Coun 501 Ethical Decision Making Model

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Ethical Decision Making Model

Amy J. Sayler

Department of Psychology and Counseling, Hood College

COUN 501: Professional, Legal and Ethical Responsibilities

Dr. Nicola Meade

September 3, 2020
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Ethical Decision Making Model

In reviewing the different ethical decision making models, I found myself drawn to a

number of them. I liked aspects of many of the models, but I kept coming back to the straight

forward completeness of the Practitioner's Ethical Decision Making Model issued by the

American Counseling Association’s Center for Counseling, Policy and Research (Forester-Miller

& Davis, 2016). This model has no ambiguity. It presents concrete steps with deeper

fundamental aspects to consider at each step. This model ensures that all of the aspects

associated with an ethical decision are covered: who is the issue related to, what ethical, legal or

professional codes are applicable, what the implications of this issue are in terms of the

fundamental counseling principles of autonomy, justice, beneficence, maleficence, and fidelity,

and an emphasis on diversity and/or cultural considerations. The model requires a complete

assessment of all possible actions, a consultation with colleagues, and a full review of all

possible consequences and outcomes for all parties involved. Then, when the best action or

actions have been been chosen, the model requires further assessment of the action to ensure

there are no new ethical considerations, the action is fair and something the counselor would be

comfortable sharing with the public, and the counselor is confident that they would recommend

the same action to another counselor in the same situation. (I found these ideas: justice, publicity

and universality, to be highly appropriate and logical.) Once the action has been implemented,

the model requires follow up to ensure the action ended up having the desired outcome and there

were no unintended consequences. The process outlined in this model is thorough and straight

forward, and if all steps are followed, I feel a counselor would be well equipped to make a

sound, ethical decision.


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References

Forester-Miller, H., & Davis, T. E. (2016). ​Practitioner’s guide to ethical decision making

(Rev. ed.). Retrieved from

http://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/practioner’s-guide-to-

ethical-decision-making.pdf

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