Professional Ethics Essay

1. Clearly, Dr. Conrad Hadenuf is not justified in his refusal to attend the substance abuse re-training program. His refusal to participate in the workshops merely because of his self-perceived superiority and achievements shows his negative and unprofessional attitude towards opportunities in improving his practice. His lack of interest and inactive participation during the workshop proper showed a very disturbing sign of the lack of ethical responsibility to clients wherein Hadenuff displayed how averse he is to learn more than the things he thinks he already knows. By dismissing the workshop as something that he does not need, Hadenuff also effectively deprives present and future clients with substance abuse problems with a practitioner who has an updated knowledge and skill in handling substance abuse issues. Indeed, the very reason for the existence of mandated continuing education as a requirement for license renewal is to encourage practitioners to maximize available learning opportunities so they can enhance the quality of service that they provide to clients. 2. I will refer the Chinese client to someone else who is familiar with the Chinese culture as my lack of experience and knowledge of Chinese might affect my ability to provide the client with the assistance and service that she needs. My unfamiliarity with the Chinese culture would clearly limit my ability to provide the client with quality counselling as my judgements and bias may come into conflict with Chinese values and norms. I would also inform the client that the referral is being made with her best interests in mind, and my limitations in understanding her background could impede my ability to assist her in coming up with an adequate and appropriate response to her problems. 3. I think that both Amy and Augustus are being unprofessional in their actions and attitudes. Both clearly had a weakness in establishing the proper boundaries for their relationship which has caused intimate feelings to be developed between them. Amy, as Augustus’ professor and individual supervisor, should not have encouraged Augustus’ attraction by giving him hope that it would end in a positive way. She should have told him right there and then that such a relationship would not only put her in a bad light among her colleagues and the institution she works for, but also violates her sense of professional ethics. If I were Amy’s colleagues, I would advise her not to pursue the relationship as it is imbalanced from the start. The uneven balance of power, wherein Augustus as a student, would tend to regard Amy as his superior by the mere fact that she was his professor and advisor, would clearly have an effect on an intimate relationship they are planning to have. It would not be appropriate for Amy and Augustus to date while the latter is still in the program, as it might have an impact on other students’ perception of Augustus’ status and performance in the program, although it might be acceptable once he has graduated. 4. I would not agree with the administration’s decision to keep my status as a student intern from my clients. It would be highly unethical and unprofessional to be dishonest to clients about the extent of my abilities and current capacities. Clearly, the rationale of the administrators are unacceptable as it violates the clients’ right to full discretion of the nature of service that they are being provided, including the status and the limitations of the counselor sent to them. By keeping the real status of my practice from my clients, I am violating their trust and confidence in my abilities and I could put them at risk for claiming to be a full-pledged counselling practitioner despite the truth. Thus, I would not accept the internship assignment of the community agency if accepting it would mean that I would have to be dishonest and would have to violate my potential clients’ right to full discretion of services which is unethical and unprofessional for counselling practitioners.