Ethics & Professional Standards in Career Counseling Flashcards

A career counselor discovers that a client has been sharing the counselor's proprietary assessment tool with friends. What is the most appropriate first response?

Answer: Address the issue directly with the client and clarify intellectual property expectations

Addressing the issue directly with the client preserves the relationship while clarifying boundaries around intellectual property.

Under NCDA ethical guidelines, which situation would most clearly require a career counselor to break client confidentiality?

Answer: A client reveals plans to sabotage a coworker's career

Planned harm to an identifiable third party triggers the duty to protect, which can override confidentiality obligations.

When a career counselor uses a commercially published interest inventory, ethical practice requires that the counselor:

Answer: Interpret results within the limits of their training and the test's validated purpose

Ethical test use requires interpreting results within the scope of one's training and the assessment's validated applications.

A career counselor working at a university is asked by a faculty member to share a student-client's career assessment results to inform a classroom project. The counselor should:

Answer: Share de-identified aggregate data only if the student consents

Sharing even de-identified data for third-party purposes requires client consent to uphold confidentiality.

Which of the following best describes the ethical concept of 'fidelity' in career counseling?

Answer: Honoring commitments and being trustworthy in the counseling relationship

Fidelity refers to being loyal and trustworthy, honoring promises and professional obligations to clients.

A career counselor who has recovered from substance use disorder is counseling a client with a similar history. Ethically, the counselor should:

Answer: Use their personal experience to guide interventions without disclosure unless therapeutically relevant

Self-disclosure should only occur when it serves the client's therapeutic interests, not the counselor's need to connect.

An employer asks a career counselor to conduct assessments and share results to screen job candidates. This arrangement is ethically problematic primarily because:

Answer: The employer—not the candidate—becomes the primary client, creating a conflict of interest

When the employer is the client, the counselor's obligations shift and candidates may not receive protections afforded to individual clients.