aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

counseling.org

2014
ACA

Code of Ethics
As approved by the ACA Governing Council

AMERICAN COUNSELING
ASSOCIATION

•  2  •

© 2014 by the American Counseling Association.
All rights reserved. Note: This document may be reproduced in its entirety without permission for non-commercial
purposes only.

ACA Code of Ethics Preamble • 3
ACA Code of Ethics Purpose • 3

Section A
The Counseling Relationship • 4

Section B
Confidentiality and Privacy • 6

Section C
Professional Responsibility • 8

Section D
Relationships With Other Professionals • 10

Section E
Evaluation, Assessment, and

Interpretation • 11

Section F
Supervision, Training, and Teaching • 12

Section G
Research and Publication • 15

Section H
Distance Counseling, Technology,

and Social Media • 17

Section I
Resolving Ethical Issues • 18

Glossary of Terms • 20

Index • 21

Mission
The mission of the American Counseling Association
is to enhance the quality of life in society by promoting
the development of professional counselors, advancing
the counseling profession, and using the profession and
practice of counseling to promote respect for human
dignity and diversity.

Contents

•  3  •

ACA Code of Ethics Purpose
The ACA Code of Ethics serves six main purposes:

1. The Code sets forth the ethical obligations of ACA members and provides guidance intended to inform the ethical
practice of professional counselors.

2. The Code identifies ethical considerations relevant to professional counselors and counselors-in-training.
3. The Code enables the association to clarify for current and prospective members, and for those served by members,

the nature of the ethical responsibilities held in common by its members.
4. The Code serves as an ethical guide designed to assist members in constructing a course of action that best serves

those utilizing counseling services and establishes expectations of conduct with a primary emphasis on the role of
the professional counselor.

5. The Code helps to support the mission of ACA.
6. The standards contained in this Code serve as the basis for processing inquiries and ethics complaints

concerning ACA members.

The ACA Code of Ethics contains nine main sections that ad-
dress the following areas:

Section A: The Counseling Relationship
Section B: Confidentiality and Privacy
Section C: Professional Responsibility
Section D: Relationships With Other Professionals
Section E: Evaluation, Assessment, and Interpretation
Section F: Supervision, Training, and Teaching
Section G: Research and Publication
Section H: Distance Counseling, Technology, and
Social Media
Section I: Resolving Ethical Issues

Each section of the ACA Code of Ethics begins with an
introduction. The introduction to each section describes the
ethical behavior and responsibility to which counselors aspire.
The introductions help set the tone for each particular sec-
tion and provide a starting point that invites reflection on the
ethical standards contained in each part of the ACA Code of
Ethics. The standards outline professional responsibilities and
provide direction for fulfilling those ethical responsibilities.

When counselors are faced with ethical dilemmas that
are difficult to resolve, they are expected to engage in a care-
fully considered ethical decision-making process, consulting
available resources as needed. Counselors acknowledge
that resolving ethical issues is a process; ethical reasoning
includes consideration of professional values, professional
ethical principles, and ethical standards.

Counselors’ actions should be consistent with the spirit
as well as the letter of these ethical standards. No specific
ethical decision-making model is always most effective, so
counselors are expected to use a credible model of deci-
sion making that can bear public scrutiny of its applica-
tion. Through a chosen ethical decision-making process
and evaluation of the context of the situation, counselors
work collaboratively with clients to make decisions that
promote clients’ growth and development. A breach of the
standards and principles provided herein does not neces-
sarily constitute legal liability or violation of the law; such
action is established in legal and judicial proceedings.

The glossary at the end of the Code provides a concise
description of some of the terms used in the ACA Code
of Ethics.

ACA Code of Ethics Preamble
The American Counseling Association (ACA) is an educational, scientific, and professional organization whose members
work in a variety of settings and serve in multiple capacities. Counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse
individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals.

Professional values are an important way of living out an ethical commitment. The following are core professional values
of the counseling profession:

1. enhancing human development throughout the life span;
2. honoring diversity and embracing a multicultural approach in support of the worth, dignity, potential, and

uniqueness of people within their social and cultural contexts;
3. promoting social justice;
4. safeguarding the integrity of the counselor–client relationship; and
5. practicing in a competent and ethical manner.

These professional values provide a conceptual basis for the ethical principles enumerated below. These principles are
the foundation for ethical behavior and decision making. The fundamental principles of professional ethical behavior are

• autonomy, or fostering the right to control the direction of one’s life;
• nonmaleficence, or avoiding actions that cause harm;
• beneficence, or working for the good of the individual and society by promoting mental health and well-being;
• justice, or treating individuals equitably and fostering fairness and equality;
• fidelity, or honoring commitments and keeping promises, including fulfilling one’s responsibilities of trust in

professional relationships; and
• veracity, or dealing truthfully with individuals with whom counselors come into professional contact.

• ACA Code of Ethics •

•  4  •

A.2.c. Developmental and
Cultural Sensitivity

Counselors communicate information
in ways that are both developmentally
and culturally appropriate. Counselors
use clear and understandable language
when discussing issues related to
informed consent. When clients have
difficulty understanding the language
that counselors use, counselors provide
necessary services (e.g., arranging for
a qualified interpreter or translator)
to ensure comprehension by clients.
In collaboration with clients, coun-
selors consider cultural implications
of informed consent procedures and,
where possible, counselors adjust their
practices accordingly.

A.2.d. Inability to Give Consent
When counseling minors, incapaci-
tated adults, or other persons unable
to give voluntary consent, counselors
seek the assent of clients to services
and include them in decision making
as appropriate. Counselors recognize
the need to balance the ethical rights
of clients to make choices, their capac-
ity to give consent or assent to receive
services, and parental or familial legal
rights and responsibilities to protect
these clients and make decisions on
their behalf.

A.2.e. Mandated Clients
C o u n s e l o r s d i s c u s s t h e re q u i re d
limitations to confidentiality when
working with clients who have been
mandated for counseling services.
Counselors also explain what type
of information and with whom that
information is shared prior to the
beginning of counseling. The client
may choose to refuse services. In this
case, counselors will, to the best of
their ability, discuss with the client
the potential consequences of refusing
counseling services.

A.3. Clients Served by Others
When counselors learn that their clients
are in a professional relationship with
other mental health professionals, they
request release from clients to inform
the other professionals and strive to
establish positive and collaborative
professional relationships.

A.4. Avoiding Harm and
Imposing Values

A.4.a. Avoiding Harm
Counselors act to avoid harming their
clients, trainees, and research par-
ticipants and to minimize or to remedy
unavoidable or unanticipated harm.

A.1.d. Support Network
Involvement

Counselors recognize that support
networks hold various meanings in
the lives of clients and consider en-
listing the support, understanding,
and involvement of others (e.g., reli-
gious/spiritual/community leaders,
family members, friends) as positive
resources, when appropriate, with
client consent.

A.2. Informed Consent
in the Counseling
Relationship

A.2.a. Informed Consent
Clients have the freedom to choose
whether to enter into or remain in
a counseling relationship and need
a d e q u a t e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e
counseling process and the counselor.
Counselors have an obligation to re-
view in writing and verbally with cli-
ents the rights and responsibilities of
both counselors and clients. Informed
consent is an ongoing part of the
counseling process, and counselors
appropriately document discussions
of informed consent throughout the
counseling relationship.

A.2.b. Types of Information
Needed

Counselors explicitly explain to clients
the nature of all services provided.
They inform clients about issues such
as, but not limited to, the follow-
ing: the purposes, goals, techniques,
procedures, limitations, potential
risks, and benefits of services; the
counselor ’s qualifications, credentials,
relevant experience, and approach to
counseling; continuation of services
upon the incapacitation or death of
the counselor; the role of technol-
ogy; and other pertinent information.
Counselors take steps to ensure that
clients understand the implications of
diagnosis and the intended use of tests
and reports. Additionally, counselors
inform clients about fees and billing
arrangements, including procedures
for nonpayment of fees. Clients have
the right to confidentiality and to be
provided with an explanation of its
limits (including how supervisors
and/or treatment or interdisciplinary
team professionals are involved), to
obtain clear information about their
records, to participate in the ongoing
counseling plans, and to refuse any
services or modality changes and to
be advised of the consequences of
such refusal.

Section A
The Counseling

Relationship

Introduction
Counselors facilitate client growth
and development in ways that foster
the interest and welfare of clients and
promote formation of healthy relation-
ships. Trust is the cornerstone of the
counseling relationship, and counselors
have the responsibility to respect and
safeguard the client’s right to privacy
and confidentiality. Counselors actively
attempt to understand the diverse cul-
tural backgrounds of the clients they
serve. Counselors also explore their own
cultural identities and how these affect
their values and beliefs about the coun-
seling process. Additionally, counselors
are encouraged to contribute to society
by devoting a portion of their profes-
sional activities for little or no financial
return (pro bono publico).

A.1. Client Welfare
A.1.a. Primary Responsibility

The primary responsibility of counsel-
ors is to respect the dignity and promote
the welfare of clients.

A.1.b. Records and
Documentation

Counselors create, safeguard, and
maintain documentation necessary
for rendering professional services.
Regardless of the medium, counselors
include sufficient and timely docu-
mentation to facilitate the delivery and
continuity of services. Counselors
take reasonable steps to ensure that
documentation accurately reflects cli-
ent progress and services provided.
If amendments are made to records
and documentation, counselors take
steps to properly note the amendments
according to agency or institutional
policies.

A.1.c. Counseling Plans
Counselors and their clients work
jointly in devising counseling plans
t h a t o ff e r re a s o n a b l e p ro m i s e o f
success and are consistent with the
abilities, temperament, developmental
level, and circumstances of clients.
Counselors and clients regularly re-
view and revise counseling plans to
assess their continued viability and
effectiveness, respecting clients’ free-
dom of choice.

• ACA Code of Ethics •

•  5  •

A.4.b. Personal Values
Counselors are aware of—and avoid
imposing—their own values, attitudes,
beliefs, and behaviors. Counselors
respect the diversity of clients, train-
ees, and research participants and
seek training in areas in which they
are at risk of imposing their values
onto clients, especially when the
counselor ’s values are inconsistent
with the client’s goals or are discrimina-
tory in nature.

A.5. Prohibited
Noncounseling Roles
and Relationships

A.5.a. Sexual and/or
Romantic Relationships
Prohibited

Sexual and/or romantic counselor–
client interactions or relationships with
current clients, their romantic partners,
or their family members are prohibited.
This prohibition applies to both in-
person and electronic interactions or
relationships.

A.5.b. Previous Sexual and/or
Romantic Relationships

Counselors are prohibited from engag-
ing in counseling relationships with
persons with whom they have had
a previous sexual and/or romantic
relationship.

A.5.c. Sexual and/or Romantic
Relationships With
Former Clients

Sexual and/or romantic counselor–
client interactions or relationships with
former clients, their romantic partners,
or their family members are prohibited
for a period of 5 years following the last
professional contact. This prohibition
applies to both in-person and electronic
interactions or relationships. Counsel-
ors, before engaging in sexual and/or
romantic interactions or relationships
with former clients, their romantic
partners, or their family members, dem-
onstrate forethought and document (in
written form) whether the interaction or
relationship can be viewed as exploitive
in any way and/or whether there is still
potential to harm the former client; in
cases of potential exploitation and/or
harm, the counselor avoids entering
into such an interaction or relationship.

A.5.d. Friends or Family
Members

Counselors are prohibited from engaging
in counseling relationships with friends
or family members with whom they have
an inability to remain objective.

A.5.e. Personal Virtual
Relationships With
Current Clients

C o u n s e l o r s a r e p r o h i b i t e d f r o m
engaging in a personal virtual re-
l a t i o n s h i p w i t h i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h
whom they have a current counseling
relationship (e.g., through social and
other media).

A.6. Managing and
Maintaining Boundaries
and Professional
Relationships

A.6.a. Previous Relationships
Counselors consider the risks and
benefits of accepting as clients those
with whom they have had a previous
relationship. These potential clients
may include individuals with whom
the counselor has had a casual, distant,
or past relationship. Examples include
mutual or past membership in a pro-
fessional association, organization, or
community. When counselors accept
these clients, they take appropriate pro-
fessional precautions such as informed
consent, consultation, supervision, and
documentation to ensure that judgment
is not impaired and no exploitation
occurs.

A.6.b. Extending Counseling
Boundaries

Counselors consider the risks and
benefits of extending current counsel-
ing relationships beyond conventional
parameters. Examples include attend-
ing a client’s formal ceremony (e.g., a
wedding/commitment ceremony or
graduation), purchasing a service or
product provided by a client (excepting
unrestricted bartering), and visiting a cli-
ent’s ill family member in the hospital. In
extending these boundaries, counselors
take appropriate professional precau-
tions such as informed consent, consul-
tation, supervision, and documentation
to ensure that judgment is not impaired
and no harm occurs.

A.6.c. Documenting Boundary
Extensions

If counselors extend boundaries as
described in A.6.a. and A.6.b., they
must officially document, prior to the
interaction (when feasible), the rationale
for such an interaction, the potential
benefit, and anticipated consequences
for the client or former client and other
individuals significantly involved with
the client or former client. When un-
intentional harm occurs to the client
or former client, or to an individual

significantly involved with the client
or former client, the counselor must
show evidence of an attempt to remedy
such harm.

A.6.d. Role Changes in the
Professional Relationship

When counselors change a role from
the original or most recent contracted
relationship, they obtain informed
consent from the client and explain the
client’s right to refuse services related
to the change. Examples of role changes
include, but are not limited to

1. changing from individual to re-
lationship or family counseling,
or vice versa;

2. changing from an evaluative
role to a therapeutic role, or vice
versa; and

3. changing from a counselor to a
mediator role, or vice versa.

Clients must be fully informed of
any anticipated consequences (e.g.,
financial, legal, personal, therapeutic)
of counselor role changes.

A.6.e. Nonprofessional
Interactions
or Relationships (Other
Than Sexual or Romantic
Interactions or
Relationships)

Counselors avoid entering into non-
professional relationships with former
clients, their romantic partners, or their
family members when the interaction is
potentially harmful to the client. This
applies to both in-person and electronic
interactions or relationships.

A.7. Roles and Relationships
at Individual, Group,
Institutional, and
Societal Levels

A.7.a. Advocacy
When appropriate, counselors advocate
at individual, group, institutional, and
societal levels to address potential bar-
riers and obstacles that inhibit access
and/or the growth and development
of clients.

A.7.b. Confidentiality and
Advocacy

Counselors obtain client consent prior
to engaging in advocacy efforts on be-
half of an identifiable client to improve
the provision of services and to work
toward removal of systemic barriers
or obstacles that inhibit client access,
growth, and development.

• ACA Code of Ethics •

•  6  •

being harmed by continued counseling.
Counselors may terminate counseling
when in jeopardy of harm by the client
or by another person with whom the cli-
ent has a relationship, or when clients do
not pay fees as agreed upon. Counselors
provide pretermination counseling and
recommend other service providers
when necessary.

A.11.d. Appropriate Transfer of
Services

When counselors transfer or refer clients
to other practitioners, they ensure that
appropriate clinical and administra-
tive processes are completed and open
communication is maintained with both
clients and practitioners.

A.12. Abandonment and
Client Neglect
Counselors do not abandon or neglect
clients in counseling. Counselors assist in
making appropriate arrangements for the
continuation of treatment, when neces-
sary, during interruptions such as vaca-
tions, illness, and following termination.

Section B
Confidentiality

and Privacy

Introduction
Counselors recognize that trust is a cor-
nerstone of the counseling relationship.
Counselors aspire to earn the trust of cli-
ents by creating an ongoing partnership,
establishing and upholding appropriate
boundaries, and maintaining confi-
dentiality. Counselors communicate
the parameters of confidentiality in a
culturally competent manner.

B.1. Respecting Client Rights
B.1.a. Multicultural/Diversity

Considerations
Counselors maintain awareness and sen-
sitivity regarding cultural meanings of
confidentiality and privacy. Counselors
respect differing views toward disclosure
of information. Counselors hold ongo-
ing discussions with clients as to how,
when, and with whom information is
to be shared.

B.1.b. Respect for Privacy
Counselors respect the privacy of
prospective and current clients. Coun-
selors request private information from
clients only when it is beneficial to the
counseling process.

A.8. Multiple Clients
When a counselor agrees to provide
counseling services to two or more
persons who have a relationship, the
counselor clarifies at the outset which
person or persons are clients and the
nature of the relationships the counselor
will have with each involved person. If
it becomes apparent that the counselor
may be called upon to perform poten-
tially conflicting roles, the counselor will
clarify, adjust, or withdraw from roles
appropriately.

A.9. Group Work
A.9.a. Screening

Counselors screen prospective group
counseling/therapy participants. To
the extent possible, counselors select
members whose needs and goals are
compatible with the goals of the group,
who will not impede the group process,
and whose well-being will not be jeop-
ardized by the group experience.

A.9.b. Protecting Clients
In a group setting, counselors take rea-
sonable precautions to protect clients
from physical, emotional, or psychologi-
cal trauma.

A.10. Fees and Business
Practices

A.10.a. Self-Referral
Counselors working in an organization
(e.g., school, agency, institution) that
provides counseling services do not
refer clients to their private practice
unless the policies of a particular orga-
nization make explicit provisions for
self-referrals. In such instances, the cli-
ents must be informed of other options
open to them should they seek private
counseling services.

A.10.b. Unacceptable Business
Practices

Counselors do not participate in fee
splitting, nor do they give or receive
commissions, rebates, or any other form
of remuneration when referring clients
for professional services.

A.10.c. Establishing Fees
In establishing fees for professional
counseling services, counselors con-
sider the financial status of clients and
locality. If a counselor’s usual fees cre-
ate undue hardship for the client, the
counselor may adjust fees, when legally
permissible, or assist the client in locat-
ing comparable, affordable services.

A.10.d. Nonpayment of Fees
If counselors intend to use collection
agencies or take legal measures to col-

lect fees from clients who do not pay for
services as agreed upon, they include
such information in their informed
consent documents and also inform
clients in a timely fashion of intended
actions and offer clients the opportunity
to make payment.

A.10.e. Bartering
Counselors may barter only if the bar-
tering does not result in exploitation
or harm, if the client requests it, and
if such arrangements are an accepted
practice among professionals in the
community. Counselors consider the
cultural implications of bartering and
discuss relevant concerns with clients
and document such agreements in a
clear written contract.

A.10.f. Receiving Gifts
Counselors understand the challenges
of accepting gifts from clients and rec-
ognize that in some cultures, small gifts
are a token of respect and gratitude.
When determining whether to accept
a gift from clients, counselors take into
account the therapeutic relationship, the
monetary value of the gift, the client’s
motivation for giving the gift, and the
counselor’s motivation for wanting to
accept or decline the gift.

A.11. Termination and
Referral

A.11.a. Competence Within
Termination and Referral

If counselors lack the competence to
be of professional assistance to clients,
they avoid entering or continuing
counseling relationships. Counselors
are knowledgeable about culturally and
clinically appropriate referral resources
and suggest these alternatives. If clients
decline the suggested referrals, counsel-
ors discontinue the relationship.

A.11.b. Values Within
Termination and Referral

Counselors refrain from referring pro-
spective and current clients based solely
on the counselor’s personally held val-
ues, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.
Counselors respect the diversity of
clients and seek training in areas in
which they are at risk of imposing their
values onto clients, especially when the
counselor’s values are inconsistent with
the client’s goals or are discriminatory
in nature.

A.11.c. Appropriate Termination
Counselors terminate a counseling re-
lationship when it becomes reasonably
apparent that the client no longer needs
assistance, is not likely to benefit, or is

• ACA Code of Ethics •

•  7  •

B.1.c. Respect for
Confidentiality

Counselors protect the confidential
information of prospective and current
clients. Counselors disclose information
only with appropriate consent or with
sound legal or ethical justification.

B.1.d. Explanation of
Limitations

At initiation and throughout the counsel-
ing process, counselors inform clients of
the limitations of confidentiality and seek
to identify situations in which confiden-
tiality must be breached.

B.2. Exceptions
B.2.a. Serious and Foreseeable

Harm and Legal
Requirements

The general requirement that counsel-
ors keep information confidential does
not apply when disclosure is required
to protect clients or identified others
from serious and foreseeable harm or
when legal requirements demand that
confidential information must be re-
vealed. Counselors consult with other
professionals when in doubt as to the
validity of an exception. Additional
considerations apply when addressing
end-of-life issues.

B.2.b. Confidentiality Regarding
End-of-Life Decisions

Counselors who provide services to
terminally ill individuals who are con-
sidering hastening their own deaths have
the option to maintain confidentiality,
depending on applicable laws and the
specific circumstances of the situation
and after seeking consultation or super-
vision from appropriate professional and
legal parties.

B.2.c. Contagious, Life-
Threatening Diseases

When clients disclose that they have a
disease commonly known to be both
communicable and life threatening,
counselors may be justified in disclos-
ing information to identifiable third
parties, if the parties are known to be
at serious and foreseeable risk of con-
tracting the disease. Prior to making a
disclosure, counselors assess the intent
of clients to inform the third parties
about their disease or to engage in
any behaviors that may be harmful to
an identifiable third party. Counselors
adhere to relevant state laws concern-
ing disclosure about disease status.

B.2.d. Court-Ordered Disclosure
When ed by a court to release
confidential or privileged information

without a client’s permission, coun-
selors seek to obtain written, informed
consent from the client or take steps to
prohibit the disclosure or have it limited
as narrowly as possible because of po-
tential harm to the client or counseling
relationship.

B.2.e. Minimal Disclosure
To the extent possible, clients are
informed before confidential infor-
mation is disclosed and are involved
in the disclosure decision-making
process. When circumstances require
the disclosure of confidential infor-
mation, only essential information
is revealed.

B.3. Information Shared
With Others

B.3.a. Subordinates
Counselors make every effort to ensure
that privacy and confidentiality of
clients are maintained by subordi-
nates, including employees, supervisees,
s t u d e n t s , c l e r i c a l a s s i s t a n t s , a n d
volunteers.

B.3.b. Interdisciplinary Teams
When services provided to the client
involve participation by an interdisci-
plinary or treatment team, the client
will be informed of the team’s existence
and composition, information being
shared, and the purposes of sharing
such information.

B.3.c. Confidential Settings
Counselors discuss confidential infor-
mation only in settings in which they
can reasonably ensure client privacy.

B.3.d. Third-Party Payers
Counselors disclose information to
third-party payers only when clients
have authorized such disclosure.

B.3.e. Transmitting Confidential
Information

Counselors take precautions to ensure
the confidentiality of all information
transmitted through the use of any
medium.

B.3.f. Deceased Clients
Counselors protect the confidentiality
of deceased clients, consistent with le-
gal requirements and the documented
preferences of the client.

B.4. Groups and Families
B.4.a. Group Work

In group work, counselors clearly
explain the importance and param-
eters of confidentiality for the specific
group.

B.4.b. Couples and Family
Counseling

In couples and family counseling, coun-
selors clearly define who is considered
“the client” and discuss expectations and
limitations of confidentiality. Counselors
seek agreement and document in writing
such agreement among all involved …