A parish minister “reminds” a presurgical patient to be “right with God” in case death results from the surgery. Or a psychotherapist insists that a woman leave her abusive husband without considering how her “faith” might inform her decision. Professional counseling, particularly when religious/spiritual elements are present, can be both a powerful and dangerous resource in the healing process. Think of religion as a conscious and socially organized expression of spirituality, based on a formal belief system about divine presence. And think of spirituality as a person’s unique relationship with whatever is beyond human experience. Because the temptation is always present for professional helpers to impose their conscious or unconscious values, ethical practice can limit the chances of inadvertently harming their clients.
To help protect both counselor and client and to promote healing, this entry considers:
- 1.
Context– how religious/spiritual elements affect the ethical dynamics of...
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Bibliography
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Links to Examples of Codes of Ethics
(Others can be found on professional association or church denominational websites.)
American Association of Christian Counselors. (n.d.). http://www.aacc.net/about-us/code-of-ethics/.
American Association of Pastoral Counselors. (n.d.). http://www.aapc.org/about-us/code-of-ethics.aspx.
American Baptist Church. (n.d.). http://www.ministerscouncil.com/WhoWeAre/EnglishEthics.aspx.
American Counseling Association. (n.d.). http://www.counseling.org/Files/FD.ashx?guid=ab7c1272-71c4-46cf-848c-f98489937dda.
National Board of Certified Counselors. (n.d.). http://www.nbcc.org/Assets/Ethics/nbcc-codeofethics.pdf.
The Evangelical Christian Church in Canada. (n.d.). http://www.cecconline.net/node/11.
The United Church of Christ. (n.d.). http://www.ucc.org/education/polity/pdf-folder/ordained-minister-s-code.pdf.
Examples of Professional Organizations
American Association of Christian Counselors. (n.d.). https://www.aacc.net/.
American Association of Pastoral Counselors. (n.d.). http://www.aapc.org/.
American Counseling Association. (n.d.). http://www.counseling.org/.
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). http://www.apa.org/.
FaithTrust Institute: Working together to end sexual and domestic violence. (n.d.). http://faithtrustinstitute.org/.
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Gustafson, W.E. (2020). Ethics in Counseling. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_9236
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