Cultural Competence and Social Justice Advocacy

My area of specialization is Marriage and Family Therapist. Therefore, I visited the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and American Counseling Association Code of Ethics. Since, I live in the state of Georgia, I also research code of ethics and state statues related to Marriage and Family Therapist. Both the AAMFT and GAMFT had some of the same codes of ethics outlining responsibility to the client, confidentiality, professional competence and integrity, responsibility to students and supervisees, research and publication, technology assisted professional services, professional evolutions, financial arrangements and advertising. The first standard outline the therapist responsibility to their client, in means of non- discrimination. According to AAMFT Code of Ethics 1.1, “Marriage and family therapists provide professional assistance to persons without discrimination on the basis of race, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, gender, health status, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or relationship status.” (AAMFT, 2014) Therapists and counselors must establish a sense of self-awareness. Therapists investigate their own social personalities and how these influence their qualities and convictions about the guiding methodology. This will help counselor gain a sense of understanding that everyone has his or her own values and beliefs. As their counselors is vital to not influence or be bias against a client for having their own values and beliefs. The counselor’s duty is to help the client shape those areas to find a solution to their issues. According to ACA Code of Ethics A.11.b, “Counselors refrain from referring prospective and current clients based solely on the counselor’s personally held values, 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