Week 10 Discussion 1

Effective vs. Ineffective Supervisor

As a counselor in training our eagerness and willingness to help clients may at helps shadow of ethically responsibility to protect the therapeutic relationship in which we build with clients. Counselors have an ethical responsibility to seek and secure the most appropriate supervision from a qualified supervisor, who is align with their theoretical orientation and is able to be an active partner in supervisory process and training. For me I had the opportunity to experience both effective and ineffective supervisors. For me an ineffective supervisor is someone who is not trustworthy, micromanages and instead of leading by example and has no respect for others. I’ve had a chance to experience effective supervisors as well, their qualities or characteristics include, being knowledgeable enough in the line of work to no act as if they know everything but gives you another way of looking at different situations, they listen to concerns and questions without judgment and are able to gain respect from others by looking at them as peers and not subordinate’s. In the view of unethical and ethical I believed my supervisors who were effective were ethical because of their approach to different situations but also the knowledge and support they were are to supply. For the ineffective supervisors they would be considered unethical because of the lack of trust and respect, supervisors have a duty to engage as an active partner in the supervisory process not belittle or take away from learning opportunities.

Performance

For me personally, I work better under chaos, and I think that’s what professional counseling is. Not one person you will come across in counseling has a structured or prefect life. In my line of work, I am constantly working under pressure and have to be on my toes and ready for action at any time. For a supervisor who is ineffective has the ability to affect my performance in the worst way, I would have to look to others to help solve an issue if I feel I couldn’t come to them because they would feel like they didn’t have to help. On the other hand, effective supervisors in situations like this are able to convey knowledge in a respectable way, but are also willing to learn along side me.

Ethical Supervisor

An ethical supervisor has the ability to share crucial information in order to create success, they help build and bridge morals and values in a counselor in order to be successful. Most importantly work together with counselors at times of crisis to build better relationships with clients. An ethical supervisor is one that motivated the counselors they are training so they create social change in the lives they touch.

Course of Action for Unethical Supervisor

When a counselor in training feels as though a supervisor is being unethical there are appropriate steps to follow in order to serve a duty to help clients. Remely & Helihy (2013) stated as counselors in training we have a professional and legal responsibility to address concerns when may have when it comes to an untrustworthy or unethical behaviors of a supervisor. The ACA Code of Ethics Section I.2.b advises a counselor of the course pf action to follow should they need to report an ethical violation.

Reference

American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/docs/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvr

Remely, T.P., Jr., & Herlihy, B. (2014). Ethical, legal, and professional issues in counseling (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJL Merrill/Pearson Education