Ethical and Legal Guidelines

Ethical counseling, research, and assessment practices go beyond documented compliance with the various ethical standards, mandates, and regulations. These various standards are rooted in the principles of ethical behavior which include autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, fidelity, and veracity.  Ethical codes and regulations draw from these foundational principles as well as real life lessons learned from the decades of experiences, learnings, and research of the counseling industry.

Ethical practice cover processes in counseling beginning with the intake and progressing through assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and termination.  Informed consent, limits of confidentiality related to payment procedures, duty to protect, duty to warn, and the handling of personal health information are all important actions which require ethical conduct.