Ethics and Legal Issues in School Counseling Final Exam

Many states have laws requiring reports of suspected abuse of all of the following EXCEPT:

Abused spouses or domestic partners.

When counseling a client from a racial, ethnic, or cultural group different from the counselor's, it is important for the counselor to remember that

Although certain groups share similar traits or beliefs, each individual is unique and may not be like most others from his or her group.

Laws

Are agreed upon rules that are set forth by principles allowing people to live together in a society.

When documenting for self-protection

As much detail as possible (e.g., dates, times of events, and exact words spoken) should be included.

The best statement about the nature of professional ethics in counseling is that

Because there are few absolute, right answers to ethical practice questions, consultation with counseling colleagues is very important when making ethical decisions.

Counselors who function according to mandatory ethics

Believe that their duty is to comply with basic "must" and "must not" statements in codes of ethics, and nothing more.

When it comes to determining who has the right to make decisions regarding a child's life, the law favors

Biological parents

Boundaries serve to protect the welfare of clients because

Clients are vulnerable in counseling relationships.

As advocates, counselors are aware that

Clients' mental health is affected by their experiences of discrimination and marginalization.

With respect to confidentiality and privileged communication

Confidentiality is primarily an ethical issue, and privileged communication is primarily a legal issue.

When you have an ethical question and you are having trouble making a decision, counselors are best advised to

Consult with colleagues.

If a formal ethics complaint is filed against you, you should NOT

Contact the client who filed the complaint to see if you can work things out.

The term "culturally encapsulated counselor" refers to a counselor who

Defines reality according to one set of cultural assumptions and fails to evaluate other viewpoints, which renders the counselor insensitive to cultural variations.

Competence is most closely related to the moral principle of

Do not harm

Generally, counselors create clinical case notes

For their own use, so that they may be effective counselors.

Cultural competencies in working with LGBTQIQ clients include

Having a comfort and familiarity with LGBTQIQ sexuality and how it is expressed.

Within the counseling profession, the primary goal of counseling is to

Help clients accomplish wellness.

When counseling clients who are terminally ill and wish to explore end-of-life decisions, counselors should do all of the following EXCEPT

Inform the terminally ill client's family that the client is considering various end of life options, and involve the family in the decision -making process.

Malpractice is a type of civil lawsuit that can be filed against counseling professionals for practicing in a manner that leads to

Injury to a recipient of their services.

The standard used to determine whether a particular counselor is qualified to administer and interpret a particular test

Is not absolute and each counselor must make that determination for himself/herself.

The following are true of distance counseling services EXCEPT:

It can provide clients with greater access to counseling services.

Once counselors have disclosed their legal questions to their immediate supervisors and have received a response either from the supervisor or from an attorney who is advising them as to the proper course of action,

It is essential for counselors to follow legal advice given to them, even if they do not agree with it.

Law and ethics differ in that

Laws dictate minimum standards of behavior that society will tolerate, whereas ethics represent the ideal standards expected by the profession.

Privileged communication statutes

Make it a crime for counselors to reveal confidential communications with their clients unless their clients give them written permission to disclose the information.

A fundamental tenet of the wellness model is that

Mental health exists along a continuum.

Within the counseling profession, the primary national voluntary certification agency is

National Board for Certified Counselors.

School counselors have a legal obligation to do all of the following EXCEPT:

Obtain written parental permission before counseling students in most circumstances

A core belief that members of the counseling profession hold concerning helping others with their mental health concerns is

Prevention and early intervention are the most appropriate means to deal with emotional and personal problems.

At their most fundamental level, codes of ethics serve to

Protect and promote the welfare of the client.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which is sometimes referred to as the "Buckley Amendment," affects all.

Public educational institutions.

Which of the following is TRUE of cultural diversity in technology use:

Researchers have found that technology use is generally uniform across cultural boundaries.

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)

Sets standards for preparing counselors, social workers, and school psychologists.

The ACA Code of Ethics requires counselors to explain to clients, before testing takes place, all of the following EXCEPT

That clients may ask questions while they are taking the test if any items are confusing to them.

Legal principles view the contents of a client's counseling records as belonging to

The client

When a client accuses a counselor of wrongdoing through a complaint with the counselor's licensure board or through a malpractice law suit filed in court

The client automatically waives his or her privacy rights and the counselor can reveal private information related to providing counseling services to the client.

When the client is deceased and there is no statutory language dealing with privilege and the death of the holder, the individual who usually is allowed to assert the privilege is

The client's legal representative.

When a counselor who is working under supervision shares confidential information about clients with her or his supervisor

This is acceptable behavior because the supervisor needs the information in order to supervise effectively

Family counselors often view the family system as their client and treat the family as one entity, as opposed to treating individual family members, and our laws

View family members as having separate and distinct rights and responsibilities that are individual in nature.

Counselors who practice from a developmental perspective

View most problems people encounter as natural and normal because all developmental stages of life bring challenges.

While principle ethics asks the question, "What should I do?" virtue ethics asks the question,

What should I be?

Counselors may view a client's social media profile.

When the client has given the counselor consent to view the information.

In the process of explaining informed consent in family counseling, counselors should

describe possible changes in family relationships that could occur as a result of family counseling.

In distance counseling, informed consent should include

distance counseling credentials, cultural/language differences, time zone differences, emergency procedures to follow if the counselor is not available, anticipated response time, and possible denial of insurance.

If a counselor wants a person other than a biological parent (such as a step-parent or grandparent) to have confidential information regarding a child client, a simple solution is to

get a signed statement from from one of the biological parent allowing the counselor to disclose information to the step-parent or grandparent.

The only dual relationships that are prohibited by the ACA Code of Ethics are those

involving a sexual relationship between the client and the counselor.

A counselor's self-disclosure in a counseling session

may be acceptable if the counselor believes the disclosure will benefit the client.

Parents who object to their child's participation in counseling

may have the right to demand that services be discontinued.

In order for a counselor to be competent to engage in group work, the counselor

must have had a minimum of group work preparation and supervised experience.

Supervision agreements between a clinical supervisor and supervisee

should be in writing so both parties understand the terms of the relationship clearly

Because children cannot give their legal consent to participate in family counseling

they should be informed of the process of family counseling and their consent should be secured even though it is not legally required.