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Upon competition of my MED in Guidance and Counseling, I plan to work as a school counselor at the secondary level. Ultimately I plan to obtain my LPC licensure and open a private practice working with adolescents who struggle  with depression and anxiety disorders.

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Exploration Option #1: Current Professional Interview

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Exploration Option #1: Current Professional Interview

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I had the privilege of interviewing Mrs. Lisa Hatley, who currently serves as DISD Elementary Curriculum Director, as well as the districts crisis counselor. Mrs. Hatley previously served DISD at the secondary level as a guidance counselor for 8 years. When asked about current legal and ethical issues she encountered in her counseling career she stated the following.
#1 Confidentiality and communication with students. Determining what is necessary to report to a  parent or guardian, or disclose to a third party.
#2 Mental Health Issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression. Adolescents obsession with social media and society's pressure to look and feel perfect, teens struggle with mental health issues more than ever before.
#3 Family relationships. A students relationships or problems at home can impact the students academics and overall transitional and future plans.
#4 Academic support. Guiding the student to an appropriate post secondary plan. 4 year, 2 year, vocational, military, trade school, ect.... Providing resources and guiding students, then overseeing the follow through.
#5 Drop out rates. Demographically a large portion of our students do not value education and they are pressured to drop out and work to help support their families households.
(L. Hatley, personal communication, January 17, 2019)

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Dumas Independent School District - Central Staff - Hatley, Lisa

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Exploration #2A: Professional Association,            American School Counselor Association

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Exploration #2A: Professional Association,            American School Counselor Association

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ASCS provides a section addressing ethical standards for school counselors. This is to serve as a guide for ethical and legal practices. It provides 22 subcategories that support and provide awareness of legal and ethical standards (ASCA,2019).
Ethical Standards discusses the counselor's responsibility to the student, administration, school, and to self.
1. Section A.1. addresses standards on supporting student development.
2. Section A.2. discusses confidentiality(ASCA,2019).
https://www.schoolcounselor.org/

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According to the American School Counselor Association, school counselors face legal and ethical dilemmas daily(ASCA,2019). The legal and ethical issue that stood out to me through out my exploration was that of confidentiality. The ASCA has developed ethical standards for school counselors. The Ethical Standards were created to serve as a point of reference for counselors as they maneuver through the ethical and legal framework of their daily interactions(ASCA,2019).
The ASCA ethical standards addresses confidentiality in the following ways: 1. Keep student information confidential, unless information is detrimental to the student or others. 2. Understand the ethical responsibility for confidentiality is to the student.
3. Understand parental/guardian rights pertaining to confidentiality.
4. Understand when full disclosure is necessary and how to address a break in confidentiality(ASCA,2019).
The study explained by Gloria Dansby-Giles, addressed when school counselors felt it was necessary to breach confidentiality with students. The study showed, school counselors were most likely to breach when suicidal discussions arose. Next when self harm was physically present or talk of self harm was discussed. Counselors were less likely to breach confidentiality with students who discussed what they felt were bad behaviors but not deadly, such as smoking, drinking, or sexual conduct(Dansby-Giles, 2014).
In the research I found while searching the ASU library. I found an article related to secondary administration and their view on school counselors confidentiality standards with students. Administrators in the article expressed they fully supported confidentiality in the school counseling program as long as there wasn't immediate danger. The data proved that a breach in confidentiality can be detrimental to the counseling program as well as the student seeking counsel(O'Connell,2012).
Confidentiality is a fine line and after exploring the issue of when to breach and when not to breach confidentiality, I have found it is a very grey area. This is when the counselors personal beliefs, morals and ethical standards have to come into play. As a future school counselor it will be my duty to be aware of all legal and ethical standards related to confidentiality and use my very best judgment to uphold those standards.

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O’Connell, W. P. (2012). Secondary School Administrators’ Attitudes Toward Confidentiality in School Counseling. NASSP Bulletin, 96(4), 350–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636512466936
American School Counselor Association. (2019). Ethical standards for school counselors. Alexandria, VA: Author. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/school-counselors-members/asca-national-model
Texas Counseling Association.(2011). Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors
Title 22, Texas Administrative Code, Chapter, 681. Retrieved from
https://www.txca.org/images/Resources/lpcethics2011.pdf
Dansby-Giles, G.,(2014). Informed consent, confidentiality, and duty to warn with school counselors. ACA knowledge center. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/article_38.pdf?sfvrsn=70a07c2c_12

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Exploration #2B: Professional Association, Texas Counseling  Association 

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Exploration #2B: Professional Association, Texas Counseling  Association 

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The Texas Counseling Association provides information from the Texas state board of examiners of professional counselors code of ethics as it corresponds to Texas laws that affect counseling (TXCA,2011).
TXCA professional code of ethics discusses General ethical requirements concerning confidentiality.
1. Code 681.41, E4 addresses confidentiality limits.
2. Code 681.45, A-D addressess confidentiality and required reporting (TXCA,2011).

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Research: Informed Consent, Confidentiality, and Duty to Warn

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Research: Informed Consent, Confidentiality, and Duty to Warn

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In conjunction with the American Counseling Association

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Legal and Ethical Topic of Interest: Confidentiality

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Legal and Ethical Topic of Interest: Confidentiality

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After exploration of legal and ethical issues concerning school counselors, I was intrigued with confidentiality. I am interested in when school counselors decide information shared must be reported and when to involve a third party without breaking confidentiality.

It is important to build a relationship with students and gain trust, but ethically you need to know when it is appropriate to incorporate others and report necessary information to protect the student.

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Research: Angelo State University Library 

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Research: Angelo State University Library 

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After researching confidentiality in school counseling, using the Angelo State University Library database, I found an article of interest

Secondary School Administrators' Attitudes toward Confidentiality in School Counseling, written by William O'Connell.

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Angelo State University - Library Online Resources

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