & Puka, (Utilitarian); Cassells et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; Cottone, ; du Preez & Goedeke, ; Duff & Passmore, ; Ehrich et al., ; Fan, ; Ferrell et al., ; Forester-Miller & Davis, ; Green & Walker, ; Grundstein-Amado, ; Haddad, ; Harasym et al., ; Heyler et al., ; Hill et al., ; Hughes & Dvorak, ; Hundert, ; Johnsen et al., ; Johnson et al., ; Jones, ; Kaldjian et al., ; Kanoti, ; Kirsch, ; Laletas, ; Macpherson et al., ; Murphy & Murphy, ; Nekhlyudov et al., ; Park, ; Phillips, ; Ponterotto & Reynolds, ; Schaffer et al., ; Shahidullah et al., ; Soskolne, ; Sullivan & Brown, ; Toren & Wagner, ; Tsai & Harasym, ; Tunzi & Ventres, ; Tymchuk, ; Zeni et al.,
Implementation 29 (53%)Bolsmjö et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; DeWolf, ; du Preez & Goedeke, ; Duff & Passmore, ; Ehrich et al., ; Ferrell et al., ; Forester-Miller & Davis, ; Garfat & Ricks, ; Haddad, ; Harasym et al., ; Heyler et al., ; Hill et al., ; Hough, ; Jones, ; Kanoti, ; Kirsch, ; Laletas, ; Macpherson et al., ; Murphy & Murphy, ; Park, ; Phillips, ; Ponterotto & Reynolds, ; Soskolne, ; Sullivan & Brown, ; Toren & Wagner, ; Tsai & Harasym, ; Tymchuk,
Follow up 26 (47%)Bolsmjö et al., ; Bommer et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; DeWolf, ; du Preez & Goedeke, ; Ferrell et al., ; Forester-Miller & Davis, ; Garfat & Ricks, ; Harasym et al., ; Heyler et al., ; Hill et al., ; Hough, ; Johnsen et al., ; Kanoti, ; Kirsch, ; Liang et al., ; Macpherson et al., ; Murphy & Murphy, ; Park, ; Phillips, ; Ponterotto & Reynolds, ; Soskolne, ; Sullivan & Brown, ; Toren & Wagner, ; Tymchuk,

Figure ​ Figure1 1 shows a stacked bar chart of the primary and secondary fields of the ethical decision-making models. Medicine dominated the resulting set of models, followed by psychology, education, business, then child and youth care and organizational behavior management (OBM). Nevertheless, 23 different subspecialties were represented in the secondary field of the ethical decision-making models.

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Stacked-Bar Graph Showing the Number of Ethical Decision-Making Models Based on the Primary and Secondary Literatures from which It Came

Table ​ Table3 3 presents a list of the synthesized models and their respective fields of study. The most common field of study across the 55 models was medicine ( n = 34; 62%). Seventeen of the models from medicine were specific to the subfield of nursing (50%) and three were specific to the subfield of psychiatry (9%). Of the remaining models from the field of medicine, one each was specific to critical care (3%), dentistry (3%), emergency medicine (3%), geriatrics (3%), internal medicine (3%), and oncology (3%). The remaining models from the field of medicine were coded as “general medicine” because they did not indicate a specific subfield.

Field of Study of Included Models

Primary fieldSecondary fieldModels
BusinessLeadershipZeni et al.,
ManagementJones,
Child and Youth CareNot SpecifiedGarfat & Ricks,
EducationAdministrationGreen & Walker,
TeachingEhrich et al., ; Johnson et al.,
EngineeringNot SpecifiedFan,
MedicineCritical careKanoti,
DentistryJohnsen et al.,
Emergency medicineMarco et al.,
EpidemiologySoskolne,
Family medicineTunzi & Ventres,
GeriatricsKirsch,
Internal medicineKaldjian et al.,
NursingBolmsjö, Sandman, & Andersson, ; Cassells et al., ; Cassells & Gaul, ; Christensen, ; DeWolf, ; Ferrell et al., ; Greipp, ; Haddad, ; Hough, ; Hughes & Dvorak, ; Macpherson et al., ; Murphy & Murphy, ; Park, ; Phillips, ; Schaffer et al., ; Sullivan & Brown, ; Toren & Wagner,
OncologyNekhlyudov et al.,
PsychiatryGrundstein-Amado, ; Hayes, ; Hundert,
Not SpecificCandee & Puka, (Deontology); Candee & Puka, (Utilitarian); Harasym et al., ; Schneider & Snell, ; Siegler, ; Tsai & Harasym,
Organizational behavior managementBusinessBommer et al.,
PsychologyCoachingDuff & Passmore,
CounselingCottone, ; Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996; du Preez & Goedeke, ; Sileo & Kopala,
I/O psychologyHeyler et al.,
Pediatric psychologyShahidullah et al.,
PsychobiographyPonterotto & Reynolds,
School psychologyBoccio, ; Laletas,
Not SpecifiedTymchuk, ; Hill et al., ; Liang et al.,

Thirteen models were specific to the field of psychology (24%). Four of the psychology specific models were from the subfield of counseling (31%) and two were specific to the subfield of school psychology (15%). Other specified psychology subfields included coaching ( n = 1; 8%), industrial/organizational psychology ( n = 1; 8%), pediatric psychology ( n = 1; 8%), and psychobiography ( n = 1; 8%). The remaining models were coded as “general psychology” because they did not indicate a specific subfield.

Three models were specific to the field of education (5%). Two of these were specific to the subfield of teaching (67%) and one was specific to the subfield of administration and leadership (33%). Two models were specific to the field of business (4%); one of these was specific to the subfield of management (50%) and the other to the subfield of leadership (50%). One model was specific to the field of child and youth care (2%), one was specific to engineering (2%), and one was specific to OBM (2%).

Figure ​ Figure2 2 shows the number of models that contained a problem-solving approach. A total of 23 models included a problem-solving approach (42%) and 32 did not (58%). Most of the models with a problem-solving component came from medicine ( n = 15; 65%), followed by psychology ( n = 7; 30%), and engineering ( n = 1; 43%). No models from the fields of business, education, or OBM included a problem-solving component.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc. Object name is 40617_2022_753_Fig2_HTML.jpg

Bar Graph Showing the Number of Decision-Making Models with and without a Problem-Solving Component, and Models that were Sequential or Nonsequential

Figure ​ Figure2 2 also shows the number of models that were sequential. A total of 52 models were linear or sequential in nature (95%), whereas 3 were not (5%). Most of the models that were sequential came from medicine ( n = 32; 62%), followed by psychology ( n = 14; 27%), education ( n = 3; 58%), business ( n = 2; 4%), engineering ( n = 1; 2%), and child and youth care ( n = 1; 2%).

The goal of this literature review was to identify and analyze published ethical decision-making models in behavior analysis and allied disciplines to determine consistency in recommended approaches. We examined 55 ethical decision-making models to collect data on what recommended steps were included and what approaches were most frequently emphasized. Three general themes within ethical decision-making models arose from our analysis. These include: (1) What steps were included within models; (2) Whether the steps were sequential (i.e., a behavior chain); and (3) Whether the entire process could be labeled as problem solving (i.e., Szabo, 2020 ). We discuss each of these findings in turn.

Behaviors Involved in Ethical Decision Making

The first main finding surrounds the variability in recommended steps of ethical decision making across models. We found that each of the nine steps coded appeared in an average (arithmetic mean) of 58% of the articles (range: 20%–93%). This suggests that some consistency exists in what behaviors various scholars recommend practitioners should engage in when faced with an ethical decision. However, the wide variability in how frequently each behavior appeared also highlights that ABA practitioners would benefit from researchers clarifying at least three important characteristics of ethical decision-making models. These are: (1) What behaviors are necessary and sufficient to make an optimal ethical decision in ABA contexts (i.e., component analysis)? (2) What are the conditions under which specific steps are and are not needed (i.e., conditional discrimination analysis)? (3) Is there an optimal functional result of ethical decision making that is more important than the specific topographies a practitioner uses to contact that outcome (i.e., functional analysis; see Cox, 2021 )? Practitioners and researchers may begin to explore some of these questions when engaging in ethical decision making.

More than half of the articles examined emphasized the need for consulting ethical codes. It is interesting that more ethical models recommended practitioners reference codes of ethics from outside their discipline ( n = 44; 80% of models; e.g., personal, religious, organizational) than their own discipline’s code of ethics ( n = 40; 73%). To our knowledge, the conflict between personal and professional codes of ethics is an underexplored topic in the ABA literature. Nevertheless, the slightly greater emphasis on other codes of ethics in addition to one’s own discipline suggests this might be an important area where practitioners could use guidance. Also, the field of ABA would likely benefit from future research and scholarship surrounding the conditions and functional outcomes of ethical decisions where personal and professional values conflict.

It is important to mention that our review was done prior to the publication of the BACB’s ( 2020 ) ethical decision-making model. The BACB’s model was published in the analysis and writing stage of this review. Our findings suggest a robust literature spanning 40+ years, 60+ articles, and 50+ models all clustered around similar ethical decision-making steps published by the BACB. Perhaps most intriguing is that we identified the nine steps from our review prior to the publication of the BACB’s model, and no previous models had incorporated all nine ethical decision-making steps until the BACB published their decision model (BACB, 2020). Practicing behavior analysts would benefit from future component analyses, conditional discrimination analyses, functional analyses, and empirical support surrounding the BACB’s ethical decision-making model.

Our analysis also suggests that behavior analysts and allied professionals approach ethical decision making similarly. Given the complexity of ethical decision making and the shared types of dilemmas human service professionals contact, some convergence is expected. However, there are many reasons that two professionals from different disciplines may come into disagreement (Boivin et al., 2021 ; Bowman et al., 2021 ; Cox, 2019 ; Gasiewski et al., 2021 ). Having familiar systems with empirical support for how to navigate ethical dilemmas might improve the likelihood that a positive resolution occurs. Further, such interprofessional similarities in ethical decision-making processes allows future interdisciplinary dialogue to focus more on specific areas of agreement because what and how information will be used to make a decision is already agreed upon.

Behavior Chains and Behavior Topography

We found that 95% of the ethical decision-making models could be described as a behavior chain (e.g., Catania, 2013 ). Framing ethical decision making as a behavior chain might be useful as it highlights the interrelated and sequential nature of ethical decision making. That is, completing one step in an ethical decision-making behavior chain leads to a context wherein the next response in the chain is more likely to contact reinforcement. For example, until you have gathered all relevant information about how the decision will affect all relevant parties, your ranking and weighing of information seems less likely to lead to the best outcome. That said, the temporally delayed nature of behaviors and consequences involved in ethical decision making is different than how behavior chains have been studied in laboratory settings (e.g., Baum, 2017 ; Cox, 2021 ; Slocum & Tiger, 2011 ). Future research will likely be needed to better understand the effects of temporal relations on behavior chains and thus determine what approach best provides a behavioral description of ethical decision making.

It is interesting that the order in which steps were proposed differed across models. We are unaware of any research that compares the effectiveness of different sequential ethical decision-making models to understand whether the order of behaviors recommended as a chain are more or less useful. Nevertheless, future research that identifies the extent to which rigid sequences of behaviors need to occur to optimize decision making would be helpful for the field of ABA. Such information would likely improve behavior analytic training programs and prove useful for clinical directors, ethics committee chairs, case supervisors (e.g., BCBAs), and direct staff (e.g., RBTs).

Ethical Decision Making as Problem Solving

Recent attention has been given to the common-sense problem-solving approach (Szabo, 2020 ), which we used to score models within the current analysis. This problem-solving approach may offer great utility and is observed across various fields (e.g., cognitive psychology; Szabo, 2020 ). Within behavior analysis, this problem-solving approach has increasingly been applied to teach complex skills (e.g., Suarez et al., 2021 ). Our review involves an interesting extension of this analysis to ethical decision making and indicates the steps of the models may also point to additional precurrent behaviors or mediating strategies that could prove to be important elements of the behavioral chain.

We found that 42% of the ethical decision-making models could be described as including problem solving (e.g., Kieta et al., 2019 ). Framing ethical decision making as involving problem solving is advantageous because of the existing empirical literature on how to teach problem-solving skills and recognition of the importance of verbal stimuli and verbal behavior (e.g., Kieta et al., 2019 ). However, this also might have the drawbacks of adding complexity and less empirical support specific from the behavior analytic literature on describing, predicting, and controlling problem solving. This suggests that there are either components of ethical decision making outside of problem solving or that there are components of problem solving that might be missing from current decision-making models. Future research using concept analysis (e.g., Layng, 2019 ) combined with laboratory experiments may help clarify which of the above scenarios is more likely (or if there’s an unknown third!).

We also found that 58% of the ethical decision-making models could not be described as including problem solving. We are unaware of any research that has directly compared the effectiveness of ethical decision-making models with and without problem-solving components. Nevertheless, a practically useful set of empirical questions might identify the conditions under which ethical decision-making models with and without problem-solving components are more helpful for practitioners. Behavior analytic training programs subsequently could teach fluency toward ethical decision making via problem solving under some conditions and ethical decision making without problem solving under other conditions.

Limitations and Final Thoughts

The current study included several limitations. One limitation centers on the procedures used for rater agreement. Article ratings were completed in a group format and by consensus among the authors. It is possible that reactivity to other members of the group affected overall ratings (e.g., Asch, 1956 ). It is also possible that the search terms we used failed to capture relevant ethical decision-making models or that additional search terms would have led to different results. Further, we also restricted our inclusion criteria to specific human service fields allied to ABA. Thus, it is possible that a more comprehensive search of ethical decision-making models across more varied professions would lead to different outcomes. Finally, we did not include ethical decision-making models published in books mainly due to access issues and a typical lack of peer-review for books. Regardless, these limitations may provide greater support for our primary findings that the existing variability in ethical decision-making steps and overall lack of empirical support suggest this area is ripe for future research.

The development of an ethical decision-making skill set is vital for behavior analysts and for other human service providers. Dilemmas present as complex circumstances, with specific and unique contextual variations that require nuanced assessment. The process of training behavior analysts to meet these demands is daunting. There is a need to identify strategies for navigating dilemmas and for making ethical decisions. Allied professions and behavior analysis have identified steps in this process. Many of these models use problem-solving techniques. The BACB’s Decision Making Model overlaps substantially with existing literature across professions, and uses a problem-solving, sequential approach. These results are especially interesting as we had completed identifying the decision-making steps scored in the current article before the BACB model was released. It seems that the field has built a model that is entirely aligned with and built upon this interprofessional database. It will be important to empirically evaluate this new model. It will also be important to explore other decision-making approaches, to compare models, and to (potentially) match models to the contextual variables embedded in the presenting dilemma. The field of behavior analysis has, at times, been insular, and this has been a source of internal and external criticism. However, this review of the literature supports the substantial overlap across fields and provides concrete hope for mutually beneficial interdisciplinary collaboration. So, although decision-making models can be field-specific, ethical dilemmas appear to be universal and so are the intended outcomes. As behavior analysis tackles this complex skill set, it is important to learn from colleagues in allied disciplines, examine the component skills likely to be crucial to the development of this behavioral repertoire, and develop procedures for measuring, teaching, and training clinicians to methodically approach ethical dilemmas.

Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.

Declarations

The authors do not have any potential conflicts of interest to disclose and have no relevant financial or nonfinancial interests to disclose.

No human participants were involved in this research, and therefore informed consent was not obtained.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

All articles with an asterisk indicate the final articles included in the review

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ethical problem solving model in counselling

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Essential Steps for Ethical Problem-Solving
Is there a conflict of values, or rights, or professional responsibilities? (For example, there may be an issue of self-determination of an adolescent versus the well-being of the family.)

2. IDENTIFY the key values and principles involved. What meanings and limitations are typically attached to these competing values? (For example, rarely is confidential information held in absolute secrecy; however, typically decisions about access by third parties to sensitive content should be contracted with clients.)

3. RANK the values or ethical principles which - in your professional judgment - are most relevant to the issue or dilemma. What reasons can you provide for prioritizing one competing value/principle over another? (For example, your client’s right to choose a beneficial course of action could bring hardship or harm to others who would be affected.)

4. DEVELOP an action plan that is consistent with the ethical priorities that have been determined as central to the dilemma. Have you conferred with clients and colleagues, as appropriate, about the potential risks and consequences of alternative courses of action? Can you support or justify your action plan with the values/principles on which the plan is based? (For example, have you conferred with all the necessary persons regarding the ethical dimensions of planning for a battered wife’s quest to secure secret shelter and the implications for her teen-aged children?)

5. IMPLEMENT your plan, utilizing the most appropriate practice skills and competencies. How will you make use of core social work skills such as sensitive communication, skillful negotiation, and cultural competence? (For example, skillful colleague or supervisory communication and negotiation may enable an impaired colleague to see her/his impact on clients and to take appropriate action.)

6. REFLECT on the outcome of this ethical decision making process. How would you evaluate the consequences of this process for those involved: Client(s), professional(s), and agency (ies)? (Increasingly, professionals have begun to seek support, further professional training, and consultation through the development of Ethics review Committees or Ethics Consultation processes.)

From discussion by Frederick Reamer & Sr. Ann Patrick Conrad in Professional Choices: Ethics at Work (1995), video available from NASW Press 1-800-227-3590

Format developed by Sr. Vincentia Joseph & Sr. Ann Patrick Conrad
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ethical problem solving model in counselling

Solutions to Ethical Problems in Schools

Author(s): Rhonda Williams, Ed.D., LPC, NCC

Q. Last night I saw a 12th-grade girl at my school coming out of the movie theater holding hands with one of our science teachers. How should I handle this situation? Does it warrant a report to child protective services? Should I tell the student’s parents?

This is one of those situations all school counselors dread, responding to a teacher’s poor choices. While this certainly requires some type of action, you must carefully consider the choices and consequences. Many school counselors may leap to some assumptions that might cause a knee-jerk reaction instead of evaluating all the possibilities. One way to approach this dilemma is through the Solutions to Ethical Problems in Schools (STEPS) ethical-decision-making model, from “School Counseling Principles: Ethics and Law,” by Carolyn Stone, Ed.D. This nine-step school-specific method involves:

1. Defining the problem emotionally and intellectually 2. Applying the ASCA ethical code and the legal issues 3. Considering the student’s chronological and developmental levels 4. Considering the setting, parental rights and minor’s rights 5. Applying the moral principle 6. Determining a potential course of action and its consequences 7. Evaluating the selected action 8. Consulting with peers 9. Implementing the selected course of action

Define the problem emotionally and intellectually:  How old is the student, and what is the age of majority? If the state law is 18 for the age of majority and the senior student is that age, this is more likely to be viewed as an inappropriate act by a teacher, to which the school district might respond, rather than a sex crime. However, if the student is under the age of majority, then this situation could be a possible crime by a person “in position of trust.”

At minimum the teacher has made a poor personal and professional choice, even if the only thing that has happened is holding the student’s hand. If this “relationship” has gone beyond just hand holding, no matter how old the student’s is, there is an issue of betrayal of trust by the teacher involved. In either case some type of response by the observer is mandatory.

Emotionally, students of any age are susceptible to educator’s ideas and suggestions. Therefore an ethical teacher should not take advantage of a vulnerable student.

Apply ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors:  A few sections of the ASCA Ethical Standards you should consider include:

B.1.a: School counselors respect the inherent rights and responsibilities of parents for their children and endeavor to establish, as appropriate, a collaborative relationship with parents to facilitate the counselee’s maximum development. B.1.b: Adheres to laws and local guidelines when assisting parents experiencing family difficulties that interfere with the counselee’s effectiveness and welfare. D.1.b. Informs appropriate officials of conditions that may be potentially disruptive or damaging to the school’s mission, personnel and property while honoring the confidentiality between the counselee and counselor.

Also take other state licensing board standards as well as state and federal laws into consideration.

Consider the student’s chronological and developmental levels:  For this particular case the student’s chronological and developmental levels will be a major factor in your decision making. Is the student considered an adult or a minor based on the state law? If the student is a minor, the response will be different than if she/he is legally considered an adult. However, you must also consider this student’s mental capabilities and emotional maturity regardless of chronological age.

Consider the setting and parent’s rights, student’s rights and the school authority’s right to know:  You must decide who to inform regarding this situation. Parents’ rights are certainly important in this case; however, telling them before you report this to the department of human services may affect the investigation, as the parents may demand some type of recourse for their child. A professional school counselor must also consider that the student’s rights and how to help this student in this difficult process. Talking to the student first, however, will also affect the investigation. Given this potentially volatile situation, it is important to alert a school administrator.

Apply the moral principals:  Autonom of this student has been influenced by this teacher. Whether the student is considered a minor or not, there is still a concern of manipulative to consider.

Beneficence:  A counselor involved in this situation must stay focused on protecting and promoting the good for the student in this case.

Nonmaleficence:  is doing harm. To maintain this moral principle the school counselor will need to consult about the action that must be taken so that no further harm is done to this student. Justice: Even if the student is considered an adult, the situation would mandate some type of report to the administration. Without doubt, if the student is a minor further reporting must be made. For justice to occur the most important decision may who you speak with first. Loyalty and fidelity: This moral principle in this case, belongs to the student, not to the teacher, who has made a critical error in professional judgment.

Make a decision:  The next step is to determine your course of action and the possible consequences. Consider the pros and cons of each choice before making a final decision.

Evaluate the selected course of action:  If this case requires a report to social services because the student is a minor, you don’t want to negatively affect the investigation by interviewing someone and possibly influencing the investigation. If social services is to be involved, its representatives will want to complete their own interviews without any interference.

As you prepare to notify the administrator, take into consideration the relationship between the administrator and the involved teacher. This relationship could influence or interfere with an appropriate response to the situation. As an example, the administrator and teacher may have a personal friendship that might cause the administrator to minimize the situation.

Telling the parents about your observation prior to notifying social services most certainly will cause a reaction if the parents were unaware of the relationship. Again, notifying them prior to social services may in fact taint the investigation.

Consult:  Consulting will be paramount in this precarious situation. Select professionals who have knowledge of the topic and the laws. You can also consult with social services with a hypothetical situation. However if the message from social services is clear that a possible crime has been committed, then you will need to file a report.

Implement the course of action:  This case most likely will require some type of reporting. The student’s age is the key in your decision making. If this student is considered an adult having a consensual relationship with a teacher who is not being professional, you’ll need to notify an administrator. If this case involves a minor who is being exploited by a professional educator, reporting the incident to social service or the police is mandatory.

Be sure to document every consultation and how you made your decision.

Accepting gifts from students – teachers do it, so what do you think? Should school counselors accept gifts from students? If no, why not? If so, do you set a dollar amount limit of what you accept? Is this addressed in any code of ethics?

Although this question is specific to accepting a gift from a student, professional school counselors take into account the underlying message of any gift received from any source. Although there is no direct comment in the ASCA Ethical Standards about receiving gifts from a student, there are implications school counselors need to consider. For instance, if the gift is intended as a thank you for some special situation, with no intent to influence you, then perhaps it is more gracious to accept the gift than insult someone attempting to express gratitude. An example would be accepting flowers from parents of a young girl you counseled about a sexual assault. The parents simply wanted to say thank you for your support.

However, give serious consideration before accepting large gifts, such as an-all-expenses paid trip to a college. It can be argued that such a trip can only provide more information to the school counselor about the campus. It could, however, be viewed as a conflict of interest.

Most often gifts given to school counselors by students or parents are intended to be gracious gestures of appreciation. However, when a large gift is offered, the professional school counselor must evaluate the giver’s intentions and the implications behind accepting the gift.

Rhonda Williams, Ed.D., LPC, NCC, is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the chair of ASCA’s Ethics Committee. She can be reached at [email protected] .

Counselling Tutor

278 – How to Deal with Ethical Issues in Counselling

CT Podcast Ep278 featured image - Topics Discussed: How to Deal with Ethical Issues in Counselling – Registering with the ICO – Embracing Emotions

278 – How to Deal with Ethical Issues in Counselling

Registering with the ico – embracing emotions.

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In Episode 278 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, your hosts Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly are back with this week’s three topics:

  • Firstly in ‘Student Services’, we look at how to deal with ethical issues in counselling.
  • Then in ‘Ethical, Sustainable Practice’, should you register with the ICO?
  • And lastly in ‘Practice Matters’, Rory speaks with Deb Barnard on emotions.

How to Deal with Ethical Issues in Counselling [starts at 02:21 mins]

This segment of the counselling tutor podcast is sponsored by, webhealer.net.

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During your placement, it’s likely that you’ll face an ethical dilemma. Learning how to respond to these ethical issues under pressure will be an essential skill for improving your counselling practice and ensuring you’re doing what is right for your client and the safety of others:

  • Ethical problem solving – set yourself up to be prepared to deal with these problems when they arise.
  • Maybe you and the client have a mutual friend/acquaintance.
  • They may disclose self-harm or plans to harm another.
  • The client might show up to a session under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
  • Look at your contract – if one of these scenarios is covered in your contract, then the rules of engagement have already been laid out.
  • Ethical framework – To know how best to deal with ethical issues you might encounter in your counselling practice, understand your ethical framework and what it asks of you.
  • Work out whose problem it is. Yours? The client’s? Both of yours?
  • What are you going to do next?
  • What does the law say?
  • Having these conversations with a client can be tricky – but not having them could have greater consequences.
  • Immediately write down any ethical issue or dilemma you encounter and what you did or didn’t do.
  • Defensible decision-making.
  • Respect the clients’ autonomy, but weigh that up against the stakes.
  • You may need to break confidentiality, and this will most likely negatively impact the therapeutic relationship.
  • Think of the greater good.

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Registering with the ICO [starts at 25:40 mins]

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) applies to our UK listeners, but for our listeners elsewhere, you will also have laws regarding data protection that you will need to look at and adhere to.

The main points of this section include:

  • The ICO upholds the General Data Protection Regulations.
  • Should you register? In short, yes.
  • If you have client information stored on an electronic device e.g. notes, phone numbers, doctors notes, a referral letter etc. This is all personal data.
  • If you're handling or moving personal data around, then you need to register with the ICO.
  • Special category data – any information including ethnic origin, politics, religion, trade unions, health, mental health.
  • Put your ICO number in your privacy policy.
  • If you request, the ICO won’t publically publish your name and address and will keep it anonymous.

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Embracing Emotions [starts at 38:35 mins]

In this week’s ‘Practice Matters’, Rory speaks with Deb Barnard about emotions.

The key points of this discussion include:

  • Normalising emotional content – it is normal to feel all emotions.
  • We are often sold things in the media that are said to make us happy, or content, but it’s important to realise that it’s normal to not always feel like that.
  • Embrace your own emotions and understand what they mean to you.
  • Learning to lean into emotions, even when they make us uncomfortable.
  • What is this emotion asking of you?
  • Don’t see your emotions as the enemy.
  • Allow yourself to feel and experience your emotions.
  • Listen to what your emotions are telling you.
  • It isn’t only positive emotions that are valid.

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Ten Barriers to Ethical Decisions in Counselling

Coleman (n.d) suggests ten (10) barriers to the ethical problem solving process. They are:

  • Lack of knowledge of Ethical Standards

Financial Incentives

Perfectionism.

  • Fear of Criticism/Scrutiny by Others

High Affiliative Needs

Personal and/or professional immaturity, counsellor substance abuse, lack of personal values clarification, limitations of codes of ethics and conduct, lack of a decision making model, lack of knowledge of ethical standards.

Society is fast paced and ever changing. Counsellors are obliged to remain committed to ongoing learning and development within the profession. This includes continuing awareness of relevant ethical codes and standards.

It also incorporates knowledge of legal standards and laws. Ignorance is not a defence. Counsellors can overcome this obstacle through personal commitment to professional development and maintaining professional memberships.

  • Ethical dilemmas often present in the form of gifts or rewards offered to the counsellor either directly by the client, or indirectly through an agency.
  • A counsellor may justify the acceptance of such gifts/rewards by undervaluing the monetary value of their role.
  • Coleman (n.d) considers that counsellors rationalise this behaviour by telling themselves that they are underpaid and deserve it.
  • This barrier often inhibits the counsellor at the beginning of the ethical decision making process stopping them from adequately clarifying the problem.
  • Reaffirming the reason for entering the counselling profession may assist the counsellor in overcoming this obstacle.
  • A large barrier at the implementation stage of the ethical problem solving process is the counsellor’s fear of not making a good decision.
  • A counsellor may become over concerned with ‘doing the right thing’, so much so that they are unable to put the decision into practice. Coleman (n.d) proposes that counsellors acknowledge that there is rarely one ‘right’ choice and to look beyond self.

Fear of Criticism/Scrutiny

  • No one likes to be criticised and counsellors are no different.
  • It is however, inevitable that the decision taken will not be popular with all.
  • To overcome the fear, a counsellor needs to accept that the choice they have made is the correct one for the situation and that not everyone will be pleased.
  • This barrier often accompanies perfectionism.
  • Many counsellors have a need to be liked and ethical decisions may not always be popular.
  • This need can leave the counsellor open to manipulation.
  • Personal awareness can help the counsellor overcome this barrier.
  • Coleman (n.d) identifies immaturity as acting impulsively without any conviction.
  • Immaturity involves acting on and implementing decisions that satisfy the counsellor first, often without any consideration to the client.
  • The use of an ethical problem solving model can assist in conquering this barrier.

Stress within any profession can lead to substance abuse, counsellors too are vulnerable.The counsellor who acts under the influence of alcohol or other substances is putting themselves, their client/s and the profession at harm. Counsellors need to be aware of the effect personal issues may have on themselves, how it transcends to their professional life and how they deal with said issues (Corey, Corey and Callanan 2007).

  • Commitment to ongoing professional growth is facilitative and required.
  • Counsellors also need to be dedicated to personal development and knowledge of self/values.
  • As with professional development this is an ongoing reflection.
  • Failure to do this could result in the counsellor becoming stuck and lacking the maturity to undertake sound ethical practice.

Stein (1990) identifies a number of limitations pertaining to ethical codes. They are:

  • Written in broad, general terms not specific to any one particular situation.
  • Can conflict with other Codes or regulations
  • Reactive rather than proactive
  • Silent or blind to some situations/problems
  • Vital to remain alert to the Ethical Codes offered by professional memberships and acknowledge limits.

Decisions that are made impulsively fail to acknowledge the extent of the dilemma and the process. A clear structure to follow means that the decision made is more likely to be ‘morally acceptable, clinically appropriate and suit both the client and the counsellor’s interests’ (Coleman, n.d., p9).

  • Barriers exist to the ethical decision making process.
  • These barriers may be due to the agency a counsellor works for or barriers within the counsellor themselves
  • Barriers may be overcome through (a) continual counsellor self reflection, (b) ongoing awareness of professional ethical codes, (c) solid application of a systematic decision making model.
  • August 2, 2010
  • Counselling , Ethics
  • Ethics & Legal Issues

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Can you provide the complete reference for Coleman n.d.?

Coleman, A. K. (n.d). An ethical decision making model for practitioners. Retrieved June 1, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.pitt.edu/~cedar/forum/coleman.html

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Examination of Ethical Decision-Making Models Across Disciplines: Common Elements and Application to the Field of Behavior Analysis

  • Discussion and Review Paper
  • Published: 29 November 2022
  • Volume 16 , pages 657–671, ( 2023 )

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ethical problem solving model in counselling

  • Victoria D. Suarez   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4940-0780 1 ,
  • Videsha Marya   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5836-5470 1 , 2 ,
  • Mary Jane Weiss   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2836-3861 1 &
  • David Cox   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4376-2104 1 , 3  

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Human service practitioners from varying fields make ethical decisions daily. At some point during their careers, many behavior analysts may face ethical decisions outside the range of their previous education, training, and professional experiences. To help practitioners make better decisions, researchers have published ethical decision-making models; however, it is unknown the extent to which published models recommend similar behaviors. Thus, we systematically reviewed and analyzed ethical decision-making models from published peer-reviewed articles in behavior analysis and related allied health professions. We identified 55 ethical decision-making models across 60 peer-reviewed articles, seven primary professions (e.g., medicine, psychology), and 22 subfields (e.g., dentistry, family medicine). Through consensus-based analysis, we identified nine behaviors commonly recommended across the set of reviewed ethical decision-making models with almost all ( n = 52) models arranging the recommended behaviors sequentially and less than half ( n = 23) including a problem-solving approach. All nine ethical decision-making steps clustered around the ethical decision-making steps in the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts published by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board ( 2020 ) suggesting broad professional consensus for the behaviors likely involved in ethical decision making.

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ethical problem solving model in counselling

The only way is ethics Therapy Today, July 2018 Volume 29 Issue 6

With the latest revision of the Ethical Framework , has the counselling profession finally grown up? Catherine Jackson reports

BACP’s 2018 Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions comes into effect this month – a planned update to the 2016 revision to fill gaps identified in the first version and acknowledge changing client needs and legal requirements.

Some of the changes are quite small: the all-important ‘Commitments’ section now includes an additional commitment to ‘provide an appropriate standard of service’. The Commitments are also now available as a stand-alone document that can be downloaded from the BACP website and given to clients or colleagues from other professions.

There is a revised section on record keeping, to reflect the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). New points have also been added about gender identity and sexual orientation, to explicitly acknowledge BACP’s commitment to the Memorandum of Understanding on conversion therapy.

There are completely new sections on relationships with former clients, spelling out in much greater detail when it might be possible to engage in a personal relationship with someone who is no longer a client; on breaks and endings, including provision should the practitioner become severely ill or die, and on working with colleagues and in teams, stressing the need to treat them with the same dignity and respect that we accord our clients. ‘It seems that in some agencies, practitioners were exhausting their compassion and empathy on their work with clients and not expressing that with their colleagues,’ says Tim Bond, who has been lead author on all of BACP’s ethical frameworks since the 2002 version, which marked a radical departure from the preceding, more prescriptive Code of Conduct.

There is more about and for supervisors and trainees. For supervisors, there is clarification on their responsibilities vis-à-vis trainees on placement, reminding them that they need to collaborate with training and placement providers in order to ensure that the trainee’s client work meets professional standards. There is a reminder to supervisees and trainees of their own duty to be open and honest in supervision and on placements, and to raise any significant difficulties or challenges they may be encountering in their client work. Supervisors, trainers and educators are asked to provide a space where supervisees and trainees feel able to bring any difficulties and they will be heard ‘without blame or unjustified criticism’ and helped to resolve them. ‘The role of supervisors produced quite a lot of feedback,’ Tim Bond says. ‘It was important to affirm that supervisors have a legitimate and valued role that is ongoing and isn’t only a service for trainees.’

There is a whole new section directly addressed to trainees, outlining their professional responsibilities, including informing clients that they are trainees and that they should treat each other with respect and follow ethical good practice when working together. Significantly, they are also told they need to raise concerns if they encounter any contractual conflicts around standards and levels of service when they are on placement, and they are reminded that they are professionally accountable for their work, even though they are not yet qualified; they cannot pass the buck to their college, trainers or supervisor. Says Tim Bond: ‘Our research confirmed what we suspected, that trainees are major users of the Ethical Framework , so we have included a specific section on them as we feel it is important not to miss an opportunity to embed it in their practice in the early stages. But we also wanted to set out some principles on issues such as how do you create the right learning environment for trainees that permits them to experiment and make mistakes as they learn.’

The section on working with children has also been expanded to include more about consent. It now also underlines the need for the practitioner to have specialist knowledge of child development issues and how relationships are formed, and also about different cultural parenting/caregiving practices and how children and young people interact with each other and other significant people in their lives.

Finally, there’s an updated glossary of terms and index, for easy reference.

Living document

Some may question the need for a new version quite so soon after the major 2016 revision. Tim Bond points out that the 2016 framework was always regarded as a ‘living document’ that would adapt and respond to the changing needs of the profession and its clients and the rapidly changing wider world. The 2018 revision is based on a survey of the membership, to which some 1200 responded, and analysis of other key data sources, including members’ concerns raised with the BACP Ethics Helpdesk and clients’ calls to the Ask Kathleen service, and the annual monitoring reports submitted by BACP accredited courses, which shed useful light on the needs of trainees.

‘The overall feedback was that the Ethical Framework worked well for most but more was wanted on specific points or issues,’ Tim says. ‘We are hoping we have got it about right this time but we are likely to repeat the review in two to four years. The profession is constantly changing and so too is the world around us, with new demands and requirements, such as the new data protection regulations, and the Ethical Framework needs to be responsive to those changes.’

The framework has certainly got longer. The section on ‘Good practice’ in particular has grown quite considerably. It has also, in places, acquired a more directive tone, despite the original intention that it should simply set out the commitments and principles and encourage members to seek detailed guidance in the accompanying library of Good Practice documents.

‘We are having to be more directive,’ Tim Bond says. ‘I wish that were not the case. My guiding principle in 2016 and this revision was that the client has to be able to trust us as practitioners and, as we are going to be faced with a whole plethora of different circumstances, we have to be able to use our judgment in the event as to how to respond. I would like to think we are professional enough and mature enough to do that but some members, for good reasons, just need more guidance. They understand the principle but need to know what to do in practice. I underestimated people’s terror of codes and ethical frameworks.’

Lynne Gabriel, Professor of Counselling and Mental Health at York St John University, Director of its counselling and mental health clinic and a past chair of BACP, has been closely involved in the production and roll-out of the Ethical Framework . She says the counselling professions have, at long last, come of age, and need to shoulder and demonstrate their ability to act like professionals. ‘This latest iteration of the framework recognises that the profession is growing up, and we want our profession to grow up. It makes me think of the concept of the executive function in transactional analysis, which is attached to our adult ego state. Our problem is that, faced with an ethical dilemma, our adult ego state flies out of the window, but hopefully not so far that we can’t grab it back! This version of the Framework implicitly and explicitly invites the practitioner to get into the executive function. We are professionals and we need to be able to stand up and hold our own as a mature, respected profession, and that requires us to formalise certain things. For me, this is an invitation to elicit our inner adult. We can stand alongside counselling psychologists. We have arrived.’

Alistair Ross chaired the expert reference group whose deliberations helped shape the 2016 Ethical Framework . Director of Psychodynamic Studies and Psychology at Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education and former chair of the BACP’s Professional Ethics and Quality Standards Committee, he thinks counsellors tend to misunderstand the underlying principle on which the Ethical Framework rests: it doesn’t seek to tell them how to practise, it offers basic principles to guide their own ethical decision-making. But counsellors either seem to regard it as a prescriptive set of rules or they panic when it doesn’t tell them exactly what to do.

There’s an extent to which counsellors struggle with the uncertainty that is intrinsic to the counselling process itself, he argues. ‘When the client comes into the room, you never know what they are going to say. It could be the same as last week or something completely different, but that is what makes it such a live profession. There are no set responses. It’s not like buying a house; there are no stock steps to take. That uncertainty is intrinsic to the job. I think people project their negative emotions onto the Ethical Framework so it becomes a critical parent; it becomes symbolic of people’s anxieties. We project out our fears.

‘I see it as a positive tool; other members probably see it as a guillotine, wound up and waiting to fall on their necks. The counselling profession can help people but it also can harm them and, because we are aware of that, we turn the Ethical Framework into a trap, waiting to strike.’

Alistair, Lynne and Faisal Mahmood, Senior Lecturer in Counselling & Psychotherapy at the Newman University in Birmingham, have been involved in the production of a new video resource to support ethical decision-making (see box). Faisal recalls his own attitude to the BACP Code of Conduct, as it was, when he trained. ‘Certainly, for me, it held strong connotations of fear, and that is how it was introduced to us by our tutors. That has changed for me. I now see it very much as a supportive document, affirming and validating my professional practice, and that is how I introduce it to my students.’

Over-regulation

Another common complaint is that the Ethical Framework is part of a BACP project to regulate counselling and psychotherapy so tightly that it encourages defensive practice and stifles innovation. ‘In an ideal world, regulation should be unnecessary but we were aware, in our current culture and society, that all professions are more regulated and we have to engage with that regulated environment if we are to be considered a serious profession,’ Tim Bond says. ‘Too much detail can be infuriating, but it is part of a framework of providing better protection for clients.

‘In the pre-regulation days there was indeed some brilliant practice, but there was also some pretty eccentric and awful practice. I hope we have kept the space for the brilliance but are establishing a more predictable baseline. We need to honour the trust and confidence people have to place in us when they seek our help, and for some, when it goes wrong, it can be pretty disastrous.’

Tim is anxious to remind BACP members of what it is that is so very radical about the 2016 framework and the 2018 revision: that it opens with and foregrounds ‘Our commitment to clients’ throughout, rather than setting out a list of ‘duties’ with which practitioners are supposed to comply, as is more common in professional codes of conduct. ‘These ethical commitments are expressed as both a collective and a personal commitment made by members of BACP to their clients, not an obedience to some impersonal authority,’ he says. It’s an approach that emerged from the webinars we held leading to the writing of the 2016 version as more appropriate to services where the relationship between client and practitioner is an essential part of what is being offered.

‘A key aim of this review was to check this new approach and ensure that members have been given every opportunity to own their ethics.’

‘If we are changing people’s lives then we need to put people, not the therapist, at the centre,’ Alistair Ross says. ‘We need to demonstrate that we are a trustworthy profession by being utterly transparent about what our commitment to our clients is. Anyone can open the Ethical Framework and read the first few pages and come away thinking “These people are on my side”.’

Decision-making for ethical practice: Stop, think, identify the situation or problem Construct a description of the situation Consider whose ethical issue or challenge it is Review the situation in terms of the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions Consider principles and values of relevance to the issue Reflect upon the relational processes that have played out in the situation Identify what support is available Identify an ethical goal Consider possible courses of action to achieve the ethical goal Implement the chosen course of action Evaluate the outcome Check for personal impact

Embedded in practice

Now that it is formally launched, the work goes on to embed the revised Ethical Framework in professional practice. A key target group is, of course, students. Faisal Mahmood says training curricula should give more time to ethics, including space for students to explore, discuss and ‘own’ the Framework. As part of the ethics training on his course, he asks each new student intake what the Ethical Framework means to them. ‘Very often, they come up with phrases like “We need to be careful”, “Is my practice good enough?”, and “This is a standard it will take us many years to achieve”. Then I say, if they were asked to design a set of guidelines and standards for the counselling profession, what would they include? And they come up with much the same content – confidentiality, abuse of power, all those bedrock issues. Of course, it is easier in clear-cut cases of abuse of power and breach of confidentiality; it’s the grey areas where they really start to engage with the framework, when we move on to doing exercises on specific ethical dilemmas. But they completely move away from this “‘must do/must not do” place.’

‘You need to introduce ethics to students in a way that engages them, not scares them, although sometimes I think we are right to feel a frisson of fear; after all, we are dealing with people’s lives. Ethics are there all the time, in the micro-moments, not just the macro,’ says Lynne Gabriel. ‘What is perhaps more worrying is the potential complacency of the experienced practitioner who forgets or chooses not to engage with new practice and new research. I absolutely understand the anxiety of the new practitioner – they need help to translate the ethical concepts and guidelines into actual practice. That is the role of supervisors, mentors and trainers.’

Alistair Ross says supervisors are the prime route to practitioners. ‘Supervisors are the group I would want the Ethical Framework to reach. They could routinely ask every supervisee, every supervision session, what are the ethical issues that the work they’ve brought raises.

‘The Ethical Framework is BACP’s crown jewels. It sets out what we believe and what we aspire to, some of the things we do and some of the things not to do. I would love supervisors to have annual reviews with all their supervisees where they look back over the year through the lens of the Ethical Framework , and ask, “What have you been doing really well? Where have you got stuck and where do you need to develop?” We need to get away from all the projected anxiety and fear and tackle that attitude that you only need to think about ethics when things have gone wrong.’

You can find the new Ethical Framework , Good Practice in Action resources and other supporting information in Ethics and standards .

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IMAGES

  1. An introduction to ethical problem solving in counselling

    ethical problem solving model in counselling

  2. ethical decision making model example

    ethical problem solving model in counselling

  3. Problem Solving Therapy Examples

    ethical problem solving model in counselling

  4. Ethical Decision-Making

    ethical problem solving model in counselling

  5. Solving ethical problems

    ethical problem solving model in counselling

  6. Practice Guidelines

    ethical problem solving model in counselling

VIDEO

  1. Solving Ethical Dilemmas in Accounting

  2. Module 4: Ethical Problem Solving

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  5. Asking AI An Ethical Problem #experiment #ai #shorts

  6. Ethical Issues in Counseling / Psychotherapy Practice (Week 2)

COMMENTS

  1. PDF Practioner's Guide to Ethical Decision Making

    To assist American Counseling Association (ACA) members in meeting this challenge, the authors have developed the Practitioner's Guide to Ethical Decision Making as a framework for sound ethical decision making. This document addresses the guiding principles that are globally valuable in ethical decision making and presents a model that ...

  2. Self-Actualisation

    012 - Self-Actualisation - Solving Ethical Problems - Seven Stages Of Process in Practice 2 - Difference between Counselling and Psychotherapy In episode 12 of the Counselling Tutor Podcast, Rory Lees-Oakes and Ken Kelly look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Rory presents an approach to solving ethical problems, while Ken continues his application of Carl […]

  3. Examination of Ethical Decision-Making Models Across Disciplines

    Moreover, some models incorporate a problem-solving approach wherein multiple behaviors are considered along with their possible outcomes to aid decision making in ethical contexts (Rosenberg & Schwartz, 2019). Existing models within the behavior analytic literature have all emerged in the last 7 years and offer a discipline-specific approach.

  4. An introduction to ethical problem solving in counselling

    An introduction to ethical problem solving in counselling - Tim Bond CounsellingTutor 53.1K subscribers 292 43K views 12 years ago

  5. PDF Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions

    Conclusion esolution of dilemmas, and solutions to problems. A good understanding of the ethics that underpin our work is a valuable resource which is helpful in making significant decisions. The use of an ethical problem-solving model and discu

  6. PDF Ethical Decicion Making Model Questions

    Check for personal impact. Questions for consideration. Stop, think, identify the situation or problem. Construct a description of the situation. Consider whose ethical issues or challenge it is. Review the situation in terms of the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions. • Why do I think there's a potential problem here?

  7. BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions

    The use of an ethical problem-solving model and discussion about ethics are essential to good practice. This Ethical Framework is intended to assist practitioners by directing attention to the variety of ethical factors that may need to be taken into consideration and to identify alternative ways of approaching ethics that may prove more useful.

  8. PDF Ethical decision-making in the context of the counselling professions

    For supervisors, referring to BACP's Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions, advising supervisees to contact the Ethics Helpdesk service, advising them to discuss the issue with their line manager and directing them to suitable ethical decision-making models or checklists, were key.

  9. PDF Ethical Dilemmas in Psychotherapy: Positive Approaches to Decision Making

    In this book, we offer maps in the form of three models: the ethical decision-making model, quality enhancement model, and ethics acculturation model. We have found that psychologists can use these models either separately or in combination to address the three themes embedded in ethically problematic situations, thereby resolving, mitigating ...

  10. Essential Steps for Ethical Problem-Solving

    1. DETERMINE whether there is an ethical issue or/and dilemma. Is there a conflict of values, or rights, or professional responsibilities? (For example, there may be an issue of self-determination of an adolescent versus the well-being of the family.) 2.

  11. Responding to ethical dilemmas and issues

    Tim Bond introduces the Responding to ethical dilemmas and issues section of the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions

  12. PDF Ethical decision making within the counselling professions

    This question is especially controversial as counselling relationships must necessarily be culture sensitive and therefore the ethical problem is not confined to the awareness of the practitioners as to potential ethical dilemmas but also in resolving any conflict between cultural practices and the requirements of the code of ethics.

  13. PDF Microsoft Word

    The intent of this document is to offer professional counselors a framework for sound ethical decision making. The following will address both guiding principles that are globally valuable in ethical decision making, and a model that professionals can utilize as they address ethical questions in their work.

  14. PDF The Case of Gina and Her Sons

    profession with the use of the ethical guidelines are what all counselors should use as a " to influence their practice, and help them when faced with ethical dile mas. The newly revised 2014 code of ethics requires counselors to use solving model when dealing with an ethical dilemma (Meyers, 2014, pg.6). While ethical

  15. BACP Ethical Framework

    If it stays unclear what is the best ethical practice after trying ethical problem-solving - because the choices are so evenly balanced - would it be appropriate to involve the client in choosing the best option?

  16. Solutions to Ethical Problems in Schools

    One way to approach this dilemma is through the Solutions to Ethical Problems in Schools (STEPS) ethical-decision-making model, from "School Counseling Principles: Ethics and Law," by Carolyn Stone, Ed.D. This nine-step school-specific method involves: 1. Defining the problem emotionally and intellectually. 2.

  17. 278

    Ethical problem solving - set yourself up to be prepared to deal with these problems when they arise. Some possible ethical issues in counselling: Maybe you and the client have a mutual friend/acquaintance. They may disclose self-harm or plans to harm another. The client might show up to a session under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

  18. Ten Barriers to Ethical Decisions in Counselling

    Barriers to ethical decision making in counseling include financial incentives, perfectionism, fear of criticism, high affiliative needs, and more.

  19. BACP Ethical Framework

    A good understanding of the ethics that underpin our work is a valuable resource which is helpful in making significant decisions. The use of an ethical problem-solving model and discussion about ethics are essential to good practice.

  20. PDF ET_covers_DEC_2009.indd

    Ethics for counselling and psychotherapy This statement, Ethics for Counselling and Psychotherapy, unifies and replaces all the earlier codes for counsellors, trainers and supervisors. It is intended to guide the practice of counselling and psychotherapy by all members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and inform the practice of closely related roles that are ...

  21. Towards ethical decision-making in counselling research

    Abstract This paper explores the process of ethical decision-making in counselling research and asks the question: after following ethical guidelines, reviewing ethical principles and consulting codes of practice, to what extent is our decision-making based on intuitive thinking? The paper begins by examining Kitchener's model of ethical justification and the ethical principles upon which it ...

  22. Examination of Ethical Decision-Making Models Across ...

    Human service practitioners from varying fields make ethical decisions daily. At some point during their careers, many behavior analysts may face ethical decisions outside the range of their previous education, training, and professional experiences. To help practitioners make better decisions, researchers have published ethical decision-making models; however, it is unknown the extent to ...

  23. The only way is ethics

    The only way is ethicsTherapy Today, July 2018 Volume 29 Issue 6. With the latest revision of the Ethical Framework, has the counselling profession finally grown up? Catherine Jackson reports. BACP's 2018 Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions comes into effect this month - a planned update to the 2016 revision to fill gaps ...