Comparing and Contrasting the Codes of Ethics in the Counseling Profession Essay

ABSTRACT Since most Christian counsellors enter the profession with the objectiveof helping people, these individuals are unlikely to inflict intentionalharm against clients. Despite these good intentions, the existence ofethical dilemmas challenges a counsellor's ability to solve problemswithout exacting accidental harm. There are various ethical boundariesthat foster conduct guidelines for each profession. In the counsellingprofession, two specific agencies, the American Counselling Association(ACA) and the American Association of Christian Counsellors (AACC),present objectives that contain both similarities and differences withrespect to their ethical guidelines. While these codes vary in theirapproach to counselling guidelines, they both establish the importanceof ethics in the context of counselling sessions. The followingdiscussion will compare and contrast the key similarities anddifferences between each agency. General SimilaritiesBoth the AACC (2004) and the ACA (2005) emphasized the principle ofmaintaining a professional demeanour, while demonstrating the importanceof the client's personal welfare. Accordingly, both codes possesssimilar elements that include competence, professionalism, theprocessing of ethical complaints, professional values, and continuedtraining. The ACA (2005) guidelines on counsellor competence stipulatethat counsellors must possess adequate professional and personalqualifications before providing their services to clients. Similarly,the AACC (2004 1-210) states that Christian counsellors should not offerservices or work beyond the limits of their competence and the agencyshould not aid or abet the work of untrained and unqualified helpers.Furthermore, the AACC (2004) code maintains that counsellors shouldpreserve honourable relationships with clients and avoid all actions andappearances of greed, while the ACA code encourages counsellors to gainknowledge, personal awareness, sensitivity, and skills for working witha diverse clientele. Although this mandate seems to differ from that ofthe AACC (2004), issues such as personal sensitivity and awareness helpto ensure that counsellors do not exploit others in their professionalrelationships while attempting to understand and respect differentapproaches to counselling. AACC (2004) counsellors recognize that theirinteractions with colleagues can influence the quality of servicesprovided to clients, and thus, they strive to increase their knowledgeabout colleagues within and outside of the counselling field. In bothethical codes, counsellors should develop positive working...

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