Lesson 2.

Core Values of Counseling

Disciplines and Ideas in the Applied Social Sciences

General Academic Strand | Humanities and Social Sciences
Counselors, like any person whose job is
to help people, should practice with
their client’s best interest in mind. This
means adhering to a standard or code of
conduct that protects the clients from
any harm as well as promote their well-
being.

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 Learning Discuss the core values of counseling
Competency
(HUMSS_DIASS 12-Ib-5)

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Learning
Objective
Discuss the core values and ethical principles of
counseling.

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 A Counselor Must Have...
Explore
1. Your teacher will show the scroll below to the class.

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 A Counselor Must Have...
Explore
2. E a c h o f y o u w i l l t a k e t u r n s i n i d e n t i f y i n g o n e
characteristic, value, or principle that you believe a
counselor must have. You only have 10 seconds for
your turn, and no one is allowed to repeat what has
already been said.

2. If you cannot think of an answer before the 10 seconds

is over, you can say “pass.” The next person will then
take a turn. The same goes if 10 seconds has passed
and you do not have an answer.
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 A Counselor Must Have...
Explore
4. The activity ends once three students are unable to
give an answer.

4. Once the activity ends, answer the guide questions

below. Share your responses with the class.

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 1. What characteristics, values, or principles
Explore have you and your classmates identified?
Why are these associated with
counselors?

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 2. What is the most important value that a
Explore counselor must have?

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 3. Are there characteristics or values that a
Explore counselor should have but are not on
the list? Why are these characteristics or
values important?

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Essential
Question

How will the general core values and ethical

principles of counseling affect the decision-
making process of a counselor?

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 General Core Values of Counseling

General Core Values of Counseling

● There is a set of personal qualities that all practitioners

should possess.

(Ethical Framework for Good Practice of the British

Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP).

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 General Core Values of Counseling
1. SINCERITY

● staying true to what has been

vowed or promised to do for
the client

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 General Core Values of Counseling
2. INTEGRITY

● being honest, straightforward,

and easily understandable

● always considering what is

morally correct in all of the
actions

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 General Core Values of Counseling
3. RESILIENCE

● capacity of the counselor to work

with the client without feeling
emotionally drained

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 General Core Values of Counseling
4. HUMILITY

● acknowledging own strengths

and weaknesses in terms of
dealing with the client’s issues or
dilemmas

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 General Core Values of Counseling
5. COMPETENCE

● effectively implement methods

and techniques in one’s work
● show the skill that would be
useful depending on the action
planned during the counseling
process

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 General Core Values of Counseling
6. FAIRNESS

● consistently apply the

appropriate criteria in addressing
the issues that the clients face

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 General Core Values of Counseling
7. WISDOM

● has enough knowledge to make

sound judgements regarding
any given situation

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 General Core Values of Counseling
8. COURAGE

● ability to perform one’s work in

spite of possible fears, risks,
and uncertainty

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 General Core Values of Counseling
9. RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY

● acknowledging that each client’s

individuality and personhood
(Zastrow, 2017, 91; Hall and
Hurley 2003, 479)

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 General Core Values of Counseling
10. PARTNERSHIP

● refrain from dictating what the

client should do, but to instead
collaborate with the client (Corey
2017, 442).

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 Ethical Principles of Counseling

Ethical Principles of Counseling

● FIVE MORAL PRINCIPLES IN COUNSELING, Kitchener (1984),

McLeod (2003)
○ Principle of Autonomy
○ Principle of Nonmaleficence and Beneficence
○ Principle of Justice
○ Principle of Fidelity

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Ethical Principles of Counseling
1. PRINCIPLE OF AUTONOMY

● gives the freedom of choice to

the clients
● exception : children and those
with mental disabilities
● INFORMED CONSENT : unethical
to proceed to counseling without
the consent of the client

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Ethical Principles of Counseling
2. PRINCIPLE OF
NONMALEFICENCE AND
BENEFICENCE
● technique and methods in the process
of counseling → must not harm the
client (maleficence)
● similar to principle of responsible
caring → aware of the benefits and
also the possible dangers of a
particular plan or action (beneficence)

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Ethical Principles of Counseling
4. PRINCIPLE OF JUSTICE

● fair distribution of resources and

services
● counseling must be non-
discriminatory

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Ethical Principles of Counseling
4. PRINCIPLE OF FIDELITY

● loyalty, reliability, dependability

and action in good faith
● counselor must be transparent to
the client the entire counseling
process

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 Check
Your
Progress

What is the relevance of knowing the core

values and ethical principles of counseling as a
counselor or a client?

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 Modified True or False. Write true if the statement is
correct. Otherwise, rewrite the sentence to make it
Try This!
correct.
1. Competence, as a core value of counseling,
pertains to the counselor’s capacity to provide
proper care and help to the client using the skills
that the counselor has.

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 Modified True or False. Write true if the statement is
correct. Otherwise, rewrite the sentence to make it
Try This!
correct.
2. Integrity, as one of the core values of counseling,
refers to the counselor’s capacity to work with the
client without losing emotional energy.

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 Modified True or False. Write true if the statement is
correct. Otherwise, rewrite the sentence to make it
Try This!
correct.
3. Humility, as one of the core values of counseling,
pertains to the counselor’s ability to recognize
that he or she may still have areas to improve on.

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 Modified True or False. Write true if the statement is
correct. Otherwise, rewrite the sentence to make it
Try This!
correct.
4. Being sincere means that the counselor makes
sure that his or her clients experience the kind of
assistance they need no matter what their
economic status is.

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 Modified True or False. Write true if the statement is
correct. Otherwise, rewrite the sentence to make it
Try This!
correct.
5. A counselor demonstrating wisdom is able to
perform his or her work in spite of fears, risks,
and uncertainty.

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Wrap-Up
● The core values of counseling must be upheld to
protect both the client and the counselor's welfare.

● The BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice

identified a set of personal qualities that all
practitioners should possess: sincerity, integrity,
resilience, humility, competence, fairness,
wisdom, and courage.

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 ● Partnership (Corey 2017, 442) and respect for
Wrap-Up human dignity (Zastrow 2017, 91; Hall and Hurley,
2003, 504) are two more important core values of
counseling.

● Five ethical principles of counseling were identified

by Kitchener (1984): autonomy, nonmaleficence,
beneficence, justice, and fidelity. Pope and
Vasquez (2010, 378) also mentioned responsible
caring as an important principle or core value in
counseling.
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Wrap-Up

● These general core values and ethical principles

guide counselors in the process of counseling with
their clients. The application of these core values
may differ depending on the circumstances during
the counseling process. However, these are the
virtues they must uphold at all times.

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Challenge
Yourself

1. What do you consider as the most

important among the principles or core
values of counseling? Explain.

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Challenge
Yourself
2. If you would add a core value or principle in
counseling that was not discussed, what
would it be? Discuss your answer using an
example.

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Photo Credit

● Slide 14: Autism Aspect Sincerity 1 by MissLunaRose12 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

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 Bibliography

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 Bibliography

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 Bibliography

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 Bibliography

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