Bob Shebib

Choices: Interviewing and Counselling Skills for Canadians, 6/e

Test Bank

Chapter One

Professional Identity: Ethics, Values, and Self-Awareness

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following professionals are licensed to prescribe medication?

a. psychiatrists

b. psychologists with a Ph.D. degree

c. social workers who have received specialized training

d. any counselling professional with at least a Master’s degree

e. nurses and doctors

2. Social justice commitment implies that counsellors

a. work with law enforcement officials to combat crime

b. treat all clients the same

c. respect individual difference

d. use advocacy to promote human rights and income redistribution

e. assess clients based on community standards

3. Ethics are

a. skills and techniques for working with clients

b. government legislation that regulates professionals

c. what one considers to be important

d. principles and rules of proper conduct

e. personal beliefs governing behaviour

4. Professional ethics

a. outline the benefits of counselling

b. encourage dual relationships with clients

c. require the use of psychiatric diagnosis

d. enable counsellors to blend personal values with agency standards

e. are designed to protect both clients and counsellors

(Answer “e”, page 3)

5. Which of the following represents a “dual relationship?”

a. co-signing a loan for a client

b. buying a car from a client

c. dating a client

d. social involvement with a client

e. all of the above

6. With respect to physical contact with clients

a. it is never acceptable

b. touch may be an important component of working with children

c. touch, while a natural part of human interaction, has no place in professional counselling

d. it is acceptable only when the counsellor and the client are the same gender

e. should be confined to a hand shake, but only if initiated by the client

7. Absolute confidentiality means

a. counsellors can share information only with the police if there is an emergency

b. counsellors cannot share information with anyone

c. counsellors can share information only within the agency

d. counsellors can share information if they have permission from the court

e. counsellors must consult supervisors before sharing information

8. Relative confidentiality means

a. counsellors can share information only with the police if there is an emergency

b. counsellors cannot share information with anyone

c. counsellors can share information with their clients’ family members

d. counsellors can share information if they have permission from the court

e. confidentiality cannot be guaranteed because of legal constraints

9. The Tarasoff case established

a. the “duty to warn” principle

b. that professionals must maintain absolute confidentiality

c. criteria for reporting child abuse and neglect

d. protection for counsellors who maintain relationship confidentiality

e. none of the above

10. The principle that clients have a right to freedom of choice is known as

a. empowerment

b. self-determination

c. informed consent

d. advocacy

e. ethics

11. Values are concerned with:

• 1. rules governing confidentiality
  2. the importance of choice
  3. a reflection of what individuals consider important
  4. the benefits of counseling
  5. all of the above

12. Which of the following best defines the term self-determination?

a. acknowledgment that clients have a right to make their own decision

b. respect for cultural and other diversity variables

c. recognition that every client is different

d. belief in the dignity of clients

e. none of the above

10. Objectivity is

a. the capacity to understand without imposing bias or distortion

b. treating clients as objects

c. setting goals for counseling

d. allowing clients to disagree

e. imposing personal ideas

11. Non-maleficence means

a. honour the clients’ right to self-determination

b. gender equality

c. do no harm

d. the importance of everyone getting the same treatment

e. using advocacy to promote client rights

12. Regression involves

a. refusing to acknowledge the existence of feelings or problems

b. returning to behaviour from an earlier stage of one’s life

c. not thinking about stressful thoughts or feelings

d. shifting emotions from one person or object to another

e. developing excuses

13. Rationalization involves

a. intelligent thinking about problems

b. denial

c. objectivity

d. conscious use of skills

e. using excuses to protect self-image

14. Suppression involves

a. avoiding painful thoughts by not thinking about them

b. putting clients down

c. pushing clients to discuss painful feelings

d. confrontation

e. refusing to acknowledge the existence of problems

15. Which of the following might adversely affect counselling

a. need to be liked

b. lack of self-awareness

c. perfectionism

d. control needs

e. all of the above

True-False Questions

1. An ethical dilemma means that professionals have erred.
2. Absolute confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.
3. The Tarasoff case led to the “duty to warn” principle.
4. Values are legal constraints on practice.
5. The first step to resolving any ethical dilemma is to gather facts.
6. Objectivity is a violation of the ethical principles of most professional associations.
7. Dual relationships are prohibited by professional codes.
8. Self-awareness is desirable but not essential for competent practice
9. Defence mechanisms were first described by Sigmund Freud
10. Competent counsellors are perfectionistic.
11. Counsellor needs may interfere with counselling.
12. Self-determination implies that a counsellors work hard to insure that goals re met.
13. Ethical dilemmas arise when a choice must be made between competing values and courses of action
14. Advocacy skills can help promote client self-determination
15. Counsellors must treat clients fairly, regardless of their personal feels toward them.

Answers: True – 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15; False – 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12

Short Answer Questions

1. Define what is meant by the terms values and ethics?
2. Define dual relationship.
3. Discuss what is meant by the term self-determination.
4. List the steps to resolving ethical dilemmas.
5. List some ways that counsellors can lose objectivity

Essays

1. Write a paper based on interviews one or more counsellors from the field regarding ethical dilemmas they have faced. Consider questions such as:

• What were the competing values and alternative courses of action that had to be considered?
• How was the dilemma resolved?
• What were the risks and benefits of the chosen course of action?
• What might you have done?

2. Discuss the ethical and value issues associated with providing help to homeless people who choose not to enter a shelter during cold Canadian winters.

3. Identify a range of strategy choices for effecting change within organizations. How might your approach differ if you were employed by the organization targeted for change?

4. Who should get the service? The client most in need of it, but least likely to succeed or the one most likely to succeed. Develop sample guidelines for a hypothetical agency that outlines which clients should get service. Assume that the agency can only meet 50% of its requests for service.

1. Use concepts from Chapter 1 to write a paper that answers the question “who am I?” As part of this, explore your personal values and beliefs including how they might help and hinder your work as a counsellor.
2. Review the code of ethics for your discipline. Identify what you consider to be the 5 most important principles. What is your rationale for choosing each one? Identify ethical dilemmas that might arise related to these principles.
3. Essay topic: The ethics of online counselling: Issues, challenges, opportunities.