Prompt Post #2: Defining Ethics

According to the American Association For Marriage and Family Therapy, Marriage and Family Therapist are obligated to obide by a certain code of ethics. Their responsibility to clients include being...

• Non-Discriminate
• Informed consent
• Avoiding Multiple Relationships
• The prohibition of sexual intimacy with current/former clients and others
• Not abusing the Therapeutic relationship against the client
• Client Autonomy in decision making
• Written consent 
• Etc

This code corresponds with what I believe is right and wrong in a therapist workplace in a very accurate way. Family therapist are supposed to help people, no matter their race, ethnicity, gender, status, etc, every individual should be provided the same services. People should be informed on what the steps are to making them a better person and the consequences, rules, or risk that may arise to achieve that goal. When the client is lacking knowledge of the possible down falls that come along with things such as treatments, could cause conflict between the client and the therapist. The emotional stability of a therapist could be affected if they involve themselves in a more personal relationship with their client. One of the important values of a family therapist is to maintain your composure and your overall health even in the most extreme conditions and developing a closer than expected, or sexual relationship could make this value harder to maintain. The environment of a counseling session should always be a positive one. This will allow the client to feel comfortable and be willing to open up and share personal information. If you are very demanding on the types of decisions you feel they should make and abuse your power as the therapist, more than likely the client will feel as thought they can not vent to you because of your judgmental, and demanding ways and therefore makes the sessions "pointless". The more accurate way to go about this is to let the client make their own decisions, and you as the therapist, can inform them of the consequences that follow that decision.
    I am sure that most people understand what therapist should and should not do within a counseling session because of what is presented in the media or even from experience. For example, a therapist should not show discrimination towards any clients or they should not speak of your information without your approval to do so. A person will know if something that happened between them and their therapist is unlawful. I feel that professionals within this field often follow the code of ethics because if not followed they could potentially lose their job and license, as well as leave them with a lawsuit. Knowing and following the code of ethics will help me a lot with my future profession. It will allow me to do my job in the most efficient way possible. It will help keep the client and therapist relationship as professional as possible, not allowing any serious emotions, that could possible alter the clients judgments if me as a professional and vice versa. It will help to avoid conflict between me and my future clients as well, by stating what is legal and what is illegal so that me and my client have a mutual understanding of the whole process.

Source: https://www.aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/Content/legal_ethics/code_of_ethics.aspx

Prompt Post #1: Asking Questions and Breaking Assumptions

    The two texts Finding your counseling career by Brooke B. Collison and Careers in Psychology, Opportunities In A Changing World, by Tara L. Kuther and Robert D. Morgan, was very useful. It explained to me a lot of mistakes people make when entering graduate school. For example, attending a school that does not participate in your chosen professions license. The text gave me a lot of advice on what to look for pertaining to internships and experience. For example, things that are good to participate in for internships would include mental health settings, boys and girls clubs, or even substance abuse centers. This gave me an ideal of what to look for when I volunteer or seek experience related to my chosen profession. It also gave me an ideal of what types of research to participate in, which will later come to my advantage when applying for graduate school. Some good topics in research would include study of abnormal behavior, specific disorders, for example bipolar disorder, or psychopathy research. I am really surprised by these findings because I am interested in the majority of the materials listed.

    Many Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapist identify some characteristics of personality to be very important and valuable. A person interested in a counseling career should be a good listener, open-minded, able to hear strong emotions expressed, positive and optimistic about possibilities, and be able to take care of your own physical, emotional, and mental well-being, along with many other important characteristics. ( Collison, Brooke. Finding Your Counseling Career. 2010). I am delighted to receive this information because I am convinced that I have these characteristics or I am willing to adapt to them in order to pursue my goal of becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist.

    The text also helped me to better understand how to reach my goal. It presented me with different steps and ways to pursue my goal. For example, how to look for experience and what, exactly, to look for. It taught me that a major in psychology is not the only route to becoming a marriage and family therapist. I could also find a program that only specializes in marriage and family therapy, which could provide me with hands on experience and allow me to get a better understanding of a counseling career as a whole. It also informed me of the types of practitioners associated with counseling careers. Now I have come to understand that I do not have to own a private practice in order to do my job, but I can become a part of an organization and receive pay based off of how many clients I serve.

    There was some information that I was familiar with as well. For example, I am aware of the fact that to become a family therapist, I am required to attend graduate school. And for me to be able to meet this requirement, things which include a high grade point average, some experience, and meeting the  requirements of that school, are highly important. But I was not aware that some graduate schools requires a license in a specific area in order to be accepted into that school. This pushes me to start finding out more about graduate schools and their different requirements because they vary depending on states.

    I found most of the text really beneficial and it gave me grounds on where to start so that I am prepared for jobs and graduate school. It also helped me gain a feel  for the types of research and experience I should be interested in for experience pertaining to my chosen profession.  It gave me a variety of common mistakes to watch for and tips on how to avoid them in the future. It provided me with things that needs to be completed before entering graduate school, in which I found very helpful.