Students will start by discussing the importance of using an ethical decision-making model when faced with an ethical dilemma. Next, they will discuss a scenario and provide a step-by-step approach to resolving the selected ethical dilemma. Students must clearly identify the specific ethical decision-making model they will be using to resolve the chosen ethical dilemma. All aspects of the decision-making process must be sound and supported by scholarly counseling literature (no more than seven years old).

To begin start by choosing one of the following dilemmas based of your area of interest. Note, the scenarios presented are broad for a reason, if information is missing students must “add” to the scenario by making modifications to account for age, gender identity, culture, family dynamics, relationships, etc. These required modifications will help shape the scenario toward your specific area of interests in counseling and program of study. All modifications must be clearly indicated in the paper.

Scenario 1: You are a professional counselor in a clinical setting. You have seen your client, Sarah, for approximately one month. One day toward the end of the session, Sarah informs you that she is currently struggling in paying for counseling services; she requests if you would consider accepting her professional cleaning services (office and home) in lieu of cash payment. During previous counseling sessions, Sarah has discussed her fear of not being able to pay for things she needs and how this often causes her anxiety.

Scenario 2: You are a professional counselor who provides couples counseling in a clinical setting. Sally and Harry are getting a divorce. As their counselor, you have seen them for couples counseling since they got married (about 3 months ago). Harry recently hired a well-known divorce attorney who came to your office with a subpoena for Sally and Harry’s case records. Harry’s attorney claims if you do not hand him the case records immediately you will be arrested.

Scenario 3: You are professional counselor in both a school and clinical setting. For the past three months you worked with John and he is making remarkable progress! This progress is not only noted by John but also by his teachers and parents. His parents praise you for the work you have done with John and want to celebrate his progress by hosting a celebratory dinner party. They invite you to join the celebration and note they (and John) will be disappointed if you do not attend.

For the purpose of this assignment, students will be evaluated on specifics related to scenario modifications, how they follow the specified ethical decision making model and followed each step, providing specific examples from the case based on each step (this is where the student’s noted additions/modifications come in), utilizing the various codes of ethics (ACA and codes associated with your specific program of study), federal and state of practice (TX, AR, LA, etc.) laws, the evaluation of any cultural considerations, the ability to resolve the dilemma, and citing appropriate scholarly references.

Students must have a minimum of three scholarly peer-reviewed references outside of the required course materials for this course and other courses. All submissions must be written in APA 7^th style and format and the body of the paper must be at least 4 pages (not including cover page and reference) but no more than 7 pages (total page count can be 6 to 9 pages including title and reference pages).