Chapter 4
Client Rights and Counselor Responsibilities
Focus Questions
1. When a client holds values that conflict with the counselor’s values, can the counselor
provide effective counseling services? Why or why not?
Points instructors may want to make:
• The personal values of counselors might conflict with those of their clients in some of
the following situations: abortion, assisted suicide and the right to die, beliefs and
2.Do you believe a counselor should be allowed to refuse to provide counseling services to
some
groups of people who request them? If so, which groups and in what circumstances?
Points instructors may want to make:
• Counselors in private practice do not have to counsel any clients. However, private
practitioners should not unfairly discriminate against individuals and they should not
3..What kinds of information do you think clients need, in order to be able to give
their fully informed consent to enter into a counseling relationship? When does the
information given become too much information so that it inhibits clients from
entering into counseling relationships?
Points instructors may want to make:
• The kinds of information clients need to be able to give fully informed consent often
depends on the setting, the type of counseling clients will receive, and other
3. Under what circumstances do you think it would be acceptable to terminate
counseling services to a client?
• From an ethical standpoint, termination is acceptable when the client is no longer
benefitting from or is being harmed in some way by counseling.
In-Class Activity
Title: Exploring One’s Values
Learning
Goal: To increase self-awareness of personal values that might affect the counseling
process.
Procedure: Ask students to write a brief description of the “most difficult client” that they
imagine they might be asked to counsel. Put the students in small groups and ask them to
discuss the values and value conflicts that the descriptions illuminate.
Point/Counterpoint (Debate) Topics
Title: Determining the Counselor’s Boundaries of Competence
Learning
Goal: To consider ways that counselor competence can be assured.
Procedures: Assign (or allow students to volunteer) 2 groups of students (preferably 3-5
students in each) to each take one of the positions described below and prepare a 5-
Title: Duty to Warn when Clients May Pose a Danger to Others
Learning
Goal: To consider the issues involved in having a legal duty to warn intended or
foreseeable victims of a potentially dangerous client.
Outside Class Activity
Title: Personal Informed Consent Document
Learning
Goal: To begin acquiring the legal and ethical skills necessary to become a competent counselor.
Procedure: Assign students to develop a personalized informed consent document. Resources that can be utilized
include the examples given in the text, consent documents from counselors at practicum or internship
Topic for Self-Reflection/Journaling
Topic: What are some of my strongest personal values, and how might those values
potentially interfere with my counseling effectiveness?
Case Study
Joan, a counselor in private practice in central Texas, has been asked to accept a new client
who is Asian-American and who is having difficulty adjusting to her new home in Texas. There
Case Study Discussion
1. What are the particular concerns and issues Joan might be thinking about?
2. What steps should Joan take before seeing this client for the first time?