Family Systems Theory

Similarly, the concept of gift giving and receiving can lead to ethical concerns where some counselors and clients are not open to accepting gifts of any sort. Depending on cultural values, some clients might view counselors’ rejection of gifts as being disrespectful and may tarnish the counseling relationship that was built.
In group counseling, counselors are vulnerable to several risks affiliated with ethical issues in groups. Among the identified risks is the fact that verbal abuse is more likely to occur in comparison to individual therapy, the possibility of members becoming dependent on the group leader, screening and selection may be poorly conducted, and the group leader has less control in influencing what occurs within the group
Couples and family therapy is embedded within the foundation of systems theory which postulates “psychological problems as arising from within the individual’s present environment and the intergenerational family system” (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 2006, p. 438). The family systems perspective is developed with the notion that clients’ problematic behaviors may serve a purpose for the family, may be a function of the family’s inability to operate efficiently and may be a symptom of dysfunctional patterns handed down across generations (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 2006). The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists proposed eight core ethical standards for couples and family therapy. These codes are outlined as: responsibility to clients; confidentiality; professional competence and integrity; responsibility to students and supervisees; responsibility to research participants; responsibility to the profession; financial arrangements and advertising (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 2006). Couples and family therapists are inevitably confronted with more potential ethical conflicts than individual therapists as the most common reasons reported for seeking couples therapy are problematic communication and lack of emotional attachment (Corey, Corey & Callanan,
As such, therapists may exercise bias in taking sides with one member of the family against others or may become too involved with keeping the family together more than the family members themselves (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 2006). The therapist’s role, however, is to assist couples and family members in seeing their actions clearly, help them explore and clarify their values and to help them make more honest assessments of how well their current patterns are working for them (Corey, Corey & Callanan,