MC Master of Counseling: Ethical Guidelines and Professional Conduct 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A counselor learns through social media that a current client was recently arrested. Using this information in sessions without the client's knowledge is MOST likely a violation of:
- Confidentiality
- Informed consent and transparency (Correct answer)
- Mandatory reporting
- Duty to warn
Correct answer: Informed consent and transparency
Using information gathered outside the session without client knowledge violates the transparency and informed consent principles that govern how information is used in the therapeutic relationship.
Question 2: A counselor who works with a client for counseling and also provides career coaching to the same client for a fee is engaging in:
- A role conflict requiring immediate termination
- A multiple relationship that may impair professional judgment (Correct answer)
- An acceptable practice if both services are disclosed in writing
- A standard dual-service arrangement common in private practice
Correct answer: A multiple relationship that may impair professional judgment
Providing two different fee-based services to the same client creates a multiple relationship that may impair objectivity and should be avoided or carefully managed.
Question 3: According to the ACA Code of Ethics, counselors must take which action when they suspect a colleague is engaging in unethical behavior?
- Report immediately to the state licensing board
- Attempt to resolve the issue informally first if appropriate (Correct answer)
- Document their suspicions and take no further action
- Consult only with the colleague directly and not pursue further
Correct answer: Attempt to resolve the issue informally first if appropriate
The ACA Code recommends attempting to resolve ethical concerns informally with the colleague first, when doing so does not risk harm to others.
Question 4: A counselor in private practice decides to close their practice. Ethically, which action is MOST important?
- Notifying the licensing board within 30 days
- Providing clients with adequate notice and referral options (Correct answer)
- Shredding all client records immediately upon closure
- Transferring all client files to the nearest public mental health agency
Correct answer: Providing clients with adequate notice and referral options
Ethical practice closure requires adequate notice to clients and assisting them in transitioning to new providers to avoid client abandonment.
Question 5: When must a counselor break confidentiality under the Tarasoff ruling?
- When a client mentions any violent thoughts
- When there is a serious and credible threat to an identifiable third party (Correct answer)
- When a client has a history of violence, regardless of current statements
- When a supervisor advises breaking confidentiality for liability reasons
Correct answer: When there is a serious and credible threat to an identifiable third party
The Tarasoff duty to warn applies when a client poses a serious, credible threat to an identifiable victim, requiring the counselor to warn the potential victim and/or authorities.
Question 6: A client requests to review their own counseling records. Under HIPAA and ethical guidelines, the counselor should:
- Deny access to protect the client from potentially distressing content
- Provide access unless it could cause serious harm to the client or others (Correct answer)
- Require the client to obtain records only through a formal legal request
- Share only a written summary rather than the actual records
Correct answer: Provide access unless it could cause serious harm to the client or others
HIPAA grants clients the right to access their records, and counselors may deny access only in limited circumstances where disclosure could cause serious harm.
Question 7: A counselor who charges different fees based on a client's race is violating which ethical principle?
- Beneficence
- Fidelity
- Justice (Correct answer)
- Nonmaleficence
Correct answer: Justice
Justice requires fair and equitable treatment of all clients; discriminatory fee practices based on race violate this foundational ethical principle.
MC Master of Counseling: Ethical Guidelines and Professional Conduct 4
A counselor learns through social media that a current client was recently arrested.
Using this information in sessions without the client's knowledge is MOST likely a violation of: