CHAPTER 12 COUNSELING FAMILIES AND GROUPS-ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN COUNSELING.
What is the difference between what a family counselor generally favors and what the law favors?
Counselor favors the family member who wants privacy, whereas the law usually favors the family member who wants the information revealed.
What does standard (§B.4.b.) state?
Counselors seek agreement and document in writing such agreement among all involved parties regarding the confidentiality of information.
If the counseling goals of one family member are different from or even antithetical to the wishes of another member, whose interests does the counselor serve?
Family counselors need to consider their responsibilities to each of the parties involved in the counseling process.
What does standard Standard A.8. provides?
Guidance in the event the counselor is called upon to perform conflicting roles and requires that, in such circumstances, "the counselor will clarify, adjust, or withdraw from roles appropriately."
In the event that a counselor wants a person other than a biological parent to have confidential information regarding a child client, what should a counselor do?
Have a biological parent sign a form allowing the counselor to disclose information to the other person.
What is a confidentiality issue that emerges frequently in family counseling?
How to deal with family secrets: information that one family member has shared with the counselor but has withheld from a spouse, children, or other family members
When privileged is waive?
If a third party is presented.
What does the Children's Rights Council (2014) provides?
Information regarding custody and parenting that is helpful to parents and those who help parents.
What is triangulation?
Is a kind of subgrouping created when the counselor and the family member with the secret collude in withholding information from the other family member(s). Some family counselors make it a policy to refuse to see family members individually to avoid becoming recipients of secrets
When counselors begin counseling with an individual client and then change the focus to family counseling, what would they need to revisit?
Issues related to goals, informed consent, parameters of confidentiality, and treatment planning.
12-1 The Case of Kenneth Kenneth is a private practitioner who is licensed as a professional counselor and as a marriage and family therapist. He receives a telephone call from Mr. Marquez, who wants to make an appointment for himself and his two children, ages 10 and 12. He states that he and his wife have been having serious marital difficulties, which are taking their toll on the children, who are beginning to act out both at home and at school. He adds that his wife is supportive of their wish to seek counseling but that she refuses to participate in the process because she believes the marital problems are entirely his fault. How do you think Kenneth should respond to this request from Mr. Marquez? If Kenneth begins counseling with Mr. Marquez and his two children, what issues should he keep in mind?
Kenneth might agree to see the family members who are willing to engage in counseling. If he does so, he should explain to Mr. Marquez the problems that exist when one family member is unwilling to participate. If Kenneth begins counseling with Mr. Marquez and his children, he will need to be careful to avoid allowing the three attending family members to blame the absent wife/mother for problems that are occurring in the family. He should, instead, keep the focus on helping Mr. Marquez and each child examine their own behavior and how it contributes positively and negatively to the family dynamics.
What is the difference between legal and physical custody?
Legal custody is focused on parental decision making, whereas physical custody is related to time spent with a minor child.
What doe counselor belief when counseling families?
That actions taken by any family member will influence the other members and that their reactions in turn will have a reciprocal effect on the individual.
What does Standard A.8. of the Code of Ethics (ACA, 2014) states?
That counselors clarify at the outset "which person or persons are clients and the nature of the relationships the counselor will have with each involved person."
What does the standard B.4.b. says?
That counselors first clearly define who is considered the client, and the standard states, "Counselors seek agreement and document in writing such agreement among all involved parties regarding the confidentiality of information.
What does the ACA Code of Ethics (ACA, 2014) encourages counselors to recognize?
That families are usually important forces in clients' lives.
What does Standard A.6.d. states
That when changing from individual to relationship or family counseling, or vice versa, counselors obtain informed consent from the client and "explain the right of the client to refuse services related to the change."
What is the concept behind paradoxical directives or interventions.?
The concept behind the technique is that if authorities instruct persons to do things that are against their best interests, they will defy the counselor and correct the behavior on their own
What would the family system focus on?
The focus of the counseling process and that no one family member will be treated as the identified patient who is the source of the family's problems.
Judges base custody decisions entirely on the expressed preferences of the ____________________________
child to allowing judges to disregard those preferences entirely. Most judges will consider the wishes of a child regarding custody, particularly if the child is older
The law always views family members as
having separate and distinct rights and responsibilities that are individual in nature.
What is the difference between family counseling and group counseling?
is that group members usually do not know each other and do not have personal relationships with each other outside the group counseling environment.
Directives given by counselors are sometimes called ____________________________________
prescriptions. A professional who prescribes behavior must ensure that no one is harmed as a result of the directives.
Counselors who provide services to couples or families on a regular basis should consult two specialized codes of ethics that have been developed by
the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors (IAMFC), a division within the American Counseling Association (ACA); and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).
When paradoxical directives are used in the strategic family counseling model, according to Carlson et al. (1997), "The therapist assigns tasks in which success is based on _____________________________________________________________
the family defying instructions or following them to an extreme point and ultimately recoiling, thus producing change"
Family counselors often view the family system as
their client and treat the family, as opposed to treating individual members of a family.
Ethical practice demands that family counselors make every effort to minimize the risks to individuals. One way to accomplish this is
to encourage family members to question how counseling relates to their needs and goals as well as to those of the family. This kind of discussion should take place as part of the informed consent process and throughout counseling, as needed.
They note that 95% of victims of physical abuse are
women.
What is the first question the counselor needs to answer is?
"Who is the client?" Although family counselors see the entire family system as their client, the answer to this seemingly basic question is not that simple.
What biases can a counselor become vulnerable to?
(a) placing less importance on the demands of a woman's career than on those of a man (b) encouraging couples to accept the belief that raising children is primarily the mother's responsibility (c) seeing a woman's extramarital affair as more serious than a man's. (d) assuming that marriage is the best choice for a woman
We are exposing our own biases when we suggest that some goals worth striving for, in your work with couples and families, might include the following:
(a) practicing in a gender-aware manner, (b) being open to nontraditional roles and relationships, (c) helping family members identify ways that their views on gender roles may be contributing to their problems, and (d) continually monitoring your own behavior for unintended bias, such as looking more at the wife when discussing child rearing and more at the husband when discussing financial issues.
Mention some strategies that counselors used when family members refused to participate
1- Some family counselors is to withhold services until all family members agree to participate in counseling. The problem with this practice is that the counselor thereby cooperates with the resistant family member by keeping the rest of the family from receiving counseling. 2- Inviting the reluctant family member to attend one individual session to explain the counseling process and address any fears the person may have, referring the willing family members to individual counseling with other providers until the entire family is ready to enter into counseling, and sending the nonparticipating member a letter explaining the family counseling process and changes that might occur as a result of counseling
When working with families, the issue of informed consent is complicated. The counselor must attempt to ensure that consent to counseling is given freely after clear and sufficient information has been provided and must also address the following questions:
1-Who gives consent on behalf of the family? 2-Who in the family is seeking counseling, and are any participants reluctant to participate? Can family members who feel pressured to join in the counseling process give truly free consent? 3-What happens when one of the adults in the family refuses to give consent for family counseling? 4-How capable are potential participants—particularly children—of understanding what they are getting into? 5-How can counselors adequately address the reality that there will be changes in the family system, as well as in individual members, as a result of counseling?
Who should counselor be able to communicate with in family counseling?
Adolescents and children in a way that enables them to understand their role in the family counseling process, and then request their consent to participate
What should a counselor inform to those clients that live in states where privilege does exist in family counseling?
Assure clients that they would not willingly disclose information from their sessions, but they also should inform clients that other family members may not have the same obligation to keep the relationship confidential.
What does the law states about minor or legally incompetent family member?
Can exercise rights only through parents or legal guardians
What are the ethical concerns that are particularly challenging when counseling families?
Competence, consent, confidentiality, competing interests (Koocher, 2008), protecting client welfare, and the potential for imposition of counselor values.
12-3 The Case of David Mrs. Jones brings her 12-year-old daughter to school and enrolls her midyear. As she is enrolling her daughter, Mrs. Jones produces a legal document that she says gives her full legal custody of her daughter and terminates all of her husband's parental rights. She instructs David, the school counselor, that if her former husband inquires about his daughter, the school should give him no information and certainly should not allow him to see or pick up her daughter from the school. How should David respond to Mrs. Jones's request? What should the school officials do in this case?
Discussion: David should not try to deal with this matter; he should refer Mrs. Jones to the school principal. The principal should read the court order to determine what the language actually says about the custody rights of Mrs. Jones and her former husband. If the language is unclear, the principal should ask the school district attorney to interpret it. The principal would also be wise to ask the lawyer how to handle the situation if the former husband shows up at the school and demands to see or take his daughter from school.
What should family counselors must keep in mind, when working with nontraditional families?
Only biological parents or court-appointed guardians have legal rights of control and authority over children. Often, one or more biological parents who are not present in a family have legal rights that must be considered when family decisions regarding children are made.
12-2 The Case of Sanjeev Sanjeev recently began counseling a couple, Margaret and Jason, who were having marital problems after 3 years of marriage. They have one child, a daughter who is 1 year old. During the first two sessions, Jason tearfully admitted to having had an extramarital affair with one of Margaret's good friends during their first year of marriage. The affair lasted 6 months. Margaret had suspected that Jason was romantically involved with her friend, but she was not sure about it until Jason admitted it in the counseling session. Before the third counseling session occurred, Margaret told Jason that she could no longer live with him because of his affair with her friend and that she was filing for divorce, alimony, and child support. Jason called and canceled the third session and reported to Sanjeev what Margaret had said to him. Now, 1 year later, Margaret's attorney has subpoenaed Sanjeev to attend a deposition to discuss Jason's admission of the affair in the counseling session. Yesterday, Sanjeev received a call from Jason saying that he did not want Sanjeev to reveal what he had said in the counseling sessions because what he said was confidential and privileged. What should Sanjeev do now? If Sanjeev does attend the deposition, how should he respond to questions?
Sanjeev should obtain legal advice immediately. An important question with which his attorney can help him is whether a statute exists in Sanjeev's state that extends privilege to family counseling situations. If there is such a statute, Sanjeev's attorney will tell him he cannot reveal confidential information at the deposition. If there is no statute, the law may require him to reveal what Jason said. Sanjeev's attorney will attempt to preserve Jason's privacy if Sanjeev asks the lawyer to do that. How Sanjeev conducts himself in the deposition depends on how his attorney has advised him. He should ask his attorney to accompany him to the deposition.
Provide different types of custody
Sole custody, split custody (one parent is awarded custody of some children, and the other parent receives custody of the remaining children), divided custody (each parent is awarded custody for part of the year), and joint custody.
What are the primary components of a custody order?
Specifically define which parent has physical possession of a child at which times and orders child support payments when appropriate.
What difficulties can be found when attempting to conduct family counseling with couples when abuse is occurring in their relationship?
The partner being abused cannot express feelings honestly in counseling sessions or risk behavior change.
Provide elements that participants have a right to understand before they make a decision to join a group
The purpose of the group, and its format, procedures, and ground rules The psychological risks involved in group participation What services can and cannot be provided within the group setting The division of responsibility between leader and participants The rights and responsibilities of group members Confidentiality and its limits Ways the group process may or may not be congruent with the participant's cultural values Freedom to leave the group if it does not turn out to be what a member wants or needs
What is what objection to paradoxical directives?
They are manipulative and deceptive.
When do a counselor encourage a victim to leave a violent relationship?
Until a safety plan is in place to ensure that this individual does not come to further harm.
What is coparent counseling?
When counselors work with both separated or divorced parents as they try to raise their children.
When can ethical and legal issues be complex?
When counselors work with more than one client at a time, as they do in family counseling and group counseling.
Mention some applications of paradoxical directives or intervention technique that are potentially dangerous are
a) a parent who is overly strict is told to become more strict in disciplining the children. b) an employee who is frantically worried about not performing up to an employer's expectations is told to be more concerned about pleasing the boss. In these two examples, it is clear how problems could manifest themselves. The parent could physically harm the children, and the employee could become so distressed as to lose the job.
The ethical obligation to reduce client dependency and foster autonomy can be particularly problematic in marriage and family therapy because, in most marriage and family therapy approaches, the counselor is seen as _____________________________________________________________
an active and directive agent of change.
